How to get into Kings College Wimbledon at 8+

Introduction

King’s College School is an independent day school in Wimbledon for boys from 7-`18 years old and girls aged 16-18. It is a school of over 1300 pupils. It is academically selective and in 2017, was voted the top London Independent Secondary School of the year. Its most recent ISI inspection (March 2022) rated it as ‘Excellent’, the highest grade possible.

The admission points for King’s College are 7+,8+,9+,10+,11+,13+ and 16+. At 8+, the school admits 14 boys into Year 4. The school does not offer a sibling policy.

Before you apply

Kings College offers open mornings for both the junior school and for the whole school. At the time of writing, the next whole school open will be on Saturday 17th September 2022.

There is no need to book. During the morning, there will be an opportunity to be taken on a tour around the school by a current pupil as well as an opportunity to see some school based activities. For entry at 8+, there is an open morning for the junior school in the Summer term.

As well as this, the headteacher will take groups of prospective parents on tours on a normal school morning. To arrange this, please contact the school office.

As of August 2022, the fees for 8+ were £6,790 per term which correlated to £20,370 per annum. The school offers bursaries at 11+, 13+ and sixth form up to 100% of the fees. The bursary policy is available on the website.

Registration

Before being eligible to sit the 8+ exam, parents of prospective students must do 2 things. Firstly, they must register their interest via the online registration of interest form and pay the registration fee of £150. Parents are encouraged to register their interest a year before entry.

At the time of writing, for children wanting to join the school in September 2023, the registration of interest form must be completed by Thursday 20th September 2022.

At the end of September, parents who have registered are invited to complete the exam entry form and the exam entry fee by the stated due date.

The moment this has been done, the child is registered as an exam candidate.

Assessment(s)

The first stage of the assessment process is the interview. Parents will be given a time and date for their son’s interview. Also, the Headteacher will write to the Head of the boys current school asking for a general report of the boys career there. As well as this, boys are invited to attend an activity session in which they are assessed via a range of activities to assess their personalities and abilities.

Following this, there is an entrance examination in November. This exam contains an English, Maths, reasoning and listening test. Examination Notes contained in the Junior School Prospectus contain further information on this.

In the listening test, all candidates will hear a 25 minute recording played through speakers and then have a short listening exercise as well as an activity based on the instructions in the reading.

In the English test, there are 2 sections within the 45 minutes. The first part contains a comprehension test and the second part is a piece of writing where marks are given for good spelling, punctuation, and paragraphing as well as use of adventurous vocabulary. The reasoning test contains verbal and non verbal reasoning questions. The Maths test is comprised of questions based on the Year 3 National Curriculum with some extension questions to challenge able boys.

One sample specimen paper for English and Maths is available on the school website:

KCW Practice Papers

Results

Based on the results gathered from the selection process, the Headteacher will award places. Upon accepting the place, an acceptance deposit of £2000 will need to be paid, which will be returned when the child leaves the school. There is not a waiting list. Unsuccessful candidates are invited to apply to the school in the subsequent year.

Destination schools

All boys in the sixth form are required to complete the university entrance application in the sixth form. At the time of writing, over 25% of the leaving cohort have been given places at Oxford and Cambridge.