How to get into Dulwich Prep at 7+

Introduction

Dulwich Prep London is a boys day school of 850 boys aged 3 – 13. There are some options for flexible boarding for around 15 boys Boarding is offered on a flexible basis in Year 3 and weekly for Year 4.

The main entry points for the school are at Nursery 3+, Reception at 4+ and Year 3 at 7+. Girls can join at 3 years old but are required to move schools after a year. Boys can remain at the school until 13. At 7+ the school accepts 20 boys.

Before you apply

Dulwich Prep holds an open morning in September for prospective parents. No booking is required for this event. This open morning involves a talk by the Headmaster and a tour around the school by current pupils. In Autumn 2018, the open morning is Saturday 15th September between 9-12pm.

As well as this, the Head of the school will run individual tours for prospective parents. These are particularly for parents who are unable to attend the open morning. These can be arranged by via selecting the enquiry form on the school website.

Dulwich Prep does admit siblings, however admission of siblings is not automatic and depends on the availability of places in the year group.

At the time of writing, Dulwich Prep was offering a termly fee of £5,746 which amounts to a annual fee of £17, 238. These fees are inclusive of lunch.

Registration

To register your child for the 7+, prospective parents need to complete the registration form and pay the registration fee of £100. For entry in September 2019, the registration closes on Friday 16th November 2019. The school stipulate that they prefer to receive all applications one year before the prospective start date. So, for entry in September 2019, registration forms should aim to be received by September 2018. At the point of registration, an assessment date will be given.

Application

Dulwich Prep does offer a number of means tested bursaries in Years 3 and 4. The awarding of these bursaries are based firstly on academic attainment. As well as this, further information, a home visit and documentary evidence is required to determine the appropriate level of financial support. Bursaries are recalculated annually.

Assessment(s)

All assessments are performed on an individual or on a small group bases to make it as informal as possible. The minimum standard for admission is the National Curriculum level for the child’s age group.
For admission in September 2019, the school holds 3 assessment mornings on Wednesday,16th, Thursday 17th and Friday 19th January 2019. The particular assessment date for each child will be sent to the parents after the registration process.

The assessment morning is half a day. During this morning, students will have an English paper composed of reading comprehension and creative writing, a computerised reasoning paper containing both verbal and non verbal reasoning sections and a Maths paper. Each boy will also be heard read. As well as this, boys will take part in sports activities and take part in some singing. Also, the Head of Year 3 and 4 will chat with each of the boys individually.
Before the assessment, a copy of the most recent school report is requested as well as a reference from the boys’ current headmaster.

Results

Dulwich Prep post offers of places to successful candidates on Friday 1st February 2019. The deadline for Dulwich Prep to receive the acceptance of this offer is Friday 8th February 2019 at noon. Parents have to pay a non-refundable deposit of £1500 which is taken off the final term’s invoice.

Unsuccessful candidates will either be placed on a waiting list o be informed that they have not been offered a place. Parents of boys not offered a place are asked if they would like to go back into the application process the next year.

Destination schools

The majority of children progress from Dulwich Prep to Dulwich College at 13. Boys that choose to not progress to Dulwich main school attend a variety of schools including Alleyns, St Paul’s and Harrow School.