The Latymer School
State Grammar School (Voluntary Aided, Co-educational) · Est. 1624
The Latymer School is a quietly remarkable institution: a state-funded, co-educational grammar in Edmonton that has been mixed since 1910 — long before the recent wave of grammars opening their sixth forms to girls. It does not chase headlines or league-table theatrics, but it produces results that match the most selective independent schools in London while charging zero fees. Founded in 1624 by the will of Edward Latymer to educate eight poor boys of the parish, the school has retained a strong sense of community identity even as competition for its 192 Year 7 places has intensified. Unlike its more famous London grammar peers, Latymer operates a strict postcode-based 'Inner Area' that filters applications before the test is even sat — a deliberate policy that keeps the school rooted in its North London catchment.
One of London's most academically powerful state grammars — 192 places, postcode-restricted entry, two-stage test with NO interview, and 2025 results showing 37% grade 9s at GCSE and 30.7% A* at A Level.
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Haselbury Road, Edmonton, London, N9 9TN
Tuition fees
£0
state-funded
Year 7 places
192
annual intake
Applicants per place
~10:1
approx. (2,000+ apply)
Stage 1 cut
Top 700
advance to English
GCSE grade 9
37%
2025 cohort
A Level A*
30.7%
2025 cohort
Best For
Highly able children living within the school's defined Inner Area postcodes (E, EN, N postcodes across North and East London) who can perform under genuine time pressure across maths, verbal reasoning, and a school-written English paper. Best suited to families who want elite academic outcomes without independent school fees and value a co-educational environment from Year 7 onwards.
Watch Out For
The Inner Area postcode list is a hard filter — applications from outside the listed postcodes are not considered, regardless of score. Stage 1 is a sift via Maths + VR; only the top 700 have their English papers marked. There is no interview and no second chance — performance on the September test days is the entire selection. Co-ed sixth form is by GCSE results and is also highly competitive.
Entry Points
- 11+ only (Year 7). Sixth form entry separate, by GCSE results. NO 13+ entry.
The Complete Admissions Timeline
Every key date, deadline and decision point — with insider intelligence you won't find on the school website. Click any item to reveal verified insider knowledge.
The critical window: Online registration opens 17 March 2026 and closes 2 June 2026. Candidates sit one of three test days on 3, 4 or 5 September 2026. There is NO interview — the September papers are the entire selection. Latymer applications are filtered at registration: only children whose Main Address falls within the published Inner Area postcodes will be considered.
Registration opens
Online registration opens on 17 March 2026 at latymer.co.uk. Parents must enter the child's Main Address — applications are checked against the published Inner Area postcode list. Registration is free and is separate from the Local Authority Common Application Form.
Registration closes
All registrations must be submitted by the published June deadline. Late registrations are not accepted. Confirm the address falls within the Inner Area before submitting — applications from outside the published postcodes are not progressed.
Assessment test days (Stage 1 + Stage 2 papers)
Children attend ONE of three test days at the school. They sit a combined 60-minute Maths + Verbal Reasoning paper (GL Assessment, multiple-choice, 30 mins each section) and a 60-minute English paper set by the school (30 mins reading comprehension + 30 mins creative writing).
Stage 1 ranking — top 700 advance
GL Assessment marks and age-standardises the Maths + VR paper to produce a Rank 1 score. The top 700 candidates by Rank 1 score qualify for Stage 2 (English paper marking). Candidates outside the top 700 are not considered further.
LA Common Application Form (CAF) deadline
Parents must name The Latymer School on their Home Local Authority Common Application Form. This is separate from the Latymer registration and is mandatory for all London state secondary applications.
Final ranking issued
School marks the English papers of the top 700 to produce Rank 2. Combined scores are then re-standardised. Inner Area candidates ranked in the top 700 receive a Rank 3 position. Governors offer 192 places to the top of this ranking and maintain a waiting list of 50 ranked applicants.
National Offer Day
Local Authority issues secondary school offers. Parents receive their Latymer offer (or non-offer) via the LA portal alongside any other named schools. Acceptance and waiting list confirmation deadlines follow in mid-March.
