Charterhouse 13+ entry guide

Are you thinking about applying to Charterhouse 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 Charterhouse

• School type: co-educational independent school (boarding, with a boys-only 13+ intake), fully co-educational from Sixth Form
• Location: Godalming, Surrey
• Admissions contact: check the school's website for current admissions contact details
• 13+ exam: ISEB Common Pre-Test, followed by Common Entrance in Year 8
• Financial assistance: means-tested bursaries
• Scholarships: academic, art, music, drama and sport, awarded at 13+ and 16+ entry

Important dates for 2027 entry

Charterhouse doesn't currently publish fixed calendar dates on its website for a specific entry year, so these are typical timings based on the school's admissions process — check with the school directly to confirm dates for 2027 entry:

• Autumn term, Year 6 (or Year 7 for late applicants and overseas candidates): registration, including a non-refundable fee
• Autumn term, Year 6/7: ISEB Common Pre-Test taken
• Spring term, Year 6/7: interview and activity afternoon at Charterhouse
• End of spring term: conditional offers communicated
• Year 8: Common Entrance exam, plus a reference and report from your child's current school, to confirm the place

How to apply to Charterhouse

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

Entry to Charterhouse is at 13+, into Year 9. Candidates at UK prep schools typically register and are assessed from Year 6; those joining from overseas, or missing the Year 6 route, can apply during Year 7. A non-refundable registration fee applies.

An offer made at this stage is conditional. It's confirmed once your child sits Common Entrance in Year 8 and Charterhouse receives a positive reference and report from their current school.

What will my child be tested on?

Charterhouse uses the ISEB Common Pre-Test as its first-stage assessment, followed by Common Entrance in Year 8.

Part 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 taken at your child's current school, usually in the autumn term of Year 6. It assesses:

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

Part 2: interview and activity afternoon

Children who perform well in the ISEB Common Pre-Test are invited to an interview and activity afternoon at Charterhouse, giving the school a chance to see your child's abilities beyond their test results.

Part 3: Common Entrance (Year 8)

An offer made after the interview and activity afternoon is conditional, not confirmed, meaning it can be withdrawn if your child doesn't meet Charterhouse's required standard in Common Entrance, sat in Year 8. Alongside the exam result, Charterhouse also considers a reference from your child's prep school at the start of Year 8.

Most Charterhouse candidates come from prep schools that teach towards Common Entrance, but boys from state schools or schools that don't teach the CE syllabus can still apply. In these cases, Charterhouse may set its own entrance papers instead, families in this situation should contact the admissions office directly to clarify which route applies.

How are places decided?

Places at Charterhouse are based on:

• your child's performance in the ISEB Common Pre-Test
• their performance at interview and the activity afternoon
• their result in Common Entrance
• a reference and report from their current school

Financial information

Charterhouse is a fee paying school. Take a look at Charterhouse's admissions page for a full breakdown of fees for boarding and day 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. While many schools focus on academic excellence, some offer awards in music, sport, drama, art, or other specialist areas.

Scholarships often come with a small fee reduction and acknowledge your child's talents, motivating them and boosting their confidence. Some schools automatically consider all applicants, while others may request an additional application, assessment or audition.

Visit Charterhouse's 13+ 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. Depending on your circumstances, a bursary could cover part or all of the school fees and sometimes extras like uniforms, lunches or school trips.

Families provide financial information to qualify, and awards are reassessed each year. For many families, bursaries make an excellent education possible that might otherwise seem out of reach.

Visit Charterhouse's admissions page to find out what bursaries are 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.