8 plus (8+) Exam – King’s College Junior School (KCJS) – What you need to know

Entry Level Eight Plus (8+) exam

School Name: King’s College Junior School

Description: Boys; day school

Age range: 7-13

Size: 465 approx. 54 pupils are taken in at Year 3 for seven plus entry

Fees: £5,530 – £6,125 per term

Address: Southside, Wimbledon Common, London, SW19 4TT

Email (general enquiries): hmjssec@kcs.org.uk

Website: https://www.kcs.org.uk/junior-school

Telephone (general enquiries): +44 (0)20 8255 5300

Head: Mr Gerard Silverlock

Admissions Telephone: +44 (0)20 8255 5336

Bursar: Mr David Armitage

Admissions Process for King’s College Junior School Eight Plus (8+)

Applications: The deadline for applications is in October. Your child has to be registered to take the exam by this date.

Open Days: registered candidates are invited to the 8+ Group Tour, which takes place in November.

Entrance Exams:

The 8 plus (8+) entrance exam to King’s Junior School takes place in November.

The 7+ exam takes place on the same date, click here to learn more about 7 plus entry to King’s

The exams will consist of a listening test and papers in mathematics, English and reasoning.

Listening:

The listening test (25 mins.) involves listening to and following a set of instructions. All children hear the same instructions, played over a loudspeaker system.

English:

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. Last year’s 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. Last year one option was a picture prompt showing children on bicycles.

Reasoning:

The 8 plus reasoning test could comprise verbal or non-verbal questions or a combination of the two.

Last year’s verbal 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 last year. 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).

Recommended Materials:

8+ English practice papers, ideal for King’s College Junior School eight plus (8+) exam preparation:

8+ English: Punctuation

8+ English: Vocabulary and Grammar

8+ Maths practice papers, ideal for King’s College Junior School eight plus (8+) exam preparation:

8+ Mathematics Pack 1

8+ Mathematics Pack 2

8+ Mathematics Pack 3

8+ Mathematics: Mental Arithmetic

8+ Mathematics: Problem Solving

8+ Reasoning practice papers, ideal for King’s College Junior School eight plus (8+) exam preparation:

8+ Reasoning Pack 1

8+ Reasoning Pack 2

8+ Reasoning Pack 3

8+ Listening practice papers, ideal for King’s College Junior School eight plus (8+) exam preparation:

8+ Listening Pack 1

Interviews:

All 8 plus candidates will be interviewed in November.

Assessment Day:

King’s College Junior School hold their assessment morning just prior to the exams in November. This is good for children who are confident in social situations and enjoy working with others to problem solve.

Last year children were paired for some activities like making a globe and identifying continents; doing a word search; and creating a mini booklet on five animals from information they were given.

Bursaries

King’s offers bursaries at all entry points, including eight plus. Not every school will offer financial support at such a young age as a child’s potential is still relatively unknown.

Bursaries are means-tested and full details of income and capital resources will be requested. Each application is assessed on its own individual merit. Bursaries are awarded at the discretion of the governors and managed by the head and bursar.

Bursaries are means-tested each year and may change as a family’s financial situation improves or deteriorates.

Other Entry Points: 7+, 9+, 10+ and 11+