King’s College School Wimbledon entrance guide

King's College School Wimbledon Overview

King's College School Wimbledon (KCS) has established itself as one of South West London's most in demand schools. Although relatively new (established 1829) compared to other, much more ancient, London schools, King's College School has positioned itself as a liberal and trailblazing educational institution for the 21st century.

More recently, it has performed very well in ISI inspections and a good number of students progress to top universities upon completion of their studies.

The senior school is served by an equally popular and competitive lower school, King's College Junior School. It has existed as its own institution for over a hundred years now with the vast majority of its boys progressing through to the senior school.

Like any popular independent school, competition for places is very high. To help, we have put together a comprehensive guide below, where you can also meet our King's College School tutors.

7/8 Plus Guide to King’s College Wimbledon School

King’s College Junior School (KCJS) is a top academic school for boys in Wimbledon, South West London. Boys are offered a place based on competitive examination and assessment. The first point of entry is at 7+ for entry into Year 3 (around 55 available places) and the next is 8+ for entry into Year 4 (around only 10 places). Below you will find an entry guide as well as a list of our King's College experienced tutors.

KCJS mostly follows the typical 7/8 Plus procedure, with a written assessment in English (a comprehension and creative writing task; 45mins), Maths (45 minutes) and Reasoning (VR and NVR). The difference to other schools’ assessments is the listening test: a 25 minute test where instructions and questions are played over a loudspeaker and students have to note down their responses to what they hear.

All aspects of the assessment take place at the school.

If students are successful at the written examinations they will be invited to an activity morning and an interview.

How to prepare for the King's College Junior School exams

Start early

Starting early offers you a chance to see where your child is in relation to where they need to be and focus on bridging the gap in a relaxed manner. You may like to get a tutor with 7 Plus experience on board at this point to do a baseline assessment and create a programme of learning.

Ensure curriculum knowledge and understanding

Using a ‘curriculum tracker’ (Owl Tutors have one on their website), the curriculum stated on the school’s website, and a suggested 7 Plus reading list can be useful to ensure your child has a secure understanding of the content and expected level of the exam. Generally the 7 Plus exam will be looking for students to be working securely at the top end of Year 2 and challenge questions will extend into the Year 3 curriculum. The 8 Plus exam will be based on the Year 3 curriculum extending into Year 4.

Read widely and daily

The importance of regular reading using a wide range of texts cannot be underestimated. This is the most helpful and efficient way a student will build vocabulary, knowledge and confidence for every aspect of the exam.

Practice for every part of the exam

The best way to prepare is to practice! Bond and CGP books are helpful for practising maths, comprehension and reasoning questions and there are plenty of examples of creative writing questions on the internet and in past papers.

Prepare for the listening test

The listening test involves listening to and following a set of instructions played over a loudspeaker. Exam Papers Plus (EPP) offer practice with the listening test, including a range of practice exercies and the audio with an automated voice for students to get used to listening to.

Use specific past papers

When your child shows sufficient understanding of the content and curriculum, practising with past papers - at least a couple of months ahead of the exam - is an essential part of the preparation process. As KCJS is a competitive, academic school, papers with a high academic level should be used. I recommend the ones by Exam Papers Plus (EPP).

Support with exam technique

Often students this young are not experienced with taking formal exams so they will be unaware of how they may gain or lose extra marks. Explicit instruction will be helpful here. For example, encourage your child to leave a couple of minutes at the end to read over their writing, checking for correct punctuation and spelling etc; practise reading over the instructions written on the front of the paper; encourage reading each question carefully, highlighting important words; show that they should move on if they get stuck on a question and come back to it at the end if there is time; explain the importance of showing their working out in the maths paper.

Practice under timed conditions

Entrance exams are often the first time students have experienced doing assessments under strict time conditions. It is essential that students get to practice the different aspects of the exam under timed, exam conditions to get a feel for how quickly they need to work and to get used to working at speed.

Mock exams

Set up a mock exam, have your tutor conduct one or, best of all, sign up for one at a 7 plus exam centre to give your child an experience of taking assessments with other students in an unfamiliar setting.

