Marlborough College 13+ and 16+ Admissions: ISEB Pre-Test, Assessment Day and Fees

How do you get into Marlborough College? At 13+, a child registers through the admissions team, sits the online ISEB Pre-Test at their current school, has a Headteacher's reference sent in, and then attends an assessment day at the school with a short writing task, informal group activities and an interview. Sixth form entry at 16+ replaces the Pre-Test with an Entry Assessment of two subject papers and an interview in the autumn term of Year 11.

The school is co-educational and full boarding, with local pupils able to go home at night, so suitability for boarding sits alongside academic ability in every decision. Registration carries a non-refundable fee, bursary applications close before registration does, and the sections below set out each step in the order families meet it.

Entry points and places

Marlborough admits pupils at 13+ into Year 9 (known as the Shell), at 16+ into Year 12 (the Lower Sixth), and takes a small number into Year 10 if space is available. The pages read do not publish a number of places or forms of entry at any point, so the admissions office is the place to ask about numbers.

The admissions policy sets four criteria that apply at every main entry point, and some priority goes to siblings, children of clergy families and children with family connections, although admission is never automatic.

• Success in the relevant entrance assessments and/or the required GCSE grades, as appropriate
• Positive interviews, interactions in the boarding house for Year 9 applicants, and suitability for full boarding
• A positive confidential reference from the current school
• Alignment with the school's values

How the 13+ assessment works

The 13+ assessment has three parts: the online ISEB Pre-Test, a reference from the Headteacher of the child's current school, and an assessment day at the school. The Pre-Test is sat at the child's own school or at an ISEB approved centre in the autumn term of the assessment year, and it confirms the academic part of the Headteacher's reference.

The school's pages do not publish the Pre-Test subjects, length or question types, so families rely on ISEB's own published information for the format. Assessment day falls in the Lent Term and includes a short writing task, informal group activities and an interview, which the school says it aims to keep pressure-free.

Where applicants outnumber the interviews the school can offer, it may invite only those whose reference and Pre-Test results make a place likely, judged on academic ability, co-curricular contribution and suitability for full boarding.

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Registration and the admissions timeline

Registration for 13+ starts with the Enquiry Form, which opens the OpenApply admissions portal where families book a visit and register, and the steps then run in a fixed order. Most children are assessed in Year 6, a smaller group in Year 7, and a few shortlisted applicants may be seen in Year 8 if space remains.

• Enquire and register: register by the end of Year 5, or Year 6 for assessment in Year 7, paying the non-refundable registration fee
• Enrol for assessment: registered families are invited to enrol in the summer after the registration year, with a closing date in the autumn term of the assessment year
• Pre-Test and reference: the Pre-Test is sat in the autumn term and the school requests the reference in the Michaelmas Term
• Assessment day: held at the school in the Lent Term
• Offers: College place and waiting list offers come towards the end of the Lent Term, and parents then confirm whether they accept
• House Visit Day: place-holders in Year 6 visit in the Summer Term, boarding house preferences follow, and house offers are made
• Formal offer and acceptance: completed in the summer of Year 6, when the acceptance deposit becomes payable

Interviews and references

The interview takes place at the school on the assessment day, and the Headteacher of the child's current school is asked for a reference covering academic performance, character, other achievements and interests. The school describes what it looks for as potential and a willingness to engage in all aspects of life in a busy boarding school.

Once a place is accepted, the school asks for updated references and reports on academic progress, behaviour and conduct. The policy allows an offer to be withdrawn if a child is asked to leave or is withdrawn from their school for disciplinary reasons, or if significant pastoral concerns arise before joining.

Place-holders are also invited to Experience Days in Years 7 and 8, covering academic subjects, art, design technology, drama, music, outdoor activities and sport.

Scholarships and bursaries

At 13+ the school offers academic, art, design technology, drama and music scholarships, with sport awards in the first year that are then converted to scholarships in a number of cases; at 16+ the scholarships are academic, music and sport. Candidates must first gain a place through the Entry Assessment, and scholarships are honorary, carrying no reduction in fees but giving access to the relevant scholarship programme.

Directors' Awards in music or sport, for entry into the Shell or Lower Sixth, reduce fees by up to 20%. At 16+ scholarship applications are made alongside registration, with an additional interview on the assessment day.

