WUS/KCS/SPJ/Dulwich/City London 8+ 2023 assessments preparation thread

[simona28]

Hello all,

I've been told this is approximately the right time to start preparing with DC for 8+ entry! Starting this thread to get any help/pointers/discussion/venting on 8+ exams.

My DS will be appearing for 8+ assessments from Oct 2023 onwards. What should I be preparing him towards? Any thoughts on the following:

1. Bond books (which books - assessment papers/Stretch Assessment/CEM), which level (8-9 or higher?)
2. CGP - which books, year 4 or higher?
3. PrepPlus camps and classes
4. Exampaperplus papers/classes and timings for the same? I have bought one paper and think the difficulty levels are pretty high. When should we be looking to do this?
5. Yellowbird 8+ camps?
6. Private tutors?
7. My son is pitifully weak at Comprehensions and writing compositions - how should I build him up there? I try to read with him for 15-20 min everyday now and ask him questions to test understanding. Should I do comprehension papers with him? How should I do them so that I dont end up spoon-feeding, but also get confidence that he is improving?

Thank you and looking forward to a great discussion, tips, pointers and bonding over the next many months

Thank you so much for spirited responses. We are all passionate about our children and the approaches we take can be very different as well.

Private tutoring in my opinion can be good to plug specific gaps. DS for eg is strangely bad at comprehension - and am really struggling to get him up to speed in his own. I do take the point that reading and discussing is v important - have not done that with him at all.

@simona28 suggest getting schofield and sims comprehension books - start with year 1 and year 2 books to build his confidence. they have varied texts (story, poem, facts) so good exposure. you can do daily to begin with and see how DC gets on. also, how is your DC's writing speed - do they write joined up?

We were in kings 2nd tier 25–50% . Didn’t get to 2nd round .
so we go to 8+ again.
only just curious to see whether he gets to 2nd or 3rd round this time .
it’s like super Mario game for us .
hopeful by age 12 we can look back and laugh about it .
(We like and plan to stay in our current school & too lazy to move home . So not hugely stressed the outcome ) only use it as a way to find where he is and how much he grows academically.

hello, please I would be grateful if you could share the name of the company used to help with 8+ prep.

thank you very much

Does your dc like to read on their own for pleasure? I found this is when my ds really took off with reading and comprehension. We did not do much effort with it. When he had comprehension hw I let him do it all on his own and did not look at it. The teachers never really said anything, but after a year they said he was really good at comprehension. My thought is it is because he became very interested in reading and absorbing the information he read. Some dc do not get interested in reading because they are not really understanding or absorbing what they are reading.

Restarting this thread - DS got an interview and activity day invite for King's. Activity day was on Monday and he came out all happy and there seemed to be some innocuous group work. DS said there were approx 40 kids for 14 spaces - so about 1 in 3.

Waiting for the interview tomorrow, but have given the son a break from studies for 3 weeks and will restart for the January exams (St Paul's, WUS) in earnest from next week!

SPJS - have planned on doing the Exam papers Plus practise papers, but having a look through them, they look particularly difficult!

WUS - got him an Atom learning subscription, but now seeing that Math and English are on paper. Will continue Atom for reasoning, I guess!

How are others doing on their 8+ journey?

We only have WUS in mind if my DS can get in. How are u using Atom learning the paper exam seem on,y for 11 plus am I missing something ? He is not showing my
much interest in comprehension really stressed.

@simona28 would you mind sharing what resources you are using for WUS prep pls.

@simona28 we will be in the same situation next year as emotionally my DS was not ready this year. Was wondering whether you have started 8+ marathon straightaway in December or have your DS a break? Which resources did you use for 8+? Thank you

Hi we were already well prepped for 7+ so gave the son a break in Jan and started slowly around Feb. I found it studying with my son for 8+ much easier than for 7+. He was way more mature (sunmer born) and had been through the 7+ grill already so was mentally prepped to step it up to the next level.

We started with Bond books next level (8-9 years) and CGPs. Then by summer we had started on EPP 8+ papers.

We did not make it through the King's interviews so now preparing for SPJ and WUS in full-swing. Am way calmer too now than I was in 7+

This is off topic, but how did you all approach the exams / the general topic of admissions with your boys? This is a few years away for us (if it even ends up making sense as he grows up), but are you transparent in the sense of ‘we are doing this to get into xyz schools,’ or do you just try to build studying into the routine without necessarily explaining the end goal?

I am definitely getting ahead of myself, but I’ve always wondered how parents frame it so that DS has sufficient motivation, but also won’t feel as if he’s ‘failed’ should he not get in.

Thank you for your message! Good luck next week!

