Tonbridge School 13+ Admissions: Entrance Assessment, Registration and Fees

Entry to Tonbridge School at 13+ runs through registration in Year 5, the ISEB Pre-Test and an on-site Experience Afternoon and interview in Year 6, with unconditional offers, waitlisting or provisional offers confirmed by late January of Year 6. Around 150 boys join Year 9 each year as boarders or day pupils, following a single, clearly staged admissions process.

Boys who receive a provisional offer remain in contention: they sit a further assessment and interview in the Spring Term of Year 7, with results confirmed before Easter. Scholarships, by contrast, are only opened up once a place is secured, assessed in Year 8 after an Unconditional Offer has been accepted.

How entry works at 13+

Year 9 (13+) is the main entry point to Tonbridge, with around 150 boys joining each year as a mix of boarders and day pupils. The school also takes boys at Year 10 (14+) and into the Sixth Form at Year 12 (16+), but 13+ is where the great majority of places are filled.

The process runs across two academic years: registration and the ISEB Pre-Test happen while a boy is in Year 5 and Year 6, and boys who do not receive an unconditional offer at that stage may be given a further chance to assess in Year 7.

What the 13+ assessment involves

Boys applying in Year 6 are required to sit the ISEB Pre-Test, an online, adaptive, multiple-choice assessment covering English, mathematics, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning, completed in around two hours fifteen minutes. Because it is age-standardised and results can be shared across schools, a boy typically sits it once for every school on a family's list; parents register their son for it directly with ISEB.

Alongside the Pre-Test, Tonbridge holds an Experience Afternoon during the Michaelmas Term, described by the school as a carousel of activities allowing boys to work individually and collaboratively, together with a one-to-one interview with a member of teaching staff. The school also requests a confidential reference from the boy's current school as part of this stage.

Boys who receive a provisional offer sit a further assessment and interview in the Spring Term of Year 7, with the outcome confirmed before the Easter break.

Steps in the 13+ admissions process

The school sets out the pathway in stages: visiting, registering, assessment, results, accepting the place, and, for some boys, scholarships.

• Visit: families are encouraged to attend an open morning before registering
• Register: complete the online Registration Form and pay the registration fee by the published deadline in Year 6
• Assess: sit the ISEB Pre-Test and attend the Experience Afternoon and interview in the Michaelmas Term of Year 6
• Results: unconditional offer, waitlist, or provisional offer with further assessment in Year 7, confirmed by late January of Year 6 (or before Easter for the provisional route)
• Accept: complete the admissions checklist on the Tonbridge Portal and pay the admission fee by the deadline given
• Scholarships: boys holding an unconditional offer may apply for a scholarship, assessed in Year 8

Scholarships and bursaries

Tonbridge offers Academic, Art, Design Technology and Engineering, Drama, Music and Cowdrey (sport) Scholarships, open only to boys who already hold an Unconditional Offer for Year 9 entry, with assessments held in Year 8; a boy may apply for more than one. Academic Scholarship applications close in early spring with assessment held the following month, while the other categories close in early winter with assessment in the new year. Boys who do not need or qualify for financial support instead receive a one-off recognition payment deducted from their first term's fees.

Separately, Junior Foundation Awards are means-tested bursaries offered to boys in Year 6, mostly from outside the independent sector, and can cover up to 100% of fees. Up to ten are awarded each year; the school looks for boys at or near the top of their class with strong predicted results, including in the 11+ (Kent Test) and/or CAT4, and runs a financial assessment and shortlisting process before confirming awards in March of Year 6.

Fees and admissions costs

Registration and admission at Tonbridge carry separate, non-refundable fees from the termly school fees, which are published for day and boarding places for the current academic year. A 10% fee reduction applies to a third child, and any further children, from the same family attending the school.

Where a Scholarship, Foundation Award or Bursary has been granted, the value is shown on the bill and deducted from the total due.

How to prepare for the school's 13+ assessment

Because the ISEB Pre-Test covers English, mathematics, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning in a single adaptive online sitting, familiarity with all four areas and with sitting timed questions on screen tends to help more than last-minute cramming in any one subject. The test's adaptive format means a boy who works through it calmly, without rushing early questions, gives a truer picture of his ability than one who is anxious about running out of time.

The Experience Afternoon and interview reward boys who can work both independently and in a group, so practising short, structured conversations about a boy's interests and reading, alongside normal schoolwork, is more useful preparation than rehearsing set answers. A strong, honest reference from the boy's current school also forms part of the assessment, so keeping engagement and effort consistent through Year 6 matters as much as the test itself.

Related guides

• Tutors for families in Kent
• Independent school fees compared

Preparing for the Tonbridge School 13+ with Taylor Tuition

The Tonbridge School 13+ rewards steady preparation over a year or so, with the last term given to timed practice and interview confidence. Having prepared pupils for entry to leading independent and grammar schools, with placements including Westminster, St Paul's, Wycombe Abbey and Eton, our tutors match the programme to the school's assessment format and to where the child is starting from.

Because the pool includes former heads of department, exam-board examiners and teachers from independent and boarding schools, and more than half of our tutors hold Qualified Teacher Status, families get a tutor who understands what the assessors are looking for. Every tutor who works with children holds an enhanced DBS check.

Families in Kent 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.