Nonsuch High School for Girls

Nonsuch is part of the Sutton Consortium, which means your daughter will sit the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test (SET) — a shared exam used across six local schools. The exam takes place in early October and has four sections: verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, maths, and English. Registration typically closes in late June or early July, so you'll need to check the school's admissions page for the exact deadline this year.

This is a genuinely challenging exam, noticeably harder than a standard 11+ paper. The vocabulary in particular catches many families off guard — it goes well beyond typical 11+ word lists and includes less common words that children won't have seen in standard practice materials. If your daughter has only prepared with basic GL vocabulary resources, she may struggle here. The maths also demands more than straightforward calculation: expect multi-step word problems and questions that require real problem-solving rather than just knowing the method.

Time pressure is significant. Strong children who work slowly often find themselves running out of time, so timed practice should be a priority in your preparation. The English comprehension passages are sophisticated and literary, with questions that test inference and understanding of vocabulary in context — not just simple fact retrieval. Overall, you should expect to prepare more thoroughly than you might for a standard 11+ exam, with particular focus on vocabulary building and timed practice across all sections.