@crelsb kids are fairly resilient at 6/7, so they usually shrug off any failures. Unlike failing at 11+/13+ where there is a much bigger impact and chances of self-doubt. I have tutored all sorts of boys, some with motivation, some without, and I have noticed that the level of motivation really doesn't affect the 7+/8+ results as long as they are disciplined and have done enough practice.

@mugglebump that’s quite interesting. How to make sure then that well prepared 7-8 year old is focussed during exams and not scared of exams?

@Cadeaux82 it's all about practice. They should do so many timed exams/papers that it's a breeze for them when it comes to the actual exam. The key thing is not to make the actual exam a big deal, it should just be 'another one of those practice exams' for the child.

There's probably no 6 year old child in the world who can sit a 3 hour exam on the first try. It has to be built up, from half an hour to one hour to two hours to three hours - there's no shortcut to it.

Focus, in general, can also improve in other ways. Martial arts, sports, learning an instrument etc are good for improving focus overall.

My two cents - having been through both 7+ and 8+ now: For 7+, I did not tell DS what schools he would be going for and why. We did do Open Days but he didnt really know exactly how many and which schools. He took the exams as they came (KCS, SPJ, Latymer, WUS). When he did not get admissions to any (had interview invites to quite a few) - he did ask me why we did not sit for other schools like City London or Dulwich, where his other friends had gone to.

For 8+, he knew which schools, since he had been through those exams. He was turned down at KCS interviews - which I have not told him about (my heart breaks when he asks me when they will tell), because there was a large gap between KCS and other 8+ exams and I wanted him to remain confident and focused. I can also see the point of letting him know the raw truth, but having seen his disappointment at not being selected after some 7+ interviews while his friends did, I did not want him to start giving up).

When we get feedback from KCS end of Jan, I will break it to him with the feedback.

Our last exams finished with SPJS and I don't know what to do with all the free time, haha! Have given the boy a proper break and now waiting for WUS/SPJS interview invites to come (or not come, as the case may be).

How did the exams yesterday go?

DS is going back to WUS for interviews next Wed. SPJ today - fingers crossed!

Sorry to post here, but I am conscious that many of those with the experience / knowledge I am after may be on this thread already.
My son is at a state school in Year 2, which (obviously) does not prep for 8+. I have recently started thinking about trying him for the 8+ at WUS, not having even thought about (let alone prepped him for) the 7+. Previously, my intention was to keep him at state until 11 – but I have begun to change my mind as I am concerned the gap between state and private at this stage will just be too great.
In view of this, I want to start tutoring asap (please do not judge – I am a single mother and work full time and do not have the time to prep my son each evening – which I think is probably what is required). Can anyone recommend a tutor in SW / central London (we live near Victoria station), particularly for English? Whilst he is an excellent reader, his written English is very “behind” where he needs to be (e.g. they do not do any real written writing at school yet, save for sentence responses to comprehension. The creative writing exercises on the 8+ papers terrify me).
Any recommendations (or other pointers) gratefully received. Many thanks (and good luck to those waiting for results).

Hi, please do not feel guilty if you think your child needs tutoring. I can state for a fact that most of the children getting into these schools have used external support. The few that haven't, are truly geniuses.

We were in the same position around comprehensions and writing. We picked up a tutor from Owl Tutors for English for 3 months, specifically geared towards:

1. Helping him with comprehension strategies
2. Building his vocabulary and helping him write in flowery language, using similies, metaphors, adjectives, etc etc.

After 3 months (of also watching) I felt capable enough to work with DS. For writing, I used to give him a paragraph to write on anything (random topics or pictures shown) 3 times a week. Then used to work with him on improving the paragraph.

Towards September, I got him a few weeks of classes with First Exams for writing (you can look them up on google). That helped him polish for KCS (he got an interview invite but no further).

For comprehension, I sat with my son and made him read the comprehension passages loudly, with expression etc and asked him questions every few sentences (got this technique from the Owl Tutor fellow). Working like that for a few months helped a lot.

Also what really made a difference was I enrolled my son for almost all mock tests happening all over the place all the way till December. He was very well prepped in managing his time as a result. These mock tests are expensive but well worth it.

Hope that helps. My son gave the SPJS interview yday and is going for WUS interviews tomorrow. While I cannot vouch for how his interviews go (he was rejected at Kings), I can certainly say that the above really helped me (and him) crack the written assessments of these tough schools.

Enormous thanks - this is massively helpful!
I hope the interview at WUS has gone well. Very best of luck with the results - sounds like you have done all you possibly could have done for your son!

We have admits now from both WUS and SPJS :-)
This weekend is going to be all about trying to decide which one to go for.

@simona28 congratulations! So happy for you!! Well done to you and your DS!

Congrats @simona28 , well done to your ds. Go with your gut of which is best for your ds and the best commute.

Amazing! Huge congratulations to you and your son!