Dulwich Tutors for 4 Plus and 7 Plus
Dulwich Tutors Preparing Local Children for London's Most Competitive School Entrances
Dulwich is one of London’s most distinctive school communities. Within a mile of the village, families have access to an extraordinary concentration of independent schools — each with its own character, assessment approach, and entry criteria. Navigating that landscape requires more than general preparation. It requires specific, current knowledge of what each school is looking for, and how the local picture is shifting.
Hermes Education has worked with Dulwich families for years, preparing children for 4+ and 7+ assessments at the area’s leading schools. Our teachers bring direct experience from within these institutions. We know what Alleyn’s looks for in a four-year-old. We know how JAGS approaches its 7+ assessment. And we understand the practical realities facing Dulwich parents — because we work in the community, not just around it.
The Dulwich School Landscape — and How It Is Changing
The independent school map in Dulwich is not static. Several significant changes in recent years mean that families planning ahead need to think carefully about the landscape their child will be entering.
DUCKS
Dulwich College Kindergarten and Infants School now accepts boys all the way through to 18, completing its transition to full co-education across the Dulwich College family. This changes the calculus for families who previously viewed DUCKS as a girls-first pathway.
Dulwich Prep London
DPL has extended its year groups to 16, meaning it now competes more directly with senior schools that previously recruited at 13. Families choosing DPL at 4+ or 7+ are now making a longer-term commitment than before.
St Dunstan’s College
St Dunstan’s has acquired Rosemead Preparatory School. This merger brings a new feeder relationship into the picture and may affect the flow of pupils through the SE22 corridor in coming years.
Alleyn’s
Alleyn’s has acquired Oakfield Preparatory School — one of the most significant developments in the local prep landscape for some time. Oakfield families and Alleyn’s families are now navigating a new relationship, and entry dynamics at Alleyn’s Junior School may evolve as a result.
JAGS
JAGS is relocating its pre-prep building onto the main James Allen’s Girls’ School site. For families visiting at assessment time, this is a practical change to be aware of — and it signals a tighter integration between the pre-prep and main school that may be reflected in how the school presents itself to prospective families.
Understanding these shifts matters at assessment stage. Schools in transition often place particular weight on demonstrating genuine interest and knowledge of the institution. Generic preparation simply does not serve children as well as preparation grounded in current, specific intelligence.
4+ Preparation in Dulwich
The 4+ assessment typically takes place when children are three, with entry to Reception the following September. In Dulwich, the primary 4+ destinations include Alleyn’s Junior School, DUCKS, JAGS Pre-Prep, Sydenham High and Dulwich Prep London.
Each school assesses differently. Some prioritise play-based observation, looking for curiosity, social confidence, and the ability to engage with an unfamiliar adult. Others include more structured activities assessing early literacy, numeracy, and listening skills. Preparing a child well means knowing which school is assessing for what — and calibrating accordingly.
Our 4+ programme in Dulwich focuses on the whole child: communication, confidence, fine motor development, and early cognitive skills. We do not drill children. We build the underlying capabilities that allow them to present naturally and well in an assessment environment — because assessors at these schools have seen every rehearsed performance, and they are not looking for one.
7+ Preparation in Dulwich
The 7+ is a more structured assessment, typically sitting in January of Year 2 for September Year 3 entry. In Dulwich, the key 7+ destinations include Alleyn’s Junior School, JAGS, and Dulwich College (for boys at 7+). Several families also target schools further afield — Streatham & Clapham High, Whitgift, and Trinity among them.
At 7+, children are assessed on reading comprehension, creative writing, mathematics, and in many cases, a group or individual interview. The gap between a child who has been broadly prepared and one who has been specifically prepared for the schools on their list is significant and observable.
Our teachers have experience inside several of the schools that conduct these assessments. We understand their marking priorities, their interview style, and the profile of child they are seeking to recruit.
Where We Work in Dulwich
Our Dulwich sessions are held at Dulwich Village Infants School — the Lake Building. We use this site at weekends and during school holidays.
A practical note for parents: Southwark Council’s Low Traffic Neighbourhood schemes operate across much of the Dulwich area. The LTN restrictions operate on weekdays only — they do not apply at weekends. Our sessions take place on Saturdays, so families driving to the Lake Building will not encounter the weekday camera restrictions. That said, Dulwich Village itself can become congested on weekend mornings, and we recommend arriving with a small margin of time.
The venue also suits families who want to make a morning of it. Megan’s on Dulwich Village is a short walk away and is a popular spot for parents to have coffee and breakfast while their children are in session with us — and it means the morning works for the whole family, not just the child.
During some holiday periods, we also use Whippersnappers in Dulwich Park — a well-known children’s activity venue that will be familiar to many local families. On days we are based there, we will always confirm the venue in advance.
A Note on Local Logistics for Dulwich Families
Dulwich is a geographically unusual part of London. The village sits at the junction of several distinct residential areas — East Dulwich, West Dulwich, Herne Hill, Forest Hill, Sydenham, and Crystal Palace all fall within natural reach, but movement between them is more constrained than a map suggests.
The LTN network means that driving through the village at school drop-off time on weekdays is genuinely difficult. Families with children at different schools — perhaps one at the northern end of the village, one at the southern — can find the morning logistics more demanding than anticipated. This is worth factoring in when choosing schools at the 4+ stage, since you are also choosing a daily routine for several years.
It is one of those practical realities that rarely features in school prospectuses but shapes family life considerably. We mention it because our job is to help families make well-informed decisions — not just to prepare children for assessments.
Why Hermes Education
Hermes Education was founded to close the gap between what selective schools are looking for and what most children are given the opportunity to develop. But our connection to the Dulwich school community is not merely professional — it is personal.
Our founder and CEO passed his own 7+ to enter Dulwich College. Years later, when his daughters were approaching school age, he designed the Hermes programme specifically to prepare them for 4+ entry to JAGS and Alleyn’s. Both daughters were successful. The programme you are considering was not built in the abstract — it was built for the schools on this page, by someone who knows them from the inside, and tested on his own children first.
Our teaching team brings direct experience from within the schools that matter most to Dulwich families. We have current and former teachers from Alleyn’s, JAGS, DUCKS, Dulwich Prep London, Oakfield, and Sydenham High School. When we tell you what a particular school is looking for, we are not inferring it from published criteria — we are drawing on experience gained inside those institutions.
Our success rate across four years of operation is 80%, and our academic testing partnerships with Cambridge and Oxford University ensure our programme reflects current research into early childhood development rather than received wisdom about what preparation should look like.
Our groups are small. Our approach is rigorous but never pressured. And our knowledge of the local school landscape is current — which, in a community where the landscape is shifting as rapidly as Dulwich’s, matters more than ever.
Book a Free Consultation
If you are beginning to think about 4+ or 7+ preparation for your child and you live in Dulwich or the surrounding area, we would be glad to speak with you. Our initial consultations are free, and there is no obligation.
We will talk through your child’s timeline, the schools you are considering, and what realistic preparation looks like. We will also tell you honestly if we think the timing is wrong, or if your child’s needs would be better served differently.
Hermes Education offers 4+ and 7+ preparation for families in Dulwich, East Dulwich, Herne Hill, Forest Hill, Sydenham, Crystal Palace, and the wider south-east London area. Our sessions take place at Dulwich Village Infants School (Lake Building) and occasionally in Whippersnappers in Dulwich Park.