Want your son at Eton? Register him by the end of Year 5.
Eton, near Windsor in Berkshire, has around 1,350 boys, who join at 13 or 16. For entry at 13, registration is open until the end of Year 5 (age 9 to 10), and the tests start in Year 6. Start here to plan each step.
There’s no day or weekly boarding at Eton. The King’s Scholars live in College, and every other boy lives in one of 24 houses.
IN HIS HOUSE
In a typical house, he lives with about 55 boys, around 11 from each year.
He has a room of his own, and a House Master and a Dame look after the house, helped by other house staff.
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IN CLASS
Eton teaches 28 subjects, nine of them languages.
Boys take GCSEs and IGCSEs, the subject exams at 16, then A levels, the exams at 18 that universities look at.
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OUTSIDE CLASS
Eton offers 25 sports, 50 ensembles and choirs, and 18 plays a year.
There are cadets, volunteering, and 300 society meetings a year too.
Boys can go home roughly every two or three weeks.
Leave weekends are called Short Leave, and the half-term break in each term is called Long Leave.
Who looks after your son: counseling, health care, and learning support
Counseling: The Stephenson Centre offers counseling and psychological support.
Health care: Eton’s health care includes three doctors, five nurses, psychologists, and an adolescent psychiatrist.
Learning support: Eton offers individual and group help, assessment, and referrals, and asks parents to tell it about any needs before their son joins.
Blocks: Eton’s years run from F Block, which is Year 9 (age 13 to 14), up to B Block, which is Year 13 (age 17 to 18). Boys who join at 16 start in C Block, Year 12.
Halves: Eton calls its three terms Halves: Michaelmas in the fall, Lent in the spring, and Summer.
Show Eton his potential, and that he’ll be happy boarding.
At 13, Eton makes offers as early as Year 6, more than two years before a boy arrives. At 16, it has about 20 fee-paying places a year.
AT 13 · POTENTIAL
Show how your son thinks, not only what he knows.
Eton assesses his “current and potential academic ability.”
Letrado’s adviceAt home, ask him to explain how he worked something out. It’s good practice for the interview.
AT 13 · BOARDING
Show that he’s ready to live away from home.
Eton also considers “whether he will be happy in our boarding environment.”
Letrado’s adviceGive him a few jobs of his own, such as packing his bag, planning his week, or sorting out a small problem before he calls you. Then he’ll have real examples to talk about.
AT 16 · GRADES AND CONTRIBUTION
Show top grades and what he gives to school life.
For the fee-paying sixth form, Eton expects a “high academic standard” and a “notable contribution to school life in sport or in the arts.”
Letrado’s adviceHelp your son choose the two or three things he has given most to, and practice describing his part in each: what he did, and what changed because of it.
About 14 King’s Scholarships a year, awarded by exam in Year 8.
For September 2027 entry, six compulsory papers cover English and science (two papers each), math, and a general paper, and each boy adds at least three optional papers.
The parents’ application is due 4 January 2027, and the school’s section is due by 31 January. The exams are on 22, 23, and 26 April 2027, at the boy’s own school or another venue.
Boys at schools abroad who haven’t already taken Eton’s test at 11 need an eligibility decision first. They can start with UKiset, whose results must reach Eton by 4 January 2027. Boys at schools more than two hours ahead of the UK take the papers within the following 24 hours, at equivalent UK times.
Usually eight Music Scholarships a year, each with up to 135 minutes of lessons a week.
Applicants are normally at Grade 6 to 8, and Eton also looks at technique, potential, and enthusiasm. It can award up to 16 honorary music scholarships and exhibitions as well.
The dates for September 2027 entry:
31 Oct 2026
Bursary applications due
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27 Nov 2026
Music Award applications due
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25–28 Jan 2027
Auditions, with invitations sent by 18 December 2026
A Music Award still depends on the Year 8 exam that confirms every place, and boys who don’t already hold a conditional or waiting-list place also take a computer test and an interview on audition day. Boys abroad can send a preliminary video, and can ask for a virtual audition only if Admissions has already seen them in person or they’ve had an Eton Music pre-audition.
Joining at 16: the fee-paying route and the Orwell Award
WHAT ETON SAYS
Your son’s current school decides which route he applies through.
Fee-paying route
For boys at UK independent schools or schools abroad. The minimum is six GCSEs at grade 7, or the overseas equivalent.
Orwell Award
For boys at UK state schools. Eton looks at potential in the context of disadvantage.
Successful fee-paying candidates may need stronger results than the minimum.
Orwell applicants send predicted grades, personal answers, and a school reference, then take cognitive and written assessments, including math, and have academic and pastoral interviews. There’s no registration fee. Applications for September 2028 entry open on 1 July 2027, and results usually come in early December.
Plan entry at 13 over four school years, from Year 5 to Year 8.
Registration for September 2029 entry closed on 31 August 2026, and September 2027 applications at 16 have closed too. Boys eligible for a King’s Scholarship or a Music Award can still apply in Year 8 without registering early.
Send your son’s full birth certificate and your own details as his parents. The 2026–27 fee is £480 including VAT, at 13 or 16, and there’s none for the Orwell Award. It isn’t refunded.
