Aiming for a place at 11 or 13? Register when your child is 9 or 10.
Most of the schools on this page test and interview children in Year 6 (U.S. grade 5), at 10 or 11, even for a place at 13. Wycombe Abbey and Cheltenham Ladies' College choose girls for entry at 13 later.
Written for the 2026–27 school year.
Children in Year 5 (U.S. grade 4) in 2026–27 would start at 11 in September 2028, or at 13 in September 2030.
This year at a glance
Is 9 too early to think about English boarding schools?
No. Eton closes registration at the end of Year 5, when a boy is 10.
What matters most, in our view
Registering at the schools you'd really choose, before each one's deadline, and helping your child read widely and enjoy math. When to register ↓
One thing this year
If your child is in Year 5, write down each school's registration deadline now. Some fall before Year 6 begins. When to register ↓
Can wait, in our view
Paid test preparation, and Common Entrance, the written exams some schools ask for in June of Year 8. The tests at 10 ↓
Schools can change their routes and dates. Check each school's own page for your child's entry year.
Plan for Year 6. That's when Eton, Harrow, Westminster, and Winchester decide.
SeptemberRegistration closes at most schools.
October to springThe ISEB pre-test of English, math, and reasoning, online in October or November. Then interviews and assessment days.
By the end of Year 6Offers, at 10 or 11.
ISEB is the Independent Schools Examinations Board. Some schools add an exam in Year 8, and the first day at 13 is in Year 9.
What each offer means
Conditional
The place depends on an exam in Year 8.
EtonResults: spring and summer of Year 6
Eton: Pass the King's Scholarship, Common Entrance, or Eton Entrance.
Harrow
Harrow: Take Common Entrance in June of Year 8. Ask what standard it expects.
Unconditional
No exam decides the place. Westminster expects good conduct, steady progress, and a fully supportive reference from your child's school in March of Year 8.
WestminsterBy the end of February of Year 6
Not exam-dependent
The Year 8 exam tracks progress, but entry doesn't depend on it.
WinchesterMarch of Year 6
Decided later
These schools assess girls for entry at 13 after Year 6.
Wycombe AbbeyJanuary of Year 8
Cheltenham Ladies' CollegeYear 7
Every offer's conditions
Eton. Your son's place depends on passing one of three exams in Year 8: the King's Scholarship exam, Common Entrance, or Eton Entrance.
Harrow. Your son's place is conditional, and he takes Common Entrance in June of Year 8. Ask Harrow what standard it expects, because its own pages differ.
Westminster. Westminster offers an unconditional place by the end of February of Year 6. The school expects good conduct and steady progress after that, including a fully supportive reference from your child's school in March of Year 8.
Winchester. Winchester makes its offer in March of Year 6. Its Year 8 exam tracks progress, and entry doesn't depend on the result.
Wycombe Abbey and Cheltenham Ladies' College. They decide later. Wycombe Abbey assesses most girls for entry at 13 in January of Year 8, and Cheltenham Ladies' College in Year 7.
ISEB also sets Common Entrance. In 2027, the written exams run from June 7 to 11.
The tests at 10Show your child the pre-test format and a few practice papers, then stop. ISEB says extra practice "is not a requirement."no need for special preparationWestminster
The online ISEB Common Pre-Test covers English, math, and reasoning in about two and a half hours.
Your child takes it once, at their school or a test center. Share your child's ISEB Applicant ID, the identification number from test registration, with each school so it can receive the results. Registering with ISEB is free. Eton, Harrow, Westminster, Wycombe Abbey, Radley, and Marlborough College use it. Winchester sets its own tests instead.
Westminster says there's "no need for special preparation," and Winchester says its tests shouldn't "require additional tutoring." ISEB offers a free walkthrough of the test. Start there, and put the rest of the time into reading and math.
Who to askYour child's current school, about where your child will take the pre-test and which schools get the results.
Schools say they look for potential. Westminster and Winchester say their tests need no special preparation.
Your child takes it once, and each school gets the results.
Eton
Harrow
Westminster
Wycombe Abbey
Radley
Marlborough College
Their own tests
Winchester says its tests shouldn't “require additional tutoring.”
Winchester
Cheltenham Ladies' College
Our viewBefore 11, practice the format, not the score. A few practice papers are enough. Spend the rest of the time on reading and on math your child really understands.
The evidence, and what it doesn’t show
Paid tutoring is common for selective tests in England. In one study of areas with grammar schools (state schools that choose students by a test at 11), 73% of tutored children got a grammar-school place, compared with 14% of children who weren't tutored. Tutored families differ in other ways too, and the study can't tell how much of the gap comes from tutoring. It wasn't about the ISEB pre-test. ISEB itself says some preparation can ease a child's nerves, and suggests reading, talking about ideas, games, and Year 5 math.
