Dulwich College 13+ Preparation

Dulwich College, the selective boys' independent school on Dulwich Common in south London, admits around 80 boys into Year 9 (13+) each year through two distinct routes: a Year 6 deferred entry route carrying 50 places and a Year 8 entry route carrying 30. Dulwich sets its own bespoke entrance tests for both routes and does not use the ISEB Common Pre-Test that many comparable schools rely on. Leading Tuition prepares boys for whichever route applies to their timeline.

Two Routes Into Dulwich College at 13+: How Do the Year 6 and Year 8 Routes Differ?

Most families researching "13+ preparation" assume there is one exam, sat the year before entry, at age 12 or 13. Dulwich College runs two genuinely different processes, and which one applies to your son depends on where he is at school now — this is the single most important thing to establish before choosing how to prepare.

The Year 6 deferred entry route is open only to boys already at a UK 13+ prep school. They sit Dulwich's bespoke entrance examinations three years early, while still in Year 6, for a place that does not actually start until Year 9 — assuming they accept, they remain at their current prep school through Year 7 and Year 8 before joining Dulwich. This route carries 50 of the 80 places and is the larger of the two. The Year 8 entry route is open more broadly, including to boys outside the UK, and follows the more familiar pattern: candidates sit their entrance papers the year before they join, while in Year 8, for a September start the following year. This route carries 30 places.

The interview ratios are worth sitting with for a moment. On the deferred entry route, 120 boys are invited to interview for 50 places — a ratio of roughly 2.4 to 1. On the Year 8 route, only 40 are invited for 30 places — close to 1.3 to 1. That does not necessarily mean the Year 8 route is easier: fewer candidates apply through it in the first place, and Dulwich sets the interview shortlist on written performance either way. It does mean the two routes should not be compared as though they were the same exam with different timing.

Why "13+ Means ISEB" Is Wrong for Dulwich College

Across independent-school admissions, "13+" has become shorthand for the ISEB Common Pre-Test — a standardised, nationally administered computer test that most senior schools accept in place of setting their own. It is a reasonable assumption for many schools. It is the wrong one for Dulwich College. The school's own admissions page states, of the December sitting for deferred entry candidates, that they "will sit their Entrance Examinations at Dulwich College... using our own bespoke tests," adding explicitly: "We do not use the ISEB pre-test for Deferred Entry applicants."

The same is true of the Year 8 route. Nowhere on Dulwich's admissions pages is ISEB mentioned in connection with entry at this level — candidates sit the College's own English and Mathematics papers, supplemented by an online reasoning component the school administers itself. A family that buys ISEB-branded preparation resources for Dulwich College is preparing for a test format the school does not use. Roughly a quarter of the schools we have researched across the 13+ family set their own tests rather than ISEB's, and Dulwich is one of them — the practical consequence is that generic ISEB practice papers will not resemble either of Dulwich's actual exams closely enough to be reliable preparation on their own.

What Does the Year 6 Deferred Entry Exam Actually Involve?

The deferred entry test is sat in one sitting, lasting around three hours including breaks, and is built from two parts. Part 1 is entirely online and has six components. Three are adaptive, meaning question difficulty adjusts in real time to how a candidate is performing, and once an answer is submitted it cannot be revisited: Mathematics (20 minutes), Non-Verbal Reasoning (10 minutes) and Verbal Reasoning (10 minutes). Three are non-adaptive, meaning every candidate sees the same fixed set of questions and can move backwards and forwards to check and change answers: English (30 minutes), Puzzles and Problem Solving (15 minutes) and Creative Comprehension (20 minutes).

Part 2 is a handwritten Creative Writing task lasting 20 minutes in total — five minutes of planning and 15 minutes of writing, responding to a set stimulus. Because three of the six online components are adaptive, the habits that matter most are different from a standard timed test: rushing to reach harder questions is counter-productive, since an early wrong answer that cannot be revised lowers the ceiling the adaptive engine will offer for the rest of that section. Boys who check carefully before submitting on the adaptive sections, and who can move fluently between question types across roughly two hours of online testing, are better placed than boys drilled only on speed.

What Does the Year 8 Entry Exam Involve, and Why Is It a Different Test?

The Year 8 route exam is considerably simpler in structure: written papers in English and Mathematics, plus online Reasoning tests. There is no adaptive section, no separate Puzzles and Problem Solving module, and no handwritten Creative Writing task — the format Dulwich has built for deferred entry candidates in Year 6 does not carry over to boys applying in Year 8. Candidates who sit the examinations overseas may instead be asked to complete a paper-based reasoning test rather than the online version, reflecting the wider geographic spread of Year 8 route applicants compared with the UK-only deferred entry route.

This matters for preparation because a boy coached exclusively on adaptive-test technique and creative writing — the deferred entry skill set — is not automatically ready for the Year 8 route's more conventional written papers, and vice versa. The two exams reward different things: sustained written accuracy and exam-standard essay technique for Year 8 entry, versus speed-under-adaptive-pressure and short-form creative response for deferred entry.

How Many Places Are There, and How Competitive Is Dulwich College 13+ Entry?

Dulwich College's Year 9 (13+) intake totals around 230 boys. Of these, roughly 150 move up automatically from Dulwich's own Lower School (its Year 7 and Year 8 boys), and around 80 join from outside — 50 through the Year 6 deferred entry route and 30 through the Year 8 entry route. In other words, external 13+ applicants are competing for a minority of a Year 9 intake that is otherwise filled internally, which is a materially different competitive picture from a school where the whole year group is recruited externally at 13+.

The school does not publish total applicant numbers for either route, so the interview-invite figures are the clearest public signal of competitiveness: 120 candidates interviewed for 50 deferred entry places, and 40 for 30 Year 8 route places. Families should treat both routes as genuinely selective — Dulwich is one of south London's most academically distinguished boys' schools — while recognising that the deferred entry route, because it is sat three years before the boy actually joins, rewards early, sustained preparation rather than a short pre-exam sprint.

