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Tiffin School is a high achieving grammar school for boys in Kingston-Upon-Thames. It’s sister school, Tiffin Girl’s School is situated close-by. Both schools chart their founding back to the early 19th century and have maintained a record for providing an excellent education to local children. Both schools are currently academies but retain their previous status as grammar schools and are therefore selective in their intake.
Tiffin’s main intake is at 11 plus (year 7) while a number of boys join in year 9, usually from local (and not so local) prep schools. Boys sit GCSEs and should they continue through to the Sixth Form (which also takes on a small number of joiners each year), A-levels.
Tiffin recently dropped from ‘Outstanding’ to ‘Good’ in its most recent Ofsted in 2022. It remains a popular school with many more applicants than places each year.
There are open evenings for both 11+ and 16+ entry at Tiffin School, and also a virtual tour for those unable to attend in person. The 11+ entry evening is the Summer Term and the 16+ entry evening is in the Autumn term. Neither require pre-registration.
Experienced Tiffin School tutor, Pip, shares her insights:
Entrance to Tiffin School is hugely competitive and admission is dependent upon pupil performance in a two-stage 11+ examination. The catchment area for Tiffin School is less than 10km from the school for the Inner Priority Area and between 10km and 14km for the Outer Priority Area. An online registration form needs to be completed when the registration window is open - this can be accessed via the school’s website. Once registered, a student will sit Stage One of the entrance exam and boys who pass this stage are then able to sit Stage Two
This paper is designed to test comprehension skills, vocabulary, grammar terminology, spelling and punctuation. The comprehension questions are based on a variety of texts from throughout history. The texts used in these exams are notoriously challenging and designed to ascertain the candidate’s ability to understand ‘high-brow’ works. The questions include retrieval, inference and summary skills and the answers are all multiple choice. However, unlike SATs and other such assessments where the student is presented with isolated questions about each area of grammar, these tests weave the grammar questions into different reading comprehensions. For example:
In addition to all of the above, students will also be assessed on their verbal reasoning skills (processing verbal information; similarities and differences between words; applying logical thinking and problem-solving skills; identifying patterns; and demonstrating the understanding of the rules and meaning of language).
This is all multiple choice and tests the candidates knowledge of all the maths they have learnt to date This can include questions on the four operations; fractions, decimals and percentages; probability; reasoning (word problems); problem solving/code breaking; understanding shape; reading data and non-verbal reasoning (processing graphic information and following patterns and rules; applying mathematical skills – rotation, reflection and symmetry; use of spatial awareness; applying logical thinking; and problem-solving skills).
There is a separate answer sheet for the tests and each question has an answer box with the multiple choice options and a small blank box next to each option. The candidate must put a line in the small blank box next to the correlating letter for the correct answer. It is worth doing as many practice papers as possible to get used to this format (as well as benefiting from exposure to the types of questions the candidate will be faced with).
There is no published, formal pass mark for the Tiffin School tests. Entry is relative to the performance of all the applicants from that year. However, pupils who are able to score 80% consistently in 11+ Stage 1 practice tests are in with a very good chance to pass the Stage One exam. There is no interview for Tiffin School - admissions are based solely on the Two-Stage 11+ entrance exam process.
16+ entry to Tiffin School is via an application form which is available on the school website. Specific GCSE grades are required for specific subjects, alongside minimum grades in both Maths and English Language. Firm offers will be confirmed in August following the publication of GCSE grades.
Click here to access the official Tiffin School website