A school-by-school guide to the 8+ English paper — format, timing and the dates each school publishes for 2027 entry.
Book a Free Consultation8+ English is the English paper set at 8+ entry, the Year 3 assessment some independent day schools use for a Year 4 place at age 7 to 8, and it is a different test from Year 8 (Key Stage 3) English. King's College Junior School Wimbledon, St Paul's Juniors, Dulwich Prep & Senior and Westminster Cathedral Choir School each set their own 8+ English paper, and each publishes its own admissions process for 2027 entry.
Already know which school your child is sitting the 8+ for? Our primary and 7+ English tutors build sessions around a child's own school's paper — comprehension, dictation or spelling — rather than a generic 8+ pack.
Book a Free ConsultationMessage us on WhatsAppNo exam board sets a common 8+ English paper the way GL Assessment or ISEB set some 11+ and 13+ tests. The Independent Schools Examinations Board's own introduction to Common Entrance describes its Common Entrance and Common Academic Scholarship Examinations as taken "for CE taken at 13+ (usually at the end of Year 8) or 11+ (in Year 6) or for the Common Academic Scholarship Examinations (CASE) (in Year 8)" — there is no 8+ product in that list. At 8+, every school writes, sets and marks its own English paper.
King's College Junior School Wimbledon's admissions page runs 7+, 8+ and 9+ entry together each autumn: "each September, the junior school admits around 54 pupils into year 3 at 7+, 14 pupils into year 4 at 8+ and 12 pupils into year 5 at 9+." The school admits boys only at these three entry points, and states that girls will join in phases starting from September 2029. King's College Junior School has no sibling policy at 8+: each candidate is assessed, and offered a place, on individual merit rather than because a brother already attends.
St Paul's Juniors lists its admissions points on its own admissions overview as "7+, 11+, 13+ and 16+", with no separate 8+ point named. Its selection-procedure page for this stage, filed under the URL path entry-to-st-pauls-7-8, describes the English task as "a Dictation exercise", alongside Mathematics and Reasoning. Boys who do well in the written tests are invited back for a half-day group assessment involving a Maths lesson, an English lesson and a group problem-solving task, and the school says this timing "enables boys to know their results within a fortnight" of sitting the written papers.
Dulwich Prep & Senior's own entry-procedures page admits boys into Year 4 — the school's 8+ entry point — with papers "in English and Maths (including comprehension and story writing)" plus computer-based verbal and non-verbal reasoning tests.
Westminster Cathedral Choir School's admissions page for 7+ and 8+ entry sets English differently again, listing specimen papers "for specimen 8+ comprehension & composition papers", "for specimen 8+ punctuation papers" and "for specimen 8+ spelling papers" — three separate components rather than one combined English paper.
The differences are not cosmetic. A family moving between schools, or preparing before a school is confirmed, needs to prepare for genuinely different formats rather than one generic "8+ English" test.
At King's College Wimbledon, 8+ candidates sit "English Comprehension (25 minutes)" and "English Writing (20 minutes)", the same two components and timings as the school's 7+ paper. The school's admissions page states that in the writing section "credit will be given for good spelling, punctuation and paragraphing, as well as imaginative and exciting use of vocabulary", and that "irrelevant answers or pre-learnt sentences will be penalised" — so a memorised opening paragraph is a risk to avoid, not a technique to teach.
St Paul's Juniors takes a different approach entirely. Its selection-procedure page states plainly that "candidates will be invited to sit tests in English, Mathematics and Reasoning. The English task remains a Dictation exercise, the Mathematics and Reasoning tasks remain similar to previous years, with the Reasoning tasks being weighted according to age." A dictation paper rewards accurate spelling and punctuation heard aloud rather than composed independently, which calls for different preparation from a comprehension-and-writing test.
Dulwich Prep & Senior's Year 4 (8+) assessment combines a written English and Maths paper — "including comprehension and story writing" — with computer-based verbal and non-verbal reasoning, and the school also says "we hear the boys read, allow them to play, and let them look around the school" as part of the same half-day visit. Reading aloud in front of an adult is therefore assessed alongside the written paper, not instead of it.
