Dulwich Prep & Senior 7+, 11+ and 13+ Admissions: Assessment, Scholarships and Fees

How do you get into Dulwich Prep & Senior? Boys register online by the autumn deadline and then sit the school's own entrance assessment, which at 7+ and 8+ is a half-day visit with English and Maths papers and computer-based verbal and non-verbal reasoning tests, and at 11+ and 13+ adds quantitative reasoning, team tasks and an informal interview. A report from the current school and a reference from its head or teacher accompany every older entry.

The same school takes boys at Reception, Year 3, Year 4, Years 5 and 6, Years 7 and 8 and Year 9, and most boys leave at the end of Year 8 for 13+ senior schools. The entrance exam therefore changes in format by age, and the sections below set out each stage, the registration steps, the scholarships and bursaries, and the fees.

Entry points and places

The school admits boys at Reception (4+), Year 3 (7+), Year 4 (8+), Years 5 and 6, Years 7 and 8 (11+) and Year 9 (13+), with Fledglings and Nursery below Reception, and most pupils leave at the end of Year 8. Reception has about 20 new places each year alongside boys moving up from Nursery, whereas places in older year groups are not published and availability is not guaranteed in every year group.

Families who want to know whether a place exists in a particular year group contact the Admissions Office, and boys may be assessed for a waiting list. From Reception onwards the school is boys only through Year 11.

• Year 3 (7+): half-day visit, papers and computer-based reasoning
• Year 4 (8+): the same format with the Head of Year 4
• Years 5 and 6: reasoning tests, written English and Maths, team tasks, interview
• Years 7 and 8 (11+): the same format as Years 5 and 6
• Year 9 (13+): half-day visit with the same components

How the Year 3 (7+) and Year 4 (8+) assessment works

The 7+ assessment is a half-day visit that includes lunch, with English and Maths papers, computer-based verbal and non-verbal reasoning tests, and a mix of reading, free play, a school tour, ball games in the Sports Hall and singing in Music. The English paper covers comprehension and story writing, and the school does not name an outside test provider for the reasoning tests.

Each boy also has an individual informal chat with the Head of Pre-Prep and the Head of Year 3, whilst parents are invited to coffee with the Head Master on drop-off. The 8+ visit follows the same pattern, with the chat led by the Head of Section and the Head of Year 4.

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How the Year 5 to Year 9 (11+ and 13+) assessment works

From Year 5 upwards the assessment consists of verbal, non-verbal and quantitative reasoning tests, written English covering writing and comprehension, written Maths, team tasks with boys of a similar age, and an informal interview. The school describes its aim as confirming that a boy will thrive in a selective school with high academic standards, and it states that entry standard is above the average attainment for each age group under the National Curriculum.

Year 9 entry for the Senior section is a half-day visit with lunch and the same components, sat in the autumn before entry. Boys with diagnosed SEND needs who require Exam Access Arrangements may be asked to attend on an adjusted day.

Registration and the admissions timeline

Registration is online through the Register and Apply page, and for most year groups it closes in the autumn before the September of entry, with assessments following between November and the new year. Offers usually arrive within days of the earlier assessments and by mid-February for Years 7 and 8, followed by an Offer Holders Event for several year groups.

• Step 1: choose the UK resident, overseas resident, or register-and-apply-for-a-bursary form and pay the non-returnable registration fee
• Step 2: visit and tour the sites if possible, and send the most recent school report
• Step 3: the current school is asked for a reference before assessment
• Step 4: attend the assessment day for your son's year group
• Step 5: receive the offer, with any bursary outcome issued alongside it
• Step 6: return the signed Acceptance Form and Contract for Educational Services, and pay the non-returnable deposit, which differs for Prep and Senior

Interviews and references

Every boy from Year 3 upwards meets staff informally, and the school asks the current school for a reference before the assessment takes place. Parents also supply the most recent school report, and the school weighs academic potential, conduct and attitude, which is why a current-school reference may be requested even where papers have been completed well.

The interview is informal and sits alongside team tasks, so the school sees how a boy works with others as well as how he performs on paper. Sibling admission is not automatic, although brothers are welcomed where possible.