Interviews

If your child is invited for an interview it is helpful if they have some understanding of what will happen and some practice at interview technique. There are some practice interview questions in another article on the Owl Tutors website I have written that can be used in role plays. Basically, students should get in the habit of answering questions in an expanded form i.e. full, expanded sentences rather than one word answers. They should be encouraged to sit properly on the chair (legs down, hands in their lap), make some eye contact with the interviewer, listen carefully when the interviewer and other student are speaking, remember their manners and think of some questions they may like to ask. It’s a fine line between some practise with this and sounding like answers have been memorised - balance is key! KCJS wants to see the personality of your child shine through as well as their intelligence and academic prowess.

The preparation process for the 7 and 8 Plus exams for KCJS can be challenging, but armed with time, knowledge and support it can definitely be made easier. Good luck!

11 plus and 13 plus guide to King's College Wimbledon

The entrance tests take place in Year 6 and children are then offered a place for either 11 plus or 13 plus. This is slightly unusual as even if you are looking for Year 9 entry, your child will need to sit the exams and secure their place in Year 6.

Open days at King's College Wimbledon and registration

Before you make the decision to apply for a school it is always a good idea to go and visit. King's College Wimbledon offer Year 5 pupils and prospective parents a chance to visit on various Open Days and other events which are published on the school website. There is always an Open Evening in the summer term which is an excellent time to look round, hopefully in beautiful weather!

Once you have decided to register, this must be done by the end of the Autumn Term of Year 6, for entry in either Year 7 or Year 9. If you are applying for a scholarship or bursary, you will need to take note of the deadline, which is mid-November. Further information on this process can be found below.

Entrance exams at King's College Wimbledon 

These take place at the end of the Autumn term of Year 6, for both 11 plus and 13 plus entry. There are exams in English, Maths and Verbal Reasoning. The English and Maths papers are specific to King's College Wimbledon and specimen papers are available on their website, whilst the Verbal Reasoning paper is an age-appropriate standardised test. The English paper is 50 minutes long and consists of short and long answer style comprehension questions (not multiple choice) with a creative writing section which asks the child to continue the passage. The Maths paper is likewise 50 minutes and is a non-calculator paper split into two parts, with a focus on numerical calculations rather than word problems.

11 plus Scholarships at King's College Wimbledon

Academic, Music and Sports Scholarships are offered for Year 7 (11 plus) entry. Academic Scholarships are awarded after the entrance exams based on performance and there is no need to make a separate application. Music scholarships offer a small fee remission and the benefit of free music lessons on two instruments (which may include voice). There is an audition process which takes place in January and is very similar to an Associated Board or Trinity College music exam. Sports scholarships also offer a small fee remission; there are two stages to the assessment process for these and candidates must offer one of the core sports at King's to qualify.

13 plus Scholarships at King's College Wimbledon

Academic, Art, Drama, Music and Sports Scholarships are offered for Year 9 (13 plus) entry. Academic scholarship exams for those children who hold the offer of a conditional place are taken in May of Year 8. They are held over two days and consist of papers in a number of compulsory subjects. They also include a short interview. Art, Drama, Music and Sports scholarships offer a small fee remission and other benefits such as free music lessons and participation in clubs and teams. There are assessment days for Art, Drama, Music and Sports scholarships in the second term of Year 8.

Interviews at King's College Wimbledon and offers of a place

The second stage of the entrance process at both 11 plus and 13 plus is an interview. Only children who have succeeded in passing the entrance exams are offered an interview, and these take place in January of Year 6. These are likely to be around 20 minutes long and cover the usual range of topics. Offers are then made for either Year 7 entry or Year 9 entry. Year 7 offers are unconditional. Year 9 offers are conditional and dependent on the results of Common Entrance or references from the current school if Common Entrance is not taught.

Bursaries at King's College Wimbledon

Bursaries are offered up to 100% of the yearly fees. These are means-tested and may involve a home visit; King's employs an outside company to undertake bursary assessment so the process is likely to be rigorous. Bursaries are reviewed annually and are available at 11 plus and 13 plus entry points. There is a bursary prospectus available on the website which gives detailed information for prospective families.