Westminster Cathedral Choir School splits English into three separate papers at 8+: comprehension and composition, punctuation, and spelling, each with its own specimen paper. A child sitting WCCS therefore needs discrete practice in spelling and punctuation as tested skills in their own right, not only as marks awarded inside a longer piece of writing.
At Dulwich, the same half-day visit that includes the English and Maths papers also gives boys "the chance to play ball games in the Sports Hall and to join in some fun singing in the Music department", alongside an informal individual meeting with the relevant head of year.
The table below summarises each school's format.
| School | 8+ English format |
|---|---|
| King's College Junior School Wimbledon | 25-minute comprehension paper, then a 20-minute writing paper |
| St Paul's Juniors | Dictation exercise |
| Dulwich Prep & Senior | Comprehension and story writing, plus reading aloud to a member of staff |
| Westminster Cathedral Choir School | Three separate papers: comprehension & composition, punctuation, spelling |
Preparing for a specific school's 8+ English paper — St Paul's dictation, Westminster Cathedral Choir School's three separate papers, or King's College Wimbledon's comprehension and writing sections — calls for different practice in each case. Our primary and 7+ English tutors build sessions around the exact format a child's own school sets.
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At King's College Wimbledon, yes in structure: the school's own admissions page lists an identical two-part format at 7+ and 8+ — "English Comprehension (25 minutes)" and "English Writing (20 minutes)" — and separately publishes distinct specimen papers for each entry point, a "7+ English Specimen" and an "8+ English Specimen", without stating that the content differs between them.
The two intakes are not the same size. King's own admissions page states the school "admits around 54 pupils into year 3 at 7+, 14 pupils into year 4 at 8+ and 12 pupils into year 5 at 9+" each September, so 8+ is the smallest of the school's three junior entry points even where the paper format is unchanged.
Leading Tuition's own 7+ tuition page notes, more generally across schools, that "some schools have an 8+ entry point (Year 4 intake) which follows a similar format but with a higher difficulty level — check individual school websites for exact arrangements" — which is the position King's own two specimen papers leave open rather than settle.
For September 2027 entry, King's College Wimbledon's own key-dates page sets the registration deadline at "12:00pm (midday) on Friday 18 September 2026" and the written assessment for "8+ exam candidates" on "Friday 9 October 2026", with parents of candidates selected for interview notified in "mid-November 2026" and an acceptance deadline at the "end January 2027". In between, selected candidates attend an activity session on Monday 2 November 2026 and are interviewed between Tuesday 3 and Tuesday 10 November 2026, before parents hear the outcome.
Dulwich Prep & Senior's key-dates table for "Years 4, 5 & 6" 2027 entry lists a "Registration Deadline: Friday 30 October 2026", "Assessment: Thursday 26 November 2026", "Offers: By Friday 4 December 2026" and an "Acceptance Deadline: Friday 11 December 2026".
Westminster Cathedral Choir School runs its 8+ admissions differently from a single sitting. Its admissions page states that "once a pupil is registered, we will contact you to arrange an academic assessment at 7+ or 8+, during the year prior to entry"; "subject to satisfactory assessment, places are offered on a first-come-first-served basis; WCCS no longer assesses at 7+ or 8+ en masse in January."
St Paul's publishes its key dates under a single heading rather than a separate 8+ line. Its page titled "Important Dates for 7+" lists one exam sitting for the 2027 entry cycle — "7+ Exam Saturday 21 November 2026" — under the same URL path, entry-to-st-pauls-7-8, that its admissions overview uses to cover both year groups.
Preparation follows from format, not from a generic "8+ English" checklist. For King's College Wimbledon and Dulwich Prep & Senior, unseen comprehension under time pressure is part of the paper, but the writing task differs: King's marks for "spelling, punctuation and paragraphing" and penalises pre-learnt sentences, while Dulwich's is a story-writing task sat alongside a reading-aloud check. St Paul's dictation calls for a different skill again — accurate spelling and punctuation produced from what a child hears rather than composes — so practice needs real dictation passages, not comprehension papers. Westminster Cathedral Choir School's three separate papers mean spelling and punctuation need discrete practice as tested skills, not only as marks inside a longer piece of writing.
