King’s College School Wimbledon 11+ entry guide

Are you thinking about applying to King's College School Wimbledon for 11+ entry? Find out everything you need to know about the admissions process and how to prepare for the entrance exam.

Key information for King's College School Wimbledon

• School type: boys' independent day school (co-educational sixth form)
• Location: Wimbledon, South West London
• Admissions contact: reception@kcs.org.uk
• 11+ exam: school-set papers in English, maths and verbal reasoning, plus an interview
• Financial assistance: means-tested bursaries
• Scholarships: academic, music and sport

Important dates for 2027 entry

For boys born between 1st September 2015 and 31st August 2016.

• Monday 2nd November 2026: registration deadline
• Monday 2nd November 2026: music scholarship application deadline
• Monday 9th November 2026: sport scholarship application deadline
• Wednesday 18th November 2026: bursary application deadline
• Wednesday 19th November 2026: sport scholarship initial assessment
• Wednesday 26th November 2026: sport scholarship final assessment
• Saturday 5th December 2026: 11+ entrance exam (morning)
• Monday 11th January 2027: interview invitations emailed
• Thursday 14th, Friday 15th and Saturday 16th January 2027: interviews for selected candidates
• Tuesday 19th and Wednesday 20th January 2027: music scholarship auditions
• Friday 12th February 2027: results emailed to parents
• Wednesday 3rd March 2027 at 12 noon: deadline for accepting offers

How to apply to King's College School Wimbledon

King's College School Wimbledon is selective. This means your child will need to take an entrance exam to be considered for a place.

You must register your child for Year 7 entry via the school's Parent Portal. Registration typically opens in Year 5 and closes in early November of Year 6, with a non-refundable registration fee payable.

King's College School Wimbledon sets its own entrance exam, which your child will sit in early December of Year 6. Children who perform well in the exam are invited back for an interview in January. You will then receive your child's result, and if offered a place, you will have until early March to accept.

What will my child be tested on?

The King's College School Wimbledon 11+ entrance exam consists of three papers: English, maths and verbal reasoning.

English

The English paper has two parts:

• Reading comprehension (30 minutes). Your child will need to read a passage of text and answer questions to show how well they've understood what they've read, writing in their own words. Some questions will assess vocabulary and inference.
• Creative writing (20 minutes). This task varies from year to year, but may build on the passage used in the reading comprehension section. Your child will be assessed on spelling, punctuation, grammar, vocabulary and originality.

Maths

The maths paper lasts 50 minutes and has two sections. The first section covers shorter questions, including fractions, percentages and real-world measurements such as money, time, degrees and temperature. The second section is more complex, and your child may need to show their working. This section can include elements of algebra and pattern recognition.

Verbal reasoning

The third paper tests verbal reasoning — how well your child can use logic to solve problems involving letters, words and numbers. King's College School Wimbledon does not produce sample papers for this test, but the format is similar to verbal reasoning questions in GL Assessment 11+ exams.

How are places decided?

After the entrance exam, the admissions team decide which children to invite back for interview. This decision is based on your child's exam marks, a reference from their current headteacher, and any information provided in the application form. Interview invitations are emailed in mid-January.

Interviews take place in January. This is an opportunity for your child to talk about their interests and show their enthusiasm for learning. For more guidance, take a look at our guide to senior school interviews.

Results are emailed to parents in February. Places are offered based on exam performance, the headteacher's reference and the interview.

Financial information

King's College School Wimbledon is a fee-paying school. Take a look at the school website for a full breakdown of fees per year group.

Financial assistance

When exploring independent schools for your child, scholarships and bursaries are worth considering. They can ease the pressure of school fees and open doors to opportunities that might otherwise feel out of reach.

Scholarships

Scholarships are awarded for a child's talent or achievement. King's College School Wimbledon offers scholarships in academic, music and sport. Music scholarships involve an audition, and sport scholarships are assessed in two stages — an initial and a final assessment.

Scholarships often come with a small fee reduction and acknowledge your child's talents, motivating them and boosting their confidence. Some schools automatically consider all applicants, while others may request an additional application, assessment or audition.

Visit King's College School Wimbledon's website to see the scholarships available and how to apply.

For more information, read: Your guide to independent school scholarships.

Bursaries

Bursaries are means-tested awards (based on a family's financial situation) designed to make independent education more accessible. Depending on your circumstances, a bursary could cover part or all of the school fees and sometimes extras like uniforms, lunches or school trips.

Families provide financial information to qualify, and awards are reassessed each year. For many families, bursaries make an excellent education possible that might otherwise seem out of reach.

Visit King's College School Wimbledon's website to find out what bursaries are available and how to apply.

How can I help my child prepare for the test?

Applying to senior school can feel like a big milestone, but preparation doesn't have to be overwhelming. Here's how you can help your child prepare for test day.

Stay on track with a clear plan

One of the hardest parts of exam preparation is knowing what to focus on, when, and how to make steady progress without it taking over family life.

A clear, structured plan helps your child feel less overwhelmed and more in control. It ensures they build skills in the right order, cover everything they need, and avoid last-minute cramming.

Atom's exam plan makes this easier. Enter your child's target schools and exam dates, and we'll create a personalised weekly plan tailored to the topics they'll be tested on. It shows them what to work on and when, adapts as they improve, and helps them build progress in a calm, manageable way — little and often.

That means less guesswork for you, less stress for them, and a clearer path all the way to exam day.

Build smart exam technique

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As your child's knowledge grows, practice tests can help them feel more comfortable with the real exam format.

Atom's mock tests are exact replicas of real entrance exams. They're also unlimited — your child can take the same test repeatedly and see new questions each time. This helps them practise without repeating the same content.

Atom's mock tests are automatically marked. You'll see your child's standardised age score (SAS), where they're doing well, and what they should focus on next. You'll also learn how they compare to other children applying to the same school.

Encourage regular reading

Strong reading skills play a big role in preparation for entrance exams.

Encourage your child to read every day, even for just 10–15 minutes. The key is variety. Mix fiction and non-fiction, different genres, and a range of authors. This helps them become more confident in understanding tone, purpose, and meaning across different texts.

Over time, regular reading will:

• broaden their vocabulary
• improve comprehension and inference
• build confidence in tackling unseen texts

And just as importantly, it can help them enjoy reading — not just see it as exam preparation.

Looking for inspiration? Atom's reading and writing starter kit has suggestions spanning fiction and non-fiction for Years 3–6.

Celebrate progress, not just scores

When you're supporting your child through exam preparation, what really matters is knowing they're moving in the right direction — not just how they scored on a single test.

Atom's progress tracking gives you a clear, simple picture of how your child is doing in each topic and the direction they're moving in. You can see where they're on track, where they might need more practice, and spot progress as it happens.

That makes it easier to give meaningful encouragement, keep motivation steady, and focus on what matters most: consistent improvement, not just one-off results.