Means-tested bursaries are available at 13+ and 16+ and can cover between 5% and 100% of fees, assessed by an independent firm of assessors and reviewed annually. Applicants must meet the same academic criteria as everyone else, and the application closes before the registration round, so families request the Confidential Financial Circumstances form from admissions early, ideally by May. Only full bursaries attract extra funding for items such as uniform, IT equipment, trips and travel.

Fees and what they include

The school publishes separate termly fees for day and boarding pupils on its fees page, both including VAT, and they cover tuition, food and lodging for boarders, most co-curricular and games activities and most educational materials. Extras are charged separately, including music lessons and instrument hire, tennis lessons, transport for off-campus academy training, extra academic tuition, English as a Foreign Language tuition, individual assessments, outdoor activities, trips and optional insurances.

The registration fee is the same for all years of entry and is non-refundable. The acceptance deposit is VAT exempt, with half credited at the end of the first term and half when the pupil leaves, and overseas families pay an additional deposit equal to one term's fees. Accounts are sent in the holidays, direct debit is preferred, and monthly instalments are available through School Fee Plan. The school states that fees are subject to change.

How 16+ entry works

Entry at 16+ is by Entry Assessment and interview in the autumn term of Year 11, after registration and enrolment have been completed by the closing date. Candidates sit two subject papers of their choice, the current school provides a reference, and every applicant must have visited the school; overseas applicants may be interviewed and sit papers overseas.

Offers are made in early December, and acceptance is confirmed by paying a deposit. Families are invited to a Lower Sixth Afternoon Visit in the Summer Term of Year 10, a pre-arrival event follows in the Summer Term of Year 11, and new pupils join in the Michaelmas Term of Year 12.

The pages read do not state minimum GCSE grades or describe the papers in detail, and the admissions policy refers only to success in the entrance assessments and/or the required GCSE grades. Late applications may be considered if places become available, and they follow the same assessment.

Where pupils join from

The pages read name no junior school and no feeder or partner schools, and 13+ pupils join from their own schools after assessment in Year 6 or Year 7. The school keeps a number of places for Year 7 applicants and a small number for Year 8, so families who decide on full boarding later are not excluded.

Year 8 applicants provide a Headteacher's reference and attend an assessment day with an online ATOM assessment and an interview. The same reference, ATOM and interview route applies to the small number of Year 10 places.

Where practicable the school asks children to sit Common Entrance in Year 8 to support academic focus and setting, but a place does not depend on the results, and allowances are made for schools that do not prepare pupils for it.

How to prepare

Preparation for 13+ centres on three things the school names: the online ISEB Pre-Test, the short writing task and the interview. Because the school does not publish the Pre-Test content, families usually do best by using ISEB's own published materials to become comfortable with sitting an on-screen test at their child's school, and by practising timed pieces of writing so the assessment-day task feels familiar.

For the interview and group activities, it helps to talk through what full boarding involves, which house visits and Experience Days make concrete, and to let the child describe their interests in art, drama, music, service and sport in their own words, since the school weighs these alongside academic ability.

At 16+, preparation is more specific: the candidate chooses two subject papers, so revising those GCSE subjects and practising how to discuss them in an interview ties directly to the format.

Related guides

• Independent school fees compared
• Dauntsey's School (11+)
• St Mary's Calne (11+)
• Warminster School (11+)
• The ISEB Common Pre-Test explained
• 13+ Common Entrance explained
• 11+ and 13+ scholarship exams explained
• What is a bursary? Private school bursaries explained
• Boarding schools in the UK

Preparing for the Marlborough College 13+ with Taylor Tuition

Preparation for the Marlborough College 13+ tends to go best when it starts early and stays steady, and most families who work with us begin between twelve and eighteen months out. Our tutors, who have prepared pupils for entry to leading independent and grammar schools including Westminster, St Paul's, Wycombe Abbey and Eton, plan the work backwards from the school's own assessment format and registration deadline.

The tutors we match to 13+ preparation are drawn from a pool in which more than half hold Qualified Teacher Status, around three in five hold a master's degree or doctorate, and which includes former heads of department, exam-board examiners and teachers from independent and boarding schools. Every tutor who works with children holds an enhanced DBS check.

Families work with us online from anywhere in the UK or abroad, 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.

Read more about our 13+ Common Entrance tutors, or send an enquiry and we will come back with tutor recommendations.