High Street, Tonbridge,
Kent, TN9 1JP
Registration And Entry
Registration
Registration of a boy as a candidate for entry at 13 may be made at any time from the boy's birth. Parents are advised to register their son at least three years before the date of intended entry, since the majority of conditional places are offered when candidates are aged 10 or 11: nevertheless, some places usually remain for later applications, which will always be fully considered and may well be followed by the offer of a place.
Applications for entry at other ages (i.e. to the Fourth, or Lower Sixth Forms) may be made at any time up to the end of April of the year in which entry is desired in September, but earlier application is advised.
To register, please complete the Tonbridge Registration Form (PDF, 207.4 KB) and return it to the school. The Registration Form may also be obtained from the Admissions Secretary. There is a non-refundable registration fee of £100.
Offers of Conditional Places
The offer of a place in the school for entry at age 13 (conditional on satisfaction of the school's academic entry requirements) is made on the basis of a report from the Head of the candidate's previous school, together with the results of an interview and computer-based cognitive test which are sat at Tonbridge. Reports are requested and interviews and tests held on all registered candidates in the Michaelmas Term three years before the date of intended entry. (In the case of those registered less than three years in advance, the request for a report follows immediately on registration.) If the report, interview and test confirm the likelihood that the candidate will reach the appropriate academic standard for entry, the parents are sent a Final Entry Form, accompanied by the offer of a conditional place in the school for their son, subject to a satisfactory performance in the Common Entrance or Scholarship examinations. Parents accepting the offer of a conditional place pay a deposit of £1500, which is refunded on the final account for their son's last term at Tonbridge. The deposit is otherwise refundable only if the boy fails the Common Entrance Examination for Tonbridge or is advised by his Prep school Head to withdraw in the expectation that he will not reach the required standard.
Prep schools are asked for a detailed report on boys with conditional places in September or October of the year before the boys are due to join Tonbridge. All these boys are then invited to come to Tonbridge for the 'Novi Visit' at the end of the following Lent Term, as described in the main prospectus. The Novi Visit is an opportunity for boys to familiarise themselves with the school which they hope to join in September, and to meet each other. It is in no sense a test, nor any part of the selection procedure.
Disabilities
Pupils are admitted to Tonbridge School after satisfying the academic entry requirements in the Common Entrance Examination or the school's Scholarship Examination. It is the school's policy to apply these criteria to all pupils (and potential pupils) regardless of any disability of which it is aware, subject to its obligation to make reasonable adjustments not to put any disabled pupil (or potential pupil) at a substantial disadvantage compared to any pupil who is not disadvantaged because of his disability. It is also the school's policy to apply these criteria to all pupils (and potential pupils) regardless of their race or religion.
Sixth Form Entry
Each year about 15 places are available for candidates wishing to enter the school in the Lower Sixth Form. Applications are best made by September, a year before entry, but maybe considered later if places are still available. The offer of a place is made on the basis of a recommendation and report from the candidate's present school and examinations in the four subjects of intended A level study. Applicants who have English as their second language will also sit an examination in English.