Many families will be keen to visit Tonbridge before embarking upon the admissions procedure. We are always pleased to welcome them, either at one of our termly Open Mornings or a Meet the Headmaster Q&A. Individual visits are arranged through the Admissions Office, and include a tour of the school and a house with a boy, followed or preceded by half an hour with the Director of Admissions. Parents often come on an initial visit when their son is in year 4 or 5 - three or four years before their son’s date of entry.
Registration is the formal first stage of the admissions process, and shows that parents are interested in a place for their son at Tonbridge. To register, please complete the online Tonbridge Registration Form. There is a non-refundable registration fee of £250. Parents are advised to register their son by the end of Year 5, since the majority of offers are made in January of Year 6, after candidates have attended an assessment afternoon in the Autumn Term when they are aged 10 or 11. The latest date on which registrations are accepted, for candidates wishing to follow the standard entrance route described below, is 1st May when a boy is in Year 6.
- ISEB Pre-Test and Assessment Afternoon
Candidates who are registered with us three years prior to proposed entry are invited to sit the ISEB Common Pre-test and to visit Tonbridge for an assessment afternoon during the Autumn Term of Year 6. At this stage, a report will also be requested from the Head of the candidate's current school. The report, along with the results from the ISEB pre-test and the assessment afternoon are considered together in determining how to proceed with the application. Those registering during the course of Year 6 will be invited to complete this procedure immediately after registration and certainly by the end of the academic year.
All boys who have completed their assessment in the Autumn Term of Year 6 should expect to receive their offer towards the end of January.
Those candidates with the strongest profile will receive an UNCONDITIONAL OFFER of a place at Tonbridge in Year 9, usually dependent only upon them continuing at their current school through to the end of Year 8 (where that school continues to Year 8) and a satisfactory final report from their school. Other candidates who present a sufficiently strong profile will receive a PROVISIONAL OFFER of a place, inviting them to take part in a further competitive assessment which they will complete at Tonbridge during the Summer Term of Year 7. Such candidates will therefore have the opportunity to win a confirmed, UNCONDITIONAL OFFER during the Summer Term of Year 7, when they will be invited to complete a 1 hour mathematics paper and a 1 hour writing paper at Tonbridge, as well as carrying out a short interview. Specimen papers and a syllabus for the mathematics paper of the Year 7 Entrance Exam for those holding provisional offers can be viewed on our exam papers page. We will also request an updated report from a boy's current school.
- Acceptance of Unconditional and Provisional Places and Opening of House Lists
Parents accept their son's UNCONDITIONAL OFFER by completing the Final Entry Form and paying an admission fee of £2,000. Families accepting an unconditional offer, who have made a firm decision as to whether their son will be a boarder or a day boy, also have the opportunity to express a preference for a particular boarding or day house when returning the Final Entry Form. Where no preference is expressed, boys are allocated to houses by the Headmaster in consultation with the Director of Admissions. Further details of the house allocation process can be found here.
Parents accepting a PROVISIONAL OFFER do so by returning an acceptance form which is issued with the offer and at this stage, no payment is required.
- 13+ Academic Scholarship and Common Entrance
Any candidate who is in receipt of an UNCONDITIONAL OFFER may choose to sit our Academic Scholarship which takes place in late April/early May of Year 8. Additionally, those who are at UK prep schools which prepare boys for Common Entrance (CE) and who have not sat the Academic Scholarship may sit the CE exams in June of Year 8. Those taking CE should aim for an average of over 70% in the core subjects, but this is no longer a condition of entry.