What Scholarships and Bursaries Are Available at Dulwich College 13+?

Dulwich College offers Academic, Music, Art, Design & Technology and Sports scholarships at 13+ entry. Sport, Art and Design & Technology scholarships are typically worth 10% of tuition fees; Music and Academic scholarships can be worth up to one third. All candidates who sit the entrance examinations are automatically considered for an Academic scholarship, so no separate application is needed for that award. Music candidates applying at 13+ are expected to be around Grade 7 on their first instrument — a notably higher bar than the Grade 5 guide for 11+ candidates, reflecting the older age group, though still below the Grade 8-plus expected at 16+.

One detail is specific to the deferred entry route and easy to miss: because those boys sit their entrance exams in Year 6, three years before joining, they do not apply for scholarships at the same time as the exam. Instead, if they are offered and accept a place, they apply for Academic, Music, Art, Design & Technology and Sports scholarships when they reach Year 8 — the College sends full information the preceding summer term. Scholarships are not means-tested but can be supplemented by a means-tested bursary where there is genuine financial need, and the combined value of any scholarship and bursary cannot exceed the full fee.

What Do Dulwich College Fees Cost From Year 9?

Dulwich College's own published fee schedule for the 2026-27 academic year sets day fees at £10,706 per term for pupils from Year 9 through Year 13 — a small increase on the £10,662 per term charged for Year 3 to Year 8, but with one structural difference worth flagging: the Year 9-13 figure excludes the cost of school lunches, which younger pupils' fees include as standard and which Year 9-plus families instead book and pay for separately. Weekly boarding from Year 9 is £21,001 per term, which does include board, lodging and meals.

Registration for either 13+ route costs £200, non-refundable, though boys in receipt of Pupil Premium are exempt if their current school confirms this in writing on the registration form. The Governors reserve the right to review fee levels at any time, so families should confirm current figures directly with the school before budgeting against them.

When Are the Key Dates for the Current 13+ Admissions Cycle?

The two routes run on entirely separate calendars, which is easy to overlook when researching "Dulwich 13+ dates" generically. For the Year 6 deferred entry route — entry to Year 9 in September 2029 — registration closes on Friday 2 October 2026, at midday, with the entrance examinations held at Dulwich College on Tuesday 1 December 2026. For the Year 8 entry route — entry to Year 9 in September 2027 — registration closes on Monday 2 November 2026, at midday, with entrance examinations on Saturday 9 January 2027.

Both routes share the same results date in mid-February 2027, even though the deferred entry exam is sat five weeks earlier, in December, against the Year 8 route's January sitting. Access arrangements — extra time, supervised breaks or use of a word processor — are available for candidates with an identified need, reviewed by Dulwich's Learning Support team under JCQ regulations; supporting evidence must be submitted at the time of application, and any change to requirements notified to the Registrars at least 10 days before the relevant examination date. Families should always confirm current-cycle dates directly on Dulwich College's Year 9 entry admissions page, since a school can amend a published calendar between our research and your application.

How Can Leading Tuition Help With Dulwich College 13+ Preparation?

Leading Tuition builds a 13+ preparation programme around whichever of Dulwich's two routes applies to your son, because the two exams reward genuinely different skills on genuinely different timelines. For the Year 6 deferred entry route, our tutors work with boys well before the December sitting — typically starting in Year 5 — on the adaptive Maths, Non-Verbal Reasoning and Verbal Reasoning technique the format demands, alongside the non-adaptive English, Puzzles and Problem Solving and Creative Comprehension components, and the handwritten Creative Writing task. Because a wrong early answer on an adaptive section lowers the ceiling of what follows, we spend real time on the specific discipline of checking before submitting, not just on content.

For the Year 8 entry route, our tutors instead focus on exam-standard written English and Mathematics technique and online reasoning practice, since there is no adaptive or creative-writing component to prepare for on this route. Every programme is built on a diagnostic assessment of your son's current level and the time available before his relevant sitting, whether that is December for deferred entry or January for Year 8 entry. We do not run one generic "13+ preparation" package across both routes, because Dulwich itself does not run one exam across both routes.

We are rated 4.8 out of 5 from 57 reviews on Trustpilot, read on 19 August 2026, and 91% of our students achieve their desired grades. We work with families across south London — Dulwich Village, Herne Hill, East Dulwich, SE21, SE22, SE24 and beyond — and online across the UK and overseas for families using the Year 8 route from outside Britain. If your son is also being considered at 11+ or 16+, our Dulwich College 11+ guide and Dulwich College 16+ guide cover those entirely separate admissions processes. Book a free consultation to discuss a plan tailored to your son's route.

What Parents Say

DP

Deborah Prior

★★★★★

Confidence and progress

My son was low in confidence after COVID and the gaps in learning were building up. Using this service helped plug those gaps, rebuild confidence, and improve his ability to learn properly again.

NI

Nicola

★★★★★

Amazing tutors!

We arranged maths and English tuition ahead of GCSEs and both tutors were brilliant. My daughter's grades improved, and by results day she achieved two grades higher than in her mock exams.

S

Saifan Khan

★★★★★

Great Teaching and Focused Learning

I attended an English bootcamp with Leading Tuition and the experience was excellent. The teacher gave focused attention to the small group while keeping the lessons interactive and engaging.

Frequently Asked Questions About Dulwich College 13+ Entry

Further reading: Dulwich College 11+ Preparation | Dulwich College 16+ Entry | What Is the ISEB Pre-Test? | Common Entrance at 13+ | Free 13+ Past Papers, Including Dulwich's Own