1. Visit us
We hold a number of Open Mornings and Group Visits throughout the year which give a general introduction to the school, a tour of the campus and, if appropriate, a visit to a boarding house. Following a visit, you can arrange an individual meeting with a member of the Admissions team. We also offer virtual events if you are unable to visit the school in person.
Book a visit
2. Application
Students should normally be aged 13 on 1 September of the year of entry. We are willing to consider candidates whose date of birth falls up to three months outside the standard age boundary. Please contact Admissions before completing the application form if your child’s date of birth falls outside the expected dates.
Click below to find out which entry point(s) your child is eligible to apply for.
Age checker
The deadline for Early Decision applications is 15 September three years ahead of entry. The first step is to complete the application form and to pay the registration fee of £420 (VAT inclusive) for a boarding application or £240 (VAT inclusive) for a day application.
Day Application Boarding application
Parent contact details
The contact information gathered via the online application form is used for all our communications. It is therefore important that you notify us of any change of email, postal address or circumstances during the application process. This is particularly important if you have applied some years in advance of entry.
3. Confirmation
Between July and September three years prior to entry, we will ask you to confirm that you wish to go ahead with the Year 9 Early Decision entry process.
We will also ask you to provide us with more detailed information regarding your child’s co-curricular passions, as well as any medical conditions, learning support and special educational needs your child may have.
Day students who wish to apply for financial assistance should read the policy and apply at the confirmation stage: details of how to make an application for financial assistance will be provided in the confirmation forms. Financial assistance is not available for boarding candidates.
References from current school
Early Decision applications are open only to candidates who will be staying in their current school for Years 7 and 8. If a child needs to move school, this must be agreed in advance by the Director of Admissions.
Before we can offer a place, we must receive a confidential reference from the candidate’s current school. We will write to the school to request a reference once the confirmation forms have been submitted.
4. Assessment
All Early Decision applicants will need to take the ISEB pre-test in their current school or another testing centre between September and November. We will also consider the school reference at this stage, along with other information such as the co-curricular form that parents have completed. Following the pre-test process, the majority of candidates will be invited through to the second stage.
The second stage takes the form of an assessment day at Sevenoaks in early January. On this day, all candidates will take written examinations in Maths and English (for which past papers are available) and participate in a 40-minute group discussion activity led by Sevenoaks teachers. Boarding applicants will also participate in teamwork activities. As an alternative to taking the tests in Sevenoaks, we will also host an assessment day in Hong Kong in the autumn/winter (date to be confirmed).
More details
5. Results
Results will be sent out in mid-February after the assessments.
We will request a further school reference in the spring term of Year 8 and reserve the right to withdraw an offer in the event of serious concerns.
6. Accepting your place
Congratulations! We’re looking forward to seeing you at Sevenoaks soon. New students and parents will be invited to a range of activities as part of the induction process.
The deadline to accept a place will be in the early January of Year 7 (just under two years ahead of entry). Acceptance of a place must be confirmed by the payment of a deposit (£2,000 for day pupils; £5,000 for boarding pupils) and the completion of an Acceptance Form. Any candidate who decides not to accept their place is requested to inform us of their decision as soon as possible so their place can be released.
7. Scholarships
Sevenoaks offers scholarships to honour and celebrate exceptional talent in academia, music, sports, drama and art. All academic and co-curricular scholarships are assessed in the spring of Year 8 and results are issued at the end of May via email.
Information about applying for scholarships will be provided in your offer letter.
Scholarship information
