Tonbridge School 13+ entry guide

Are you thinking about applying to Tonbridge 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 Tonbridge School

• School type: boys' independent school (day and boarding)
• Location: Tonbridge, Kent
• Admissions contact: check the school's website for current admissions contact details
• 13+ exam: ISEB Common Pre-Test, plus an assessment afternoon and school report
• Financial assistance: means-tested bursaries, including Foundation Awards
• Scholarships: music, sport, art, drama and DTE (design, technology and engineering)

Important dates for 2027 entry

• Beginning of September, Year 6: registration closes
• First week of November, Year 6: ISEB Common Pre-Test taken at Tonbridge
• Fourth week of November, Year 6: assessment afternoon and interview, for boys with strong ISEB results and school reference
• 1 October, Year 6: Foundation Award financial assessment deadline (for those seeking bursary support)
• January–early February, Year 6: Shortlist Exam Day for Foundation Award candidates, including maths and English papers
• March, Year 6: Junior Foundation Award offers made
• Check the school's website to confirm exact dates for 2027 entry

How to apply to Tonbridge School

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

Tonbridge holds open days between September and December for boys in Years 5 and 6. Registration closes at the beginning of September in Year 6.

What will my child be tested on?

All Tonbridge applicants sit the ISEB Common Pre-Test, followed by an assessment afternoon at the school.

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. At Tonbridge, it's taken in the first week of November of Year 6. It assesses:

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

Assessment afternoon

Boys with strong ISEB results and a positive school reference are invited back to Tonbridge in the fourth week of November for an assessment afternoon and interview.

School reference

Tonbridge also requests a confidential reference from your child's current school as part of the process.

How are places decided?

• your child's performance in the ISEB Common Pre-Test
• their performance at the assessment afternoon and interview
• a confidential reference from their current school

Financial information

Tonbridge School is a fee paying school. Take a look at the school's fees page for a full breakdown of fees for day and 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 Tonbridge, awards are available in music, sport, art, drama and DTE (design, technology and engineering). Scholarships are typically honorary but may carry a modest financial reward.

Visit Tonbridge'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 Tonbridge, means-tested bursaries can cover up to 100% of fees, and families interested in financial support are encouraged to contact the admissions office early in the process, ideally before registering. Families seeking a Foundation Award must complete a financial assessment by 1 October of Year 6, when registration closes.

Visit Tonbridge's financial assistance 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.

Looking for inspiration? Atom's reading and writing starter kit has suggestions spanning fiction and non-fiction for Years 3–6.

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.