Best secondary schools in Clapham

Graveney School, as mentioned above, selects 70 applicants according to their performance in the Wandsworth Test. These top band pupils make up what’s known as the ‘extension group’ and take the majority of classes together. There is regular movement between bands, parents tell us, and that ‘whichever band your child is in, the teachers will push them to achieve their best’. Burntwood School (girls), in contrast, offers 60 of its places to top scorers in the Wandsworth Test but does not operate an equivalent stream. The Elms Academy, just east of the common, puts all new students through an assessment. The 32 best performers are placed in the grammar stream and have access to a more in-depth curriculum.

Three local secondaries employ a partial selection process in which they reserve places for applicants with ability in certain disciplines, as judged during aptitude tests. Chestnut Grove Academy in Balham uses its aptitude test to fill 60 specialist places; 30 for artists and another 30 for modern linguists. On the western side of Wandsworth, Saint Cecilia’s Church of England School offers 18 music places and Ashcroft Technology Academy, 24 technology places.

The latter two lie slightly outside Clapham itself but still draw pupils in from the area. Closer to the Common, the more popular and academically impressive fully comprehensive co-ed schools include Ark Bolingbroke Academy (up the slope from Northcote Road) on the west side, Harris Academy Battersea, to the north (close to Battersea Park) and east of the Common in SW4.

Faith schools (in particular Catholic) further afield, where geography is of less importance for admissions than religious participation, are popular with applicants from Clapham. Sacred Heart High School (girls) in Hammersmith and Fulham prioritises applicants from neighbouring LAs (including Wandsworth). The London Oratory School (boys), also in Hammersmith and Fulham, accepts applicants from across London. The Holy Cross School (girls) in New Malden is popular among local Catholic families thanks to the easy journey from Clapham Junction. Faith schools often have their own unique set of entry requirements so always check the school’s admissions policy.

Families wanting to take advantage of the grammar system head towards the boroughs of Kingston and Sutton. Grammar schools in the area are all single sex and competition for entrance is stiff with around ten applicants for every place.

Clapham Junction and Balham stations teem with grammar school commuters every morning heading towards the London/Surrey borders. Boys journey to Wallington County Grammar School, Sutton Grammar, and Wilson’s School; girls go to Wallington High School and Nonsuch High School. Others go in the direction of Kingston for Tiffin School (boys) and The Tiffin Girls’ School. Applications come from far and wide; parents are always advised to check a school’s admission criteria each year. Your own address is a factor for some of these schools’ admissions procedures but most offer places on the basis of the highest scores in the entrance tests, irrespective of where you live.

Such is the extreme interest in these schools, entry tests are in two stages. Round one is taken by all applicants and the highest scorers are invited back for round two. There are no feeder schools for any of the grammar schools, so children from over 200 different primary schools apply every year and a significant percentage of places go to applicants from outside the schools’ home LAs.

All the secondary schools in the Clapham area have their own sixth forms with the exception of Harris Academy Clapham whose pupils can move on to the local Harris Clapham Sixth Form or Harris Academy Westminster sixth form. Others wanting a change at 16+ head to Clapham Junction station for the ever-popular Esher Sixth Form College, Strode’s College in Egham and Richmond-upon-Thames College.

At secondary level, the schools with additionally resourced provision (ARP) on the Wandsworth side of Clapham are Saint John Bosco College which has the Saviour Centre for pupils with ASD; and Ashcroft Technology Academy which has a specialist unit for SLCN, SEMH and sensory issues. South-west of Clapham, Burntwood School (girls) runs the Burntwood Resource Base for girls with SEMH and related conditions. Wandsworth’s specialist secondary schools are Garratt Park School and Paddock School which cater for pupils with moderate learning difficulties, complex autism and communication difficulties. Lambeth Council run ARP units for autism at Dunraven School and London Nautical School (boys) in SE1. For more complex and profound needs there are several special schools namely Elm Court School, Lansdowne School and for autism, Vanguard School. Just like the junior special schools with ARP units, all pupils need to have an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) to support their application.