Neither Leading Tuition's 7+ tuition page nor our primary tuition page names a distinct "8+" course: the 7+ page treats 8+ as a variant of the same assessment at a higher level of difficulty, and primary tuition covers children from Year 3 to Year 6 without naming a specific entrance exam. Our primary and 7+ English tutors build 8+ preparation around a child's own school's actual paper — comprehension, dictation, or the discrete spelling and punctuation Westminster Cathedral Choir School sets — rather than a single generic format. For the wider Year 2-to-Year 3 admissions calendar across subjects, see our 8+ entrance exam guide.
Our primary and 7+ English tutors build 8+ preparation around a child's own school's actual paper — dictation practice for St Paul's, discrete spelling and punctuation drilling for Westminster Cathedral Choir School, or timed comprehension and writing practice for King's College Wimbledon and Dulwich Prep & Senior.
Book a Free ConsultationMessage us on WhatsAppNo. There is no common 8+ exam board paper in the way GL Assessment or ISEB set some 11+ and 13+ tests. King's College Junior School Wimbledon sets a 25-minute comprehension paper and a 20-minute writing paper, St Paul's Juniors sets a dictation exercise, Westminster Cathedral Choir School sets three separate papers in comprehension and composition, punctuation, and spelling, and Dulwich Prep & Senior sets a comprehension and story-writing paper alongside computer-based reasoning and hearing each boy read aloud. A family moving between schools needs to prepare for the specific paper, not a generic 8+ English format.
At King's College Junior School Wimbledon the two papers share an identical structure and timing — a 25-minute comprehension section and a 20-minute writing section at both 7+ and 8+ — but the school publishes separate specimen papers for each entry point. King's admits around 54 pupils into Year 3 at 7+ and 14 into Year 4 at 8+ each September, so the two intakes are not the same size even though the published paper format is unchanged.
The school's own admissions page lists specimen papers for three separate 8+ English components — comprehension and composition, punctuation, and spelling — rather than one combined English paper. Westminster Cathedral Choir School no longer assesses 7+ or 8+ candidates en masse in a single January sitting; it now arranges an individual academic assessment during the year before entry and offers places on a first-come-first-served basis.
St Paul's own admissions overview lists its entry points as 7+, 11+, 13+ and 16+, with no separate 8+ point named, and its key-dates page is titled Important Dates for 7+, listing a single exam sitting — Saturday 21 November 2026 — for the 2027 entry cycle rather than a distinct 8+ date. Its selection-procedure page describes the English task at this stage as a dictation exercise, alongside Mathematics and Reasoning tests.
Boys entering Year 4 sit papers in English and Maths, including comprehension and story writing, complete computer-based verbal and non-verbal reasoning tests, and are individually heard reading aloud during the same half-day visit. For September 2027 entry, the registration deadline is Friday 30 October 2026, with assessment on Thursday 26 November 2026 and offers issued by Friday 4 December 2026.
No. The Independent Schools Examinations Board runs Common Entrance and the Common Academic Scholarship Examinations at 11+ and 13+ only — its own introduction to Common Entrance describes CE as taken at 13+, usually at the end of Year 8, or 11+, in Year 6, with the Common Academic Scholarship Examinations also sat in Year 8. There is no 8+ product in that list, so every 8+ English paper is written, set and marked by the school itself.
Neither our 7+ tuition page nor our primary tuition page names a separate 8+ course: the 7+ page describes 8+ as a similar format to 7+ at a higher level of difficulty, and primary tuition covers children from Year 3 to Year 6 without naming a specific entrance exam. Our primary and 7+ English tutors build 8+ preparation around a child's own school's actual format — comprehension, dictation, or the discrete spelling and punctuation Westminster Cathedral Choir School sets — rather than a single generic 8+ pack.
91% of our students achieve their desired grades, and we are rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 58 reviews. Our primary and 7+ tutors work across primary tuition and 7+ preparation, building 8+ English sessions around a child's own school's paper.
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