Thousands of practice questions and up to 6 mock papers, all in the exact Chestnut Grove Academy 11+ format, on one simple plan. It starts with a free diagnostic.
Thousands of practice questions and up to 6 mock papers, all in the exact Chestnut Grove Academy 11+ format, on one simple plan. It starts with a free diagnostic.
If you want your child somewhere lively and genuinely mixed, where children of every ability sit side by side, Chestnut Grove is worth a proper look. It calls itself proudly comprehensive, and the way it admits children backs that up. Every applicant for a Year 7 place sits the Wandsworth Test, which sorts children into one of five ability bands, and the school then takes an equal number from each band. The result is a co-educational community in the heart of Balham that draws in the full range of south London children rather than skimming off the top.
There is a selective thread running through it too, but a narrow and specific one. Each year up to sixty places are set aside for children with a real flair for art or for languages, thirty for each. Those children sit a separate aptitude test, a practical drawing task for art or a set of listening and memory tasks for languages, and you find out how your child did before you have to commit to the school on the application form. No prior study of a language is needed, which keeps that door open to families who might otherwise count themselves out.
Daily life runs on a short set of PROUD values, and the school holds UNICEF Rights Respecting status, a sign it takes children's voice and wellbeing seriously. There is a sixth form on site, so a child can settle in at eleven and stay through to eighteen. It suits a child who will thrive among a real mix of peers, and especially one with something creative to bring.
Yes
Does Chestnut Grove Academy have a catchment area?
No fixed catchment area. As a comprehensive school it admits an equal number of pupils from each of five ability bands (set by the Wandsworth Test); within each band priority goes to siblings and then to children living nearest the school by straight-line distance.
Chestnut Grove Academy uses the GL exam board for its Year 7 admissions process.
No, there is no interview stage for Year 7 entry at Chestnut Grove Academy.
Chestnut Grove Academy is a mixed school, admitting both boys and girls.
Chestnut Grove Academy sets aside sixty places for children with a flair for art or languages, thirty for each. The remaining places are allocated based on ability bands from the Wandsworth Test.
The admissions website for Chestnut Grove Academy is https://chestnutgrove.org.uk/index.php?page=year-7-admissions.
There are two routes, and no single pass mark. Up to 30 places go to children showing aptitude in Art and Design and up to 30 in Modern Foreign Languages, judged by a separate aptitude test. The other places, the majority, are non-selective: every applicant sits the Wandsworth Test, is sorted into one of five ability bands, and an equal number is taken from each band. Within each band, priority goes to looked-after children, then medical or social need, then siblings, then staff children, then nearest home. The aptitude bar depends on demand each year.
For the aptitude test, contact the Academy as soon as you can if your child is too unwell to attend, so they can talk you through the options. For test concessions such as extra time, the school can put these in place in a small number of cases where a child has an Education, Health and Care Plan; tell the school about the EHCP when your child is invited to the specialist test. The separate Wandsworth Test is run by the council, so check their arrangements for that.