ISEB registration
Register your son for free with ISEB, the board that runs the test, then share his applicant ID with Eton and his test center.
His head teacher’s report
It covers his attainment, interests, and character.
At 16: predicted grades and school reports
Send them with the fee-paying application and his written answers.
If you live outside the UK
Applying from abroad: Families living abroad can apply at 13, and boys at schools abroad can apply at 16.
Visa sponsorship: Eton is a licensed sponsor for the Child Student and Student visas.
The Child Student visa: It’s for ages 4 to 17. Your son needs an unconditional offer from a licensed sponsor and a CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies), the reference number the school gives you. You apply within six months of receiving it, and from outside the UK, up to six months before the course starts.
Money and consent: You need enough money for one academic year of course and boarding fees, up to nine months, and written consent from both parents unless one has sole responsibility.
Leave and school breaks: Plan where your son will stay for every Short Leave, every Long Leave, and the breaks between terms. Ask Eton what it expects of families abroad, including whether he needs a guardian in the UK.
Where he takes it: At his own school or an agreed center. Abroad, that can be an approved center such as a British Council center, and you arrange the venue yourself.
Once a year: He takes the test once in a school year, and the results go to each school you share them with. If he takes it again, schools use his first results.
Extra time or English support: Arrangements for special educational needs or for English as an additional language need Eton’s agreement before the test. They don’t carry over automatically from his current school.
Prepare your son for two tests and an interview in Year 6, and an exam in Year 8.
Two stages happen at Eton itselfStage 2 at 13, and the fee-paying route’s cognitive and subject tests at 16.
At 16, your son also writes answers about his interests and achievements, much like a personal statement.
Letrado’s adviceWe help your son prepare for each stage and practice interviews as conversations. For his written answers at 16, AI can help him brainstorm, check spelling, or understand a topic, but every sentence must be his own, and our mentors never write for him. If Eton sets its own rule on AI, he follows it.
It covers English, math, verbal reasoning, and non-verbal reasoning. With his head teacher’s report, it makes up Stage 1.
Year 6 · Stage 2
An individual interview and a computerized test of academic potential.
Eton sees boys in groups between January and May, so results come at different times.
Year 8 · the exam that confirms the place
Pass the King’s Scholarship exam, Common Entrance, or Eton Entrance.
Every offer at 13 depends on one of them. Common Entrance is a set of subject exams, with sessions in November, January, and May or June, and English, math, and science are compulsory. Ask Eton which exam suits your son’s school and which subjects it expects.
At 16 · the fee-paying route
Cognitive and subject tests, then an online pastoral interview.
Boys who are shortlisted after the tests have the interview, and Eton asks their school for a reference.
MAKE ROOM FOR THE FINANCIAL QUESTION
Bursaries cover 5% to 100% of fees, but not on every route.
Help is means-tested, and every family makes a financial declaration. The route your son applies through decides which help you can ask for.
ON FINANCIAL AID IN 2024–25
300 boys
received help with fees, and 89 of them paid no fees at all.
SCHOLARSHIPS AT 13
No automatic discount
A King’s Scholarship or a Music Scholarship doesn’t lower fees by itself.
THE FEE-PAYING SIXTH FORM
No bursaries
This route, for boys at UK independent schools or schools abroad, offers no bursary support. Boys at UK state schools can apply for the Orwell Award instead.
Tell Eton you’ll need help late in Year 5, when you confirm he’ll be assessed.
The bursary applicationFamilies who want help apply online. Eton may arrange an independent home assessment, and a committee reviews each case.
Scholarships and bursariesFor September 2027 entry, a boy who didn’t register early can apply for a bursary through a Music Scholarship, but not through the King’s Scholarship. Ask Eton how this works for your son’s year.
Asking laterUnder the 2027 rules, a family with a conditional offer or a waiting-list place that didn’t ask for aid at the start can apply only in exceptional, wholly unforeseen circumstances.
Letrado’s adviceIf there’s any chance you’ll need help, say so at the start. Living abroad? Ask Eton early whether your family can apply for help at 13.
Stories from boarding applicants with similar questions.
Here are three related stories. These students applied to American boarding schools, and they worked through questions Eton families face too: whether a boy is ready to board, how he can interview as himself, and how he joins a new school at 16.
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Readiness for boarding at 13
Y.H. · Mathematics & piano
Y.H. showed he was ready for boarding school, not just ahead in math.
At 13, Y.H. had never managed his own weekly schedule, laundry, or travel beyond a familiar routine, so his family tested what boarding would really involve before he left. Full boarding at Eton starts at the same age.
J.P. learned to answer interview questions without a script.
J.P. had learned English where correctness mattered most. His prepared answers sounded polished, but an unexpected follow-up made him retreat into short phrases, so he practiced answers that sounded like him. That helps in an individual interview like Eton’s.
R.K.’s sketchbooks showed his process, not a professional portfolio.
R.K. was applying to join a new school in Grade 11. He compared how each school would recognize his prior work and help him join an established class, and his current school confirmed the details. A boy joining Eton’s sixth form needs the same kind of course plan.
A conversation can help you find a useful place to start.
Bring your questions to a free 45-minute introduction with your proposed mentor. Afterward, we’ll email a personalized plan with recommended next steps.
Eton College
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