Key Dates — September 2027 Year 7 Entry
Registration opens
17 March 2026
Registration closes
2 June 2026
Assessment days
3, 4, 5 September 2026
LA application (CAF) deadline
31 October 2026
Final ranking position issued
Mid-January 2027
National Offer Day
1 March 2027
Inside the Latymer 11+ Two-Stage Test
Latymer uses a two-stage selection process — but unlike other London grammars, both papers are sat on the same day. Stage 1 is a 60-minute combined Maths + Verbal Reasoning multiple-choice paper set by GL Assessment (30 mins maths, 30 mins VR). Stage 2 is a 60-minute English paper set by the school itself, comprising a 30-minute reading comprehension section and a 30-minute creative writing task. Critically, the English paper is only marked for the 700 highest-scoring children in Stage 1 — for everyone else, it is sat but never read. There is no interview at any stage.
Stage 1 — Maths + VR
60 minutes (30 mins Maths + 30 mins VR) · Multiple-choice, set by GL Assessment
Time pressure is the dominant trap. Candidates who pace themselves for a full 60-minute maths paper (and do not internalise the 30-minute split) often run out of time on VR. Many over-tutored candidates also drill standard VR question types but freeze on unfamiliar wordings.
Stage 2 — English
60 minutes (30 mins reading + 30 mins creative writing) · Written, set by The Latymer School (NOT GL Assessment)
Many candidates have practised generic 11+ English drills but have not built the analytical reading and sustained creative writing stamina the Latymer paper demands. The reading extracts tend to be literary fiction, not journalistic — vocabulary and inference are tested at a high level.
Topic Difficulty & Weight
Difficulty (%) and exam weight by topic area
Key takeaway: Premium
Topic Breakdown
Known Exam Traps — Stage 1 — Maths + VR
The pattern: Time pressure is the dominant trap. Candidates who pace themselves for a full 60-minute maths paper (and do not internalise the 30-minute split) often run out of time on VR. Many over-tutored candidates also drill standard VR question types but freeze on unfamiliar wordings.
If you can only improve in one area, make it
Speed under MC time pressure
What this means in practice:
Dedicate 60%+ of prep time to this area
Practice under timed conditions regularly
Review mistakes immediately after each session
Track progress weekly to spot patterns
All focus areas ranked by impact:
#1
Speed under MC time pressure
Stage 1 — Maths + VR
#2
Analytical reading + sustained creative writing
Stage 2 — English
Format
Multiple-choice, single combined paper
Duration
60 minutes (30 + 30)
Answer Method
Mark answers on separate answer sheet
Curriculum baseline: Year 5 / early Year 6 National Curriculum + GL VR families
Academic Performance vs National Average
Latymer Edmonton consistently outperforms national averages across both GCSE and A-Level examinations. These animated comparisons show where the school excels and how this translates to university placement opportunities.
A-Level Results Comparison
Camp Hill Girls vs. National Average — Higher percentages indicate stronger performance
What this means: Camp Hill Girls consistently exceeds national averages across all A-Level performance bands. With 65% A*/A compared to the national 38%, girls achieve top-tier results that support progression to leading universities, including Oxbridge, Russell Group institutions, and specialist programs in Medicine, Law, and STEM.
GCSE Grade Distribution Comparison
Cumulative percentage achieving each grade threshold — Camp Hill Girls vs. National Average
Grade Distribution Insight: Over 90% of Camp Hill Girls achieve grades 9-7 at GCSE, compared to 31% nationally. This exceptional spread demonstrates consistent high achievement across the cohort, with girls well-prepared for rigorous A-Level study.
Grade 9-8
52%
vs 18% national
Grade 9-7
90%
vs 31% national
Grade 9-6
98%
vs 64% national
Grade 9-5
99.5%
vs 82% national
University Placement Implications
- •
Oxbridge Eligibility
Strong A-Level performance (65% A*/A) makes girls competitive for Oxford and Cambridge, particularly in STEM and humanities.
- •
Russell Group Admission
90% GCSE 9-7 achievement provides strong foundation for Russell Group universities including Imperial, UCL, Durham, and Warwick.
- •
Competitive Edge
Results place girls in top 5% of UK cohort, giving advantage in Medicine, Law, and competitive STEM programs.
Supporting Strong Achievement
- •
No Pressure-Cooker Culture
Excellence achieved through supportive teaching, strong pastoral care, and girls' intrinsic motivation rather than relentless pressure.
- •
Well-Rounded Development
Balanced commitment to academics, co-curricular activities (sports, music, drama), and character formation.
