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, all! I haven't been able to stop my tears since the day before everytime I think of the process and what my son and I went through. It was not easy and required a lot of perseverance.

The most important learning for me was to be patient and tell my son how proud I was of all the effort he was putting in, irrespective of results. Kids thrive on positive feedback and some tough love.

I am not a patient person and I think the process has changed me and brought my son and I very close together. All our failures and successes throughout the journey were shared with equal passion.

Congrats !!! Pls share some insights which might help others if possible.

@simona28 Congratulations on the brilliant results. Can I please know as you had asked at the start of this thread, what level to aim for in bond books / cpg for 8+? Is it 8-9 or higher?

Congratulations @simona28 . Have you got a feedback from KCS? I was under impression it was easier to get to KCS than to WUS or SPJ.

He should be doing higher 9-10 assessment papers and if he finds that easy he can try 10-11

If you are saying that for 8+ they should be doing Bond 9-10 and 10-11, then that would mean 8-9 and 9-10 for 7+ which is way too high.
i would say 8-9 and early 9-10.

I Specifically said if he finds 9-10 easy, he can move on to 10-11. I have 2 boys- DS1 is in his 5th year at SPJ he took the 7+ exams in 2018 and the other in 2022. My younger son had to take 8+ this January as he was on waitlist for 7+. The second stage maths was very difficult and not in anyway to be classified as 8-9 maths!