Applying from outside EnglandLiving abroad? Ask each school whether it takes boarders from abroad at this age. Westminster doesn't until 16.16the first age Westminster takes boarders from abroad
Ask about each school's rules for parents living outside the UK before you pay to register.
Westminster takes no boarders from abroad at 13, because every student under 16 needs parents living in the UK. Harrow's FAQ says it can't assess late applicants from schools overseas, so treat its September 30 deadline as firm. Eton, Harrow, and Winchester sponsor the Child Student visa, the UK's student visa for ages 4 to 17, and each charges a yearly fee for it.
Wycombe Abbey and Radley ask parents abroad to appoint a guardian in the UK, who looks after your child when the school is closed.
Who to askEach school's admissions office, before you register: whether it takes boarders from abroad at this age, and whether it sponsors the visa.
What each school charges a year to sponsor the visa2026–27, if your child needs the Child Student visa.
Fees, tax, and bursariesNeed help with fees? Ask about bursaries, the grants based on income. A scholarship takes 5% off at Harrow, and nothing at Cheltenham Ladies' College.£62,100 to £69,282 a year, tax included2026–27
A year of boarding at these schools costs £62,100 to £69,282 in 2026–27, tax included.
Since January 1, 2025, private school fees in England have carried VAT, the UK's 20% sales tax. These fees already include it, so don't add it again. Families abroad also pay a bigger deposit: £20,700 at Winchester, compared with £4,000 for families in the UK.
Winchester's bursaries can cover the whole fee. Westminster limits bursaries to families who meet its UK residence and immigration rules, and a boarder can get one only with a King's Scholarship. At Cheltenham Ladies' College, bursaries are currently open at 11 for day girls (girls who live at home), and at 16.
Who to askEach school's admissions office, before you register: who its bursaries are for, and what they cover.
A year of boarding, 2026–27VAT, the UK's 20% sales tax, included. Extras aren't. Each term's fee × 3, except Westminster's published annual fee.
Five years at Eton, for a family abroad, at 2026–27 prices
Fees: £21,891 a term, 15 terms
£328,365VAT, the UK's 20% sales tax, included
Usual extras: £500 to £1,500 a term
£7,500 to £22,500Eton's own estimate, not a maximum
Visa sponsorship: £3,000 a year
£15,000If your son needs the Child Student visa
The five years
£351,000 to £366,000Before a guardian, flights, and fee rises
Families abroad also pay a bigger deposit. At Eton it's an extra term's fees, credited against the final bill; at Winchester, £20,700 instead of £4,000.
Fees rose 4.2% at UK boarding schools in the latest year, before VAT, so the real total will be higher.
A guardian in the UK costs from about £1,300 to £3,200 a year at one accredited agency, with holidays extra.
Ask how weekends work. At Westminster, boarders at 13 go home every weekend.
A boarder's year: three terms at school, with breaks between them
TermAt school
BreakHome, or a guardian
TermAt school
BreakHome, or a guardian
TermAt school
SummerHome, or a guardian
At school
Home, or with a guardian
Between terms, your child needs somewhere to go: home, or a guardian in the UK.
A schematic. Each school sets its own term dates, and its own rules for weekends away.
Weekends
Westminster's boarders at 13 go home every weekend.
More on weekends
They leave after lessons on Saturday morning. At Winchester, a boy may take a weekend away, generally once a term, with permission.
Where your child stays
Tell the council if a child under 16 will live with someone who isn't a close relative for more than 28 days.
More on where your child stays
Separately, a child on the student visa can stay with a nominated guardian for up to 27 days in a row.
Official pages differ at the 28-day boundary. Check with the council before arranging care.
Boarding before 11
Some prep schools board from 8 or 9. Dragon School, in Oxford, has junior houses from Year 4.
More on boarding before 11
Dragon offers full, weekly, flexi (one to three nights a week), and occasional boarding. A prep school isn't required: Harrow sets its own tests for children whose schools don't teach Common Entrance.
Most of this advice costs nothing to follow. If you'd like help with part of it, here's where we come in.
Choosing schools
A shortlist that fits your child, with every registration deadline mapped before the first one closes, and a plan for a UK guardian if you live abroad.
Wycombe AbbeyJune 1Girls · entry at 11
RadleyJulyBoys · Open Entry
EtonAugust 31Boys
WestminsterSeptember 30Boys; girls from 2028
HarrowSeptember 30Boys
WinchesterOctober 1Boys
Marlborough CollegeOctober 9, 2027Boys and girls · 2030 entry
Cheltenham Ladies' CollegeNovember 9, 2026Girls · 2028 entry