Tonbridge School
Only Connect
Founded in 1553 by Andrew Judde, Tonbridge School combines a long boys' boarding tradition with a substantial day pupil community, set on a single site in the heart of the Kent town from which it takes its name. Its houses sit at the centre of school life, giving day boys and boarders alike a close community, and the school is preparing to welcome girls into a co-educational Sixth Form while entry below the Sixth Form remains boys only.
Key Facts
Location : Tonbridge, Kent
Type : Boys' boarding and day
Age Range : 13 to 18
Pupil Numbers : Approx. 800 boys
Founded : 1553
Motto : Only Connect
Academic Profile
In their first year, boys at Tonbridge follow the school's Learning 2 Learn course, which builds study and thinking skills, before taking their GCSEs. In the Sixth Form they study A Levels, and Old Tonbridgians proceed to Oxford and Cambridge, alongside Imperial College London and universities in the United States.
Co-Curricular Life
Music is a longstanding strength, with around half the boys learning an instrument and a wealth of orchestras, bands, and choirs performing through the year, including the department's own themed festival each autumn. Drama centres on the EM Forster Theatre, a professionally equipped auditorium at the hub of a busy productions calendar, and the visual arts are shown in the school's own gallery, which exhibits pupil work alongside established artists. Sport is played across more than twenty disciplines, with cricket especially prominent, on grounds regarded as among the finest of any school, alongside rugby, football, and rackets, supported by an extensive sports centre.
Admissions Essentials
Boys join Tonbridge School in Year 9, at age thirteen, with further entry points available at Year 10 and in the Sixth Form. Registration for Year 9 entry takes place in the autumn term of Year 6, ahead of the ISEB Common Pre-Test sat that same term. Boys are invited to an Experience Afternoon of group activities and an individual interview, with results issued in the spring term. Boys receiving a provisional offer sit a further Maths and Writing Assessment with an interview in the spring term of Year 7. At Year 9 entry, scholarships span six categories, awarded for academic distinction, art, drama, design technology and engineering, music, and sport. Girls will join the co-educational Sixth Form through a separate 16+ admissions process.
In Essence
For a boy who wants the camaraderie of boarding without losing daily contact with the world beyond the gates, Tonbridge brings boarders and day pupils together on one connected Kent site, giving him a close House community and easy reach into ordinary life just outside it.