Scholarships and bursaries

Scholarships are offered at Year 7 (11+) in academic, music and sport, and at Year 9 (13+) in academic, music, sport and creative awards covering art, drama and design technology. Each carries a 10 per cent fee remission for the boy's whole time at the school, with up to four awards at Year 7 and up to six at Year 9, open to current pupils and external applicants.

Academic scholarships are assessed by a written examination on the Admissions Assessment Day, music by an audition and an interview with the Director of Music, and sport by practical assessments and an interview with the Director of Sport. Creative candidates present a portfolio or take part in drama workshops.

Means-tested bursaries go to new applicants entering Year 3 or above who could not otherwise attend; the school does not publish a maximum share of fees. The boy sits tests and an interview, the family submits a confidential statement of financial circumstances, a home visit may be requested, and the Finance Committee reviews awards annually.

Fees and what they include

Fees are charged per term and rise by year group, with Fledglings and Nursery lowest and Years 5 to 10 at a single level, as set out in the fees field above. They cover normal curriculum tuition, lunches, most clubs, activities and day trips, special educational needs provision and counselling, and in Years 4 to 9 one term-time residential trip each year.

Extras include flexi and weekly boarding, individual music lessons, external clubs, optional international holiday trips, uniform and the wraparound care service, which runs from early morning to evening. A small discount applies for families with three or more children at the school, and fees are due before the relevant term begins.

Where pupils join from and move on to

The school runs its own Fledglings, Nursery, Reception, Pre-Prep, Prep and Senior sections, and pupils normally move up without internal tests, with the exception of Fledgling boys, who sit an internal 4+ assessment because entry at two is not assessed. No external feeder or partner schools are named.

Most boys leave at the end of Year 8 for senior schools at 13+, and the school offers a Life After DPS page on that transition. Families who prefer to stay can remain through GCSE in the Senior section; there is no sixth form of its own, so entry at 16+ does not exist, and the school supports a move to an external sixth form.

How to prepare

Preparation follows the components named above: for Year 3 and Year 4, regular reading, practice with comprehension and story writing, Maths papers, and familiarity with short computer-based verbal and non-verbal reasoning questions. A calm routine with plenty of reading usually serves a boy better than intensive drilling, since the day also includes play, ball games and singing.

For Year 5 and above, practising verbal, non-verbal and quantitative reasoning in timed sections helps, as does written work in English and Maths and some experience of working with unfamiliar boys, since team tasks form part of the assessment. A visit to the Alleyn Park or Early Years site beforehand tends to make the assessment day more familiar.

Related guides

• Best private schools in the UK and London by A level results
• Independent school fees compared
• Dulwich College (11+)
• Alleyn's School (11+)
• James Allen's Girls' School (11+)
• The ISEB Common Pre-Test explained
• 13+ Common Entrance explained
• The 11+ entrance exam explained
• The 7+ entrance exam explained
• The 8+ entrance exam explained
• 11+ and 13+ scholarship exams explained
• What is a bursary? Private school bursaries explained
• Boarding schools in the UK

Preparing for the Dulwich Prep & Senior 7+ with Taylor Tuition

Families preparing for the Dulwich Prep & Senior 7+ usually come to us a year or so before the assessment, though shorter runs work where the foundations are already sound. Having prepared pupils for entry to leading independent and grammar schools, with placements including Westminster, St Paul's, Wycombe Abbey and Eton, our tutors build each programme around the format the school actually uses, whether a written paper, an online pre-test, an interview or a combination of them.

More than half of our tutors hold Qualified Teacher Status and around three in five hold a master's degree or doctorate, and the pool includes former heads of department, exam-board examiners and teachers from independent and boarding schools, so the preparation is led by people who know how selective schools assess. Every tutor who works with children holds an enhanced DBS check.

Families in London and further afield work with us online, and in person in central London. Fees start from £50 per 50-minute session and depend on tutor level and subject, with no registration fee and a free initial consultation to talk through your child's current level and the timeline to the 7+. Families receive progress reports after sessions and have a dedicated point of contact.

Read more about our 7+ entrance exam tutors, or send an enquiry and we will come back with tutor recommendations.