- •
Resilience & Confidence
Girls develop confidence to tackle challenging subjects and university applications without anxiety-driven perfectionism.
GCSE Excellence
90%
Grade 9-7 achievement (vs 31% national)
A-Level Top Grades
65%
A*/A grades (vs 38% national)
Top Achievers
42%
A* grades at A-Level
University Ready
99.5%
Grade 5+ across GCSE
No Interview — Latymer Is Exam-Only
The Latymer School does NOT interview at the 11+ stage. Selection is determined entirely by performance on the September assessment days (Stage 1 Maths + VR, then Stage 2 English for the top 700). This is a key point of confusion: Latymer Upper School (the independent school in Hammersmith — a different school) does interview. The Latymer School in Edmonton does not.
Contact Admissions
The Latymer School Admissions Team
Insider Intel: What Other Parents Don't Know
These are the verified insights you will not find on the school website, in Good Schools Guide, or from any single tutoring agency. Each insight is compiled and cross-referenced from 18+ sources including official documents, parent reports, and tutoring industry data.This is the intelligence that gives ClassAce families an edge.
7 verified insider tips locked
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- Timing windows other applicants don't know about
- Exam-day patterns and trap questions verified across 18+ sources
- Interview cues that decide marginal offers
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Common Mistakes Parents Make
The errors we see most often from families preparing for The Latymer School. Avoid these and you're already ahead of the majority of applicants.
6 costly mistakes — and the fix for each
Most parents make at least three of these without realising. Subscribe to read every mistake and the corrective action.
- What to stop doing in the final 6 weeks
- The myth about practice papers that hurts most candidates
- Interview-day briefings that backfire
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Latymer Edmonton vs Competitor Schools
How does The Latymer School compare to the schools your child is most likely also applying to? This analysis covers the key factors that actually matter to families.
Important context: Among elite London state grammars, Latymer is unusual on three counts: it is fully co-educational from Year 7 (most peers are single-sex or mixed only in sixth form); it operates a postcode-restricted Inner Area (most peers use distance tiebreaks rather than postcode filters); and it has no interview (some peers, particularly independents, do).
| Factor | FeaturedThe Latymer School (Edmonton) | Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet | Henrietta Barnett School | Tiffin School | Latymer Upper School (Hammersmith) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| School Type | State Grammar (Co-ed) | State Grammar (Boys) | State Grammar (Girls) | State Grammar (Boys, co-ed sixth) | Independent (Co-ed) — DIFFERENT SCHOOL |
| Co-educational | |||||
| VR in Exam | |||||
| Annual Fee | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | ~£28,000+ |
| 11+ Difficulty | Very Hard | Extremely Hard | Extremely Hard | Very Hard | High |
| Interview Style | None | None | None | None | Yes |
Why Parents Choose Latymer Edmonton
- Elite outcomes at zero cost30.7% A* at A Level and 37% grade 9s at GCSE (2025) — results that match top London independents charging £25,000+ per year.
- Co-educational from Year 7Unusual among top London grammars — Latymer has been mixed since 1910, not just at sixth form.
- No interview, no subjective gateSelection is purely on test performance. There is no interview to coach for, and no scope for soft-skill judgment to override exam scores.
- Strong Oxbridge & Russell Group progression19 Oxbridge offers reported in 2024, with consistent strong progression to Imperial, UCL, LSE, KCL and other Russell Group destinations.
Points to Consider
- Inner Area postcode filterApplications from outside the published postcodes are not considered, regardless of academic ability.
- Same-day two-stage testStage 1 underperformance ends the application — the English paper is sat but never marked for non-qualifiers.
- School-written English paperGeneric GL English prep is not enough. The school's own sample papers are essential preparation.
- No 13+ entry11+ is the only main entry point. Sixth form (16+) entry exists but is competitive and based on GCSE results.
Scholarships & Financial Support
| Scholarship Type | Value | Available Places | Selection Method | Stackable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free state education | £0 fees | All admitted pupils | Premium | No |
* State grammar schools do not offer scholarships in the independent-school sense — admission itself is the award. Free school meal entitlement and Pupil Premium support are determined by national criteria, not the school.
The Preparation Roadmap
Everything here is built around The Latymer School's specific exam format, interview style, and selection criteria. This is not generic 11+ advice. Every recommendation is calibrated to this school.
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Updated May 2026 · 18 sources