Kingston Grammar School: Entry Procedure for 13 Plus/Year 9

Introduction

 

 

If you are considering applying for a Year 9 place at Kingston Grammar School for your child, please read on to learn about the school, how to apply, the assessments your child will sit and how to prepare for them.

 

Kingston Grammar School (KGS) is a co-educational independent day school for pupils aged 11-18. It was founded in the sixteenth century by the Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I. The school motto is Work well and be happy, a motto that the school community is encouraged to live by.

 

KGS has a reputation for academic excellence. In 2024, nearly 85% of GCSE grades were in the 9-7 range, an incredible achievement, and 95% of A Level grades were in the A*-B range. Unsurprisingly, many students go on to study at prestigious universities, including Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial. 

 

The co-curricular programme at KGS is excellent. The Drama and Theatre Department, for example, provides pupils with a wide array of opportunities, such as drama clubs, trips to the theatre and involvement in theatre productions. The Music Department offers numerous clubs, including junior choir, wind band and drumming. If your child is passionate about sports, they will be pleased to know that the Sports Department also has extensive co-curricular offerings. There really is something for everyone!

 

Pastoral care at the school is exemplary. Pupils can access support when necessary and benefit from being a member of a supportive community. KGS welcomes external speakers who are experts in their fields to address a wide range of issues with pupils. Natasha Devon, MBE, a mental health campaigner, has previously spoken to students about managing stress and anxiety. 

 

 

Kingston Grammar School: Admissions Process for 13 Plus (13+)/Year 9 Entry

 

 

The best way to start the admissions process is by visiting KGS. This will allow you to see if your child would thrive there. Open events are held in September and June. If you create an OpenApply account, you will receive notifications about the events and when to book a place.

 

If you decide KGS is a good fit for your child, you must complete the registration form by the deadline in November when your child is in Year 8. There is a registration fee of £155, but you don’t pay this if your child receives free school meals. 

 

In January of Year 8, your child will sit the entrance exam at KGS. It will comprise the following:

 

• An English paper 
• A maths paper 

 

As part of the admissions process, a confidential reference will be sought from your child’s current school, and you will need to provide your child’s most recent school report. 

 

If your child performs well in the entrance exam, they will be invited to KGS for an interview. It will be an informal chat to enable the school to get to know your child better. Your child will likely be asked about their hobbies, and if they did not do as well in one of the entrance papers as they did in the other, they will be asked about that. KGS sees the interview stage as a way to help identify candidates who will flourish at the school.

 

You will find out in mid-February of Year 8 whether your child has been offered a place and must accept it by the deadline in early March to secure it. At this point, a £2,000 acceptance deposit will be required, which will be credited to your final payment when your child completes their education at KGS.   

 

 

Kingston Grammar School: Scholarships and Bursaries

 

 

For 13+ (Year 9) entry, Kingston Grammar School offers the following scholarships:

 

• Academic
• Art
• Music
• Sport

 

Your child will be automatically considered for an academic scholarship based on their performance in the entrance exam. 

 

If you wish to apply for an art, music or sport scholarship, you must indicate this on your child’s registration form, which will result in you being able to access the scholarship application form. Assessments for these scholarships take place in January or February of Year 8. 

 

For more information about scholarships, please click here.  

 

If you cannot afford the school’s fees, but your child excels in the entrance exam, you could be eligible for a bursary (fee assistance). 

 

You must indicate on the registration form if you are interested in fee assistance. It is means-tested, so your financial situation will be closely looked at. Should you qualify for fee assistance, which can be worth up to 100% of the school’s fees, the amount you get will be reviewed annually to take into account any change in your financial situation.

 

 

Kingston Grammar School: School Details and Entrance Exam Information for 13+/Year 9 Entry

 

 

School address: London Road, Kingston upon Thames, KT2 6PY

County: Surrey

Admissions info: registrar@kgs.org.uk or 020 8546 5875 

School type: Independent day school for boys and girls

Open events: September and June

Registration deadline: November of Year 8

Entrance assessments for Year 9: English and maths papers (and an interview for selected candidates only)

 

The English paper comprises the following:

 

• Comprehension
• Creative writing

 

The comprehension will assess your child’s ability to read and understand a given passage and make inferences.

 

The creative writing component will evaluate their writing skills, including their ability to use a range of sentence structures, organise their work effectively and use their imagination to produce an engaging piece of work. The standard of their spelling, punctuation and grammar will also be looked at.

 

The maths paper will have questions covering the topics in the relevant National Curriculum stage, such as probability and algebra. Your child will be expected to be able to reason mathematically and solve multi-step problems. 

 

 

Preparing for Kingston Grammar School 13 Plus (13+)/Year 9 Entry

 

 

At Exam Papers Plus, we believe that your child will perform better in their entrance exam if they are fully prepared. Competition for places at highly regarded schools can be fierce, but considered preparation will give your child an edge over other candidates.

 

Our experts have produced targeted resources after careful research that you can be confident will cover what your child needs to know and practise for KGS’s 13+ entrance exam.

 

Working through our resources will build your child’s confidence, giving them a can-do attitude that is essential for success. They will be able to pinpoint any areas they find challenging and then allocate their study time accordingly. 

 

Our practice tests will enable your child to get used to answering questions under time pressure. Your child will find they develop their ability to answer questions quickly and accurately, which will prove vital on the assessment day.

 

We know you will want to support your child the best you can, and we hope the following tips are helpful:

 

• Please encourage your child to have a growth mindset, which is the belief that we can all improve our skills when we put in time and effort.
• Please encourage your child to eat healthily, get plenty of sleep and exercise. These all promote a feeling of well-being and optimise brain function.
• Please encourage your child to have regular breaks from studying and to keep study sessions relatively short. The average 12-year-old has an attention span of around 30 minutes, meaning long sessions will not be as effective as regular short sessions. 

 

 

Kingston Grammar School: Practice Materials for 13 Plus (13+)/Year 9 Entry

 

 

English

 

We highly recommend the following packs to successfully prepare your child for the Kingston Grammar School 13 Plus English paper:

 

13+ English Pack 1

 

13+ English Pack 2

 

13+ English: Rewrite & Improve

 

 

Mathematics

 

We highly recommend the use of the following papers to help develop your child’s arithmetic and problem-solving skills within the examination context of the Kingston Grammar School 13 Plus maths test:

 

13+ Mathematics Pack 1

 

 

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 have any questions about any of our resources, please contact us. We are here to help your child perform well in their entrance exam and wish your child all the best in their current and future academic endeavours. 

 

The information provided about Kingston Grammar School was believed to be correct at the time of publishing. However, please be aware of possible future changes. We advise you to contact the school directly if you are unsure of anything. School contact details are provided within the post.

 

Please note that Pretest Plus is an independent publisher of practice tests and resources, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publishers of the Quest or any other test publisher and Kingston Grammar School.