Key Facts
| School type | Independent boarding school, boys, ages 13 to 18 |
|---|---|
| Location | Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex |
| Entry points | 13+ (Year 9, the Shell); Sixth Form entry also offered at 16+ (Year 12) |
| Assessment | ISEB Common Pre-Test, then the Harrow Test (House Master interview, computerised English/maths/non-verbal reasoning assessment, group activity), followed by Common Entrance or Academic Scholarship papers in Year 8 |
| Test provider | ISEB Common Pre-Test, then Common Entrance or the school's own Academic Scholarship examinations |
| Boarding fees (2026/27) | £21,990 per term (inclusive of VAT), covering board, tuition, textbooks, a stationery allowance and laundry |
| Registration deadline | Standard registration closes 30 September of Year 6; late applications accepted until 1 January of Year 7, though late applicants compete for fewer places. |
| Assessment date | ISEB Common Pre-Test: 1 October to end of November of Year 6. Harrow Test: Spring Term of Year 6, with results issued late April/early May of Year 6. Academic Scholarship papers: January-February of Year 8, results announced in March. Common Entrance: sat in Year 8. |
Figures correct at the time of writing — always confirm current fees and deadlines with the school directly.
Entry to Harrow School at 13+ runs through online registration in the early years of prep school, the ISEB Common Pre-Test in Year 6, the Harrow Test later that year, and, for boys holding a place, Common Entrance or Academic Scholarship papers taken in Year 8. Around 600 boys apply for the roughly 160 places available in Year 9 (the Shell) each year, which makes the process competitive at every stage.
The school runs a single admissions round for Year 9 entry: a confidential reference from the boy's current school, two rounds of testing, and a conditional offer that becomes final once Common Entrance or Academic Scholarship results in Year 8 meet the required standard. Parents preparing a son for the assessment need to understand both the format of the Harrow Test and the standard expected at Common Entrance.
How entry to Year 9 works
Boys join Harrow in Year 9, known internally as the Shell, in the September after their thirteenth birthday, and the school has around 160 places available each year.
The school receives roughly 600 applications for those places, so competition runs from registration through to the final Common Entrance or Academic Scholarship result. A confidential reference from the boy's current school is requested at the start of Year 6, and every candidate, whether from a UK prep school or from overseas, is assessed against the same combination of ability, character and readiness to board.
How the 13+ assessment is structured
The 13+ assessment runs in two stages before Common Entrance: the ISEB Common Pre-Test and the Harrow Test. The Common Pre-Test is an online, age-adaptive assessment of verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, English and mathematics, sat in the autumn of Year 6 and taking around two and a half hours.
Boys who pass are invited to the Harrow Test in the Spring Term of Year 6, which combines a twenty-minute interview with a House Master, a one-hour computerised assessment in English, mathematics and non-verbal reasoning, and a twenty-minute classroom-based group activity. The school then issues results, an offer, a waiting-list place or no offer, later in the school year.
Registration and the admissions process
Registration for Year 9 entry is a single online process, and the school publishes the exact closing dates, including the later deadline for late applicants, on its admissions pages. The steps run in the same order for every applicant.
- Register online and pay the registration fee
- School reference requested from the boy's current school at the start of Year 6
- Sit the ISEB Common Pre-Test
- Sit the Harrow Test if shortlisted after the Pre-Test
- Receive an offer, a waiting-list place, or no offer
- Accept the offer, paying the acceptance fee and entry deposit
- Sit Common Entrance or Academic Scholarship papers in Year 8 to confirm the place
Common Entrance and Year 8 requirements
An offer of a place at 13+ is conditional on Common Entrance or Academic Scholarship examinations taken in Year 8. Boys at schools that teach the full Common Entrance syllabus sit the standard suite of papers, while those from schools that do not follow Common Entrance sit English, Science and Mathematics as a minimum, with the Additional Mathematics paper preferred.
Overseas applicants without Common Entrance preparation instead sit papers in Mathematics, English, Science, French and Latin, where those languages have been studied; prior study of French or Latin is not required. The school sets no fixed pass mark, though it looks for an average of around 65% across all subjects.
Scholarships and bursaries
Harrow offers scholarships in six disciplines: Academic, Music, Art, Drama, Design Technology & Engineering, and Sport, each carrying a value of 5% of school fees and serving mainly as recognition of a boy's achievement. Academic Scholarship papers are sat in the Spring Term of Year 8, alongside or instead of Common Entrance, with results announced later that term; Music candidates need at least Grade 5 Distinction, and Sport candidates must already compete at county level or higher.
Bursary support is separate from scholarships and is means-tested, and can cover up to 100% of fees. Families are encouraged to indicate financial need on the online registration form, which the school states will not disadvantage an application. Named awards exist for sons of serving forces personnel and of Old Harrovians, alongside a Year 7 Award for boys at local primary schools that can fund prep school fees and Harrow fees through to Year 13. Bursary applications cannot be considered from families based overseas, since Harrow is a UK-registered charity.
How to prepare for the assessment
Preparation works best when it targets what the Harrow Test actually measures: quick, accurate reasoning under time pressure, and how a boy presents himself in an interview and a group task. Both the ISEB Pre-Test and the Harrow Test are computerised and adaptive, and no official past papers are published, so practice usually centres on timed verbal and non-verbal reasoning exercises and mental arithmetic, since there is no fixed content to memorise.
Because the interview and group activity carry real weight, a boy benefits from talking clearly about his interests and current schoolwork, and from taking part in a short group discussion calmly, without trying to dominate it. Since Common Entrance or Academic Scholarship papers follow in Year 8, steady subject work at his own school across Years 6 to 8 matters as much as performance on the day of the Harrow Test.
Related guides
Preparing for the Harrow School 13+ with Taylor Tuition
Families preparing for the Harrow School 13+ 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 13+. Families receive progress reports after sessions and have a dedicated point of contact, and we reply to enquiries within one working day with tutor recommendations.
Read more about our 13+ Common Entrance tutors, or send an enquiry and we will come back with tutor recommendations.
Frequently asked questions
- How many places does Harrow offer at 13+?
- Around 160 boys join Year 9 (the Shell) each year, and the school typically receives about 600 applications for those places, so competition runs from registration through to the Common Entrance result in Year 8.
- What does the Harrow Test involve?
- The Harrow Test combines a twenty-minute interview with a House Master, a one-hour computerised assessment in English, mathematics and non-verbal reasoning, and a twenty-minute classroom-based group activity. It follows the ISEB Common Pre-Test and is held in the Spring Term of Year 6.
- When does registration for Year 9 entry close?
- Registration closes on a set date in the early autumn of Year 6, with a later deadline for late applicants, who are told they will be competing for fewer places. The school publishes the exact dates on its admissions pages.
- Is an offer at 13+ guaranteed once it is made?
- No. Every offer of a Year 9 place is conditional on the boy later sitting Common Entrance or Academic Scholarship examinations in Year 8, and the school looks for an average of around 65% across Common Entrance subjects.
- Can families get financial help with fees?
- Harrow offers means-tested bursaries that can cover up to 100% of fees, independent of any scholarship, and families are encouraged to state financial need on the registration form. Bursary applications cannot be considered from families based overseas, since Harrow is a UK-registered charity.
- Do scholarships reduce the fees by very much?
- Each Academic, Music, Art, Drama, Design Technology & Engineering or Sport scholarship carries a value of 5% of school fees and functions mainly as recognition of achievement, while means-tested bursaries are the route to more substantial financial support.
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