8 Plus (8+) Exam – King’s College Junior School (KCJS) – Key Admissions Details 2024
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Table of Contents
Introduction
King’s College School, also known as KCS, King’s and KCS Wimbledon, is an independent day school in Wimbledon, southwest London. Established in 1829, it is a member of the Eton Group and has educated a vast number of notable alumni. The Junior School shares the same campus as KCS, educating boys from ages 7–11. [1]
Its curriculum is customised to fit the unique interests and abilities of each student, regardless of their previous academic experiences. Boys in this division typically have a form teacher who is responsible for their overall education, but they also have access to specialist teachers for subjects such as art, music and sports.
Encouraged to be curious and interested in the world around them, pupils at King’s College Junior School take full advantage of the academic and extra-curricular activities on offer. Cutting-edge facilities for music, arts and sports further boost their learning capacity, extensively supporting the relevant provision that places the establishment high on the list of most in-demand schools nationally. [2]
King’s College Junior School (KCJS) 8 Plus (8+) Exam Information
Address: Southside, Wimbledon Common, SW19 4TT
County: Greater London
Admissions info: jsadmissions@kcs.org.uk or 020 8255 5336
School type: Independent day school for boys
Open days: September
8+ Exam date: October of Year 3
Pass mark: Aim for 75%+ in our practice tests. See below for more details.
King’s College Junior School 8 Plus (8+) Open Days
Whole School Open Morning takes place in September, allowing families to visit the campus and engage in various on-site activities. Extensive guided tours of the campus will take place, helping your child become familiar with the facilities on offer. You can view the school’s exact location on the map below:
King’s College Junior School 8 Plus (8+) Admissions
The deadline for 8+ applications is in September of the year preceding entry, while your child is in Year 3. The online registration form can be accessed on this page. Please note that the registration fee of £150 is non-refundable.
Following the examinations, successful candidates will be asked to attend an activity morning (in October). Interviews take place in November. Results are communicated in the same month, and offers of places should be reserved by the deadline in January.
King’s College Junior School 8 Plus (8+) Exam Format
The King’s College Junior School 8+ exam consists of the following assessments:
- Listening
- Mathematics
- English
- Reasoning
The listening test (20 mins.) involves listening to and following a set of instructions. All children hear the same instructions, played over a loudspeaker system.
For the Maths exam, there are three sections. Candidates have 10 minutes per section. After completing each section, they move on to the next. Answering all questions isn’t compulsory; KCS evaluates the work done to determine understanding. The sections are:
- Number work: This section tests number skills, including addition and subtraction. Multiplication and division concepts are also covered, with a mix of numeric and word problems.
- Mathematical Reasoning: Candidates need to express their understanding of mathematical concepts in this section, often in sentences. Spelling mistakes aren’t counted against them.
- Investigation/Problem Solving Tasks: This section prioritises open-ended tasks. The school pays particular attention to the method candidates use, not just their final answers.
The English paper (45 mins.) consists of comprehension and composition. In the comprehension section candidates will be expected to answer questions on an unseen passage. The questions will ask candidates to recall and reflect on the information as a whole. In recent years, the paper was made up approx 25 questions which included factual and inference questions. Knowledge of word and literary meanings were also tested and candidates were asked to explain phrases from the text in their own words.
The composition exercise will probably give candidates an option of two tasks to choose from, so your child must not take too much valuable time in choosing. Credit is given for good spelling, punctuation and paragraphing as well as imaginative and exciting use of vocabulary. Pre-learnt and out of context sentences and passages will be penalised. Recently, one option was a picture prompt showing children on bicycles.
The 8 plus reasoning test could comprise Verbal or Non-Verbal Reasoning questions or a combination of the two. Recently, Verbal Reasoning questions included questions on adjectives and adverbs; for example, one question asked candidates to give two adjectives to describe a carrot.
Non-Verbal Reasoning was also included in recent years. Questions were essentially on shapes, symmetry and matching pairs. For example, one question had a large and small cube and the candidate had to find the equivalent match for a large sphere (answer: small sphere).
King’s College Junior School 8 Plus (8+) Exam Pass Marks and Target Scores
Pupils who are able to score 75%+ consistently in our 8+ practice tests should be on track to pass the KCJS 8+ test.
Whilst there are no guarantees, this has historically been a fairly strong indicator that your child should do well in the King’s 8 plus exam.
Don’t worry if your child is not scoring well in our practice papers from the outset. With targeted practice and focus, it’s possible to make big improvements in a short amount of time!
King’s College Junior School 8 Plus (8+) Exam Practice Papers
English
We highly recommend the following practice papers to help your child prepare for the KCJS Wimbledon 8+ English exam. They cover everything your child needs to know about comprehension and writing:
Full Practice Tests
Comprehension Skills
8+ English: Comprehension Pack 1
8+ English: Vocabulary and Grammar
Comprehension Guide
This guide covers all the key comprehension question types in a clear, step-by-step manner so that both you and your child know exactly what to expect on exam day.
The Complete Guide to 8+ Comprehension
Writing Skills
Writing Guide
Starting from the foundational basics, this guide works its way through all the key skills your child needs to develop to become an excellent writer within the framework of what’s expected at the 8+ level.
The Complete Guide to 8+ Writing
If you’d like to have your child’s writing assessed and marked, you may be interested in our Writing Marking Service. Please click here to learn more.
Mathematics
The following practice tests are specifically designed to help your child prepare for the 8+ King’s College Junior School maths exam. They provide excellent mock exam preparation, highlighting your child’s strengths and weaknesses:
8+ King’s Mathematics – Practice Test 1
8+ King’s Mathematics – Practice Test 2
8+ King’s Mathematics – Practice Test 3
8+ King’s Mathematics – Practice Test 4
For further mathematics (full and skill) practice at the appropriate difficulty level, we would highly recommend the following 8+ packs:
Full Practice Tests
Targeted Skill Development
8+ Mathematics: Mental Arithmetic
8+ Mathematics: Problem Solving
Reasoning
To help your child master Reasoning skills ahead of the KCJS Wimbledon 8+ exam, we highly recommend the following resources:
Listening
KCJS Wimbledon is keen to find students who can listen to instructions, process information and respond accurately. This pack will help develop these key skills:
KCJS Wimbledon 8+ Bundle – Save 35%!
✅ You can now purchase a bundle of all of our recommended practice resources for the King’s College Junior School 8+ exam at a large discount. Click the button below to learn more:
8+ KCJS Wimbledon Bundle
Don’t forget to use the code eppdiscount at checkout to get 10% off orders over £70 and 20% off orders over £250 if you don’t buy a bundle.
Our practice tests aim to show what sort of questions were included in King’s College Junior School 8+ past papers. The information provided about King’s College Junior School was believed to be correct at the time of publishing. However, please be aware of future changes. We advise you to contact the school directly if you are unsure of anything. School contact details are provided within the post.
Other entry points for King’s College Junior School:
Click here to learn about Year 3 entry via the 7 Plus (7+) Exam
Click here to learn about Year 5 entry via the 9 Plus (9+) Exam
Click here to learn about Year 6 entry via the 10 Plus (10+) Exam
Click here to learn about Year 7 entry via the 11 Plus (11+) Exam
Click here to learn about Year 9 entry via the 13 Plus (13+) Exam
Click here to learn about Year 12 entry via the 16 Plus (16+) Exam
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