Harrow School 13+ entry guide

Are you thinking about applying to Harrow School for 13+ entry? Find out everything you need to know about the admissions process and how to prepare for the entrance exam.

Key information for Harrow School

• School type: boys' independent school (full boarding)
• Location: Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex
• Admissions contact: admissions@harrowschool.org.uk
• 13+ exam: ISEB Common Pre-Test, followed by the Harrow Test (Quest Admissions), group activity, interview and reference
• Financial assistance: means-tested bursaries, including full-fee assistance places
• Scholarships: academic, music, art, drama, sport and design technology & engineering (DTE)

Important dates for 2027 entry

• 1st July, Year 5 (standard applicants) or 1st May, Year 6 (late applicants): registration closes
• Autumn term, Year 6: reference requested from current school
• October/November, Year 6: Exam 1 — ISEB Common Pre-Test
• Spring term, Year 6: Exam 2 — The Harrow Test (Quest Admissions), plus House Master interviews
• April/May, Year 6: offers of places
• Check the school's website to confirm exact dates for 2027 entry

How to apply to Harrow School

Harrow School is selective. This means your child will need to complete an entrance assessment to be eligible for a place.

Standard applicants should register by 1st July of Year 5; late applicants can register up to 1st May of Year 6. A reference is requested from your son's current school in the autumn term of Year 6.

What will my child be tested on?

Harrow's 13+ process combines the ISEB Common Pre-Test with its own second stage, known as the Harrow Test, set by Quest Admissions.

Stage 1: ISEB Common Pre-Test

The ISEB Common Pre-Test is an online, adaptive assessment, meaning the questions get harder or easier depending on how your child is performing. It's usually taken in the autumn term of Year 6. It assesses:

• Maths
• English
• Verbal reasoning
• Non-verbal reasoning

Stage 2: The Harrow Test (Quest Admissions)

Children who do well in the ISEB Common Pre-Test are shortlisted for the Harrow Test, which takes place in the spring term of Year 6. This is an online assessment set by Quest Admissions, with questions in English, maths and verbal reasoning. Children also have a 20-minute interview with a housemaster and a 20-minute classroom-based group activity.

How are places decided?

• your child's performance in the ISEB Common Pre-Test
• their performance in the Harrow Test (Quest Admissions)
• their interview with a housemaster
• their performance in the group activity
• a reference from their current school

Financial information

Harrow School is a fee paying school. Take a look at the school's fees page for a full breakdown of fees for boarding pupils.

Financial assistance

When exploring independent schools for your child, scholarships and bursaries are worth considering. They can ease the pressure of school fees and open doors to opportunities that might otherwise feel out of reach.

Scholarships

Scholarships are awarded for a child's talent or achievement. At Harrow, awards are available in academic, music, art, drama, sport and design technology & engineering (DTE), each carrying a 5% fee remission. Boys must be recommended by their current school and approved by the relevant Head of Subject before registering for a scholarship, with a £140 registration fee and a deadline of 22nd November of Year 8. Scholarships are separate from Harrow's means-tested bursaries.

Visit Harrow's scholarships page to see the scholarships available and how to apply.

For more information, read: Your guide to independent school scholarships.

Bursaries

Bursaries are means-tested awards (based on a family's financial situation) designed to make independent education more accessible. At Harrow, Year 9 candidates can apply for a bursary covering up to 100% of school fees, alongside specific named awards, such as for the sons of serving members of the armed forces or Old Harrovians. Boys requiring full or close to full fee support can also contact the school's Access team directly.

Visit Harrow's bursaries page to find out what's available and how to apply.

For more information, read: Bursaries: a parents' guide.

Financial support for independent school fees is more available than most families realise.

This free guide is an honest look at how scholarships and bursaries work in practice: what they cover, how the timeline unfolds from Year 4 to Year 6 and how to approach admissions with confidence.

How can I help my child prepare for the test?

One of the hardest parts of exam preparation is knowing what to focus on, when, and how to make steady progress without it taking over family life.

A clear, structured plan helps your child feel less overwhelmed and more in control. It ensures they build skills in the right order, cover everything they need, and avoid last-minute cramming.

Atom's exam plan makes this easier. Enter your child's target schools and exam dates, and we'll create a personalised weekly plan tailored to the topics they'll be tested on. It shows them what to work on and when, adapts as they improve, and helps them build progress in a calm, manageable way — little and often.

That means less guesswork for you, less stress for them, and a clearer path all the way to exam day.

Build smart exam technique

As your child's knowledge grows, practice tests can help them feel more comfortable with the real exam format.

Atom's mock tests are exact replicas of real entrance exams. They're also unlimited — your child can take the same test repeatedly and see new questions each time. This helps them practise without repeating the same content.

Atom's mock tests are automatically marked. You'll see your child's standardised age score (SAS), where they're doing well, and what they should focus on next. You'll also learn how they compare to other children applying to the same school.

Encourage regular reading

Strong reading skills play a big role in preparation for entrance exams.

Encourage your child to read every day, even for just 10–15 minutes. The key is variety. Mix fiction and non-fiction, different genres, and a range of authors. This helps them become more confident in understanding tone, purpose, and meaning across different texts.

Over time, regular reading will:

• broaden their vocabulary
• improve comprehension and inference
• build confidence in tackling unseen texts

And just as importantly, it can help them enjoy reading — not just see it as exam preparation.

Celebrate progress, not just scores

When you're supporting your child through exam preparation, what really matters is knowing they're moving in the right direction — not just how they scored on a single test.

Atom's progress tracking gives you a clear, simple picture of how your child is doing in each topic and the direction they're moving in. You can see where they're on track, where they might need more practice, and spot progress as it happens.

That makes it easier to give meaningful encouragement, keep motivation steady, and focus on what matters most: consistent improvement, not just one-off results.