For those of you preparing for upcoming 7+ exams in December and January, here is a helpful overview of very good past papers published by the top target schools in London, along with a few more from highly selective schools elsewhere in England. They vary in difficulty, so I recommend rather than going through paper by paper, to print a variety of specimen papers and sort the individual pages in order of increasing difficulty, getting your child started on the more straight forward questions. Also adapt it to the level of your child, there is no point giving them a paper covering three digit subtraction if they have no idea what that is.
Also see the post The Shine Academy launches new 7+ / 8+ Maths preparation programme.
If you child is still in Year 1 or not ready for the most challenging papers, you could start with the following very helpful Schofield & Sims Maths workbooks that cover the Key Stage 1 curriculum and are well aligned with the material tested at 7+:
- Bond books: English, Maths and reasoning bundle, age 7-8
- First Mental Arithmetic 3 (Year 1) – this one may be too easy for more advanced kids
- First Mental Arithmetic 4 (Year 1) – still easy for some but helpful to get used to the format
- First Mental Arithmetic 5 (advanced Year 1)
- First Mental Arithmetic 6 (early Year 2)
- Key Stage 1 Problem Solving 3
- Fractions
- Telling the Time (Year 2)
You can find further recommended workbooks on our recommended resources page. Below is a list of links to 7+ specimen papers published online directly by the schools. Latymer Prep does not publish the past papers online but sends it out to those who have registered for the exam well in advance.
- North London Collegiate School, 7+ English
- North London Collegiate School, 7+ Maths
- King’s College Wimbledon, 7+ English
- King’s College Wimbledon, 7+ Maths
- Haberdasher Aske’s Boys, 7+ English Comprehension
- Haberdasher Aske’s Boys, 7+ English Grammar
- Haberdasher Aske’s Boys, 7+ English Storywriting
- Haberdasher Aske’s Boys, 7+ Maths
- Westminster Cathedral Choir School, 7+ Maths
- Westminster Cathedral Choir School, 7+ English
- Bancroft’s School, 7+ Maths
Once your child has covered the material and gotten to know some of the exam papers, it is a very good idea to purchase a few extra sets of Maths, Problem – Solving and Comprehension papers published by Exampapersplus. They are very challenging, but on the plus side, once your child can solve these, the real 7+ test won’t seem so challenging anymore. This is especially important for those applying to the most selective schools.
You should also read What you need to know about the 7+ exam.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I was informed there were ‘free’ sample materials available on this site, for the ‘7+’ comprehension/writing tests.
I have had a reasonable browse, but see nothing of that; *am I mistaken?
*If so, could you direct me to the right area on the site to search,or, to another similarly ‘free’ source.
My thanks indeed for any help/guidance you can offer; ideally today or tomorrow, as I am scheduled to tutor a candidate for the ”7+’, this friday, september 27th.
Kindest,
Gary Fahy
if you scroll down to the middle of the post, click the links starting at “North London Collegiate School 7+ English”, you have links to 11 free 7+ papers by a range of the most selective prep schools.