United Kingdom · Berkshire
Eton is an all-boys full-boarding school. The main 13+ route starts years before entry, while the two Sixth Form routes have different eligibility and funding rules.
Eton is an all-boys school for ages 13–18, and every pupil boards. It is spread through the town of Eton, beside Windsor, rather than enclosed on one compact campus. Its current boarding page describes 25 houses of about 55 boys, normally around 11 per year group. Every boy has his own room from the start.
This structure is the first fit test. There are no day or weekly places. Boys generally go home every two or three weeks for Short Leave, Long Leave or an optional B Weekend. An international family therefore needs a workable plan for leave weekends as well as the long holidays.
The usual 13+ route begins in UK Year 5. There are also two routes into the Sixth Form at 16: a fee-paying route for boys at UK independent or overseas schools, and the means-tested Orwell Award for boys at UK state schools.
These routes do not share the same financial-aid rules. Eton explicitly says that bursaries are unavailable through the fee-paying 16+ route. Orwell Awards are means-tested and include allowances intended to let recipients participate fully in boarding and co-curricular life.
A boy must normally be registered by 31 August at the end of UK Year 5, when he reaches age ten. For 2029 entry, the deadline was 31 August 2026 and has now passed. Eton identifies two later 13+ exceptions: eligible boys may apply for a King’s Scholarship or Music Award in Year 8, up to age 13.
Registration requires an online form, an unabridged birth certificate showing parental details, and a non-refundable £480 including VAT. The amount is subject to change. Eton says an incomplete registration may be discarded after one month.
The main assessment has three clear steps:
Some applicants receive a waiting-list place and are reassessed in the summer of Year 7. Eton says it admits some boys from that list each year, but the number varies. Families accepting a conditional place pay the acceptance payment by the end of March in Year 7. Housemaster meetings also take place during Year 7.
Eton publishes about 20 fee-paying Sixth Form places each year. Applicants must be at a UK independent school or an overseas school. The stated minimum is six GCSEs at grade 7, or an overseas equivalent, although Eton warns that the competitive level is likely to be appreciably higher. It also looks for a strong likely contribution in sport or the arts.
For 2027 entry, the application is open until Sunday 4 October 2026. It asks for predicted grades, recent reports and personal-statement answers. Candidates attend Eton in the second half of November for a cognitive test and subject tests. Shortlisted boys then have an online pastoral interview, and Eton requests a school reference. Decisions are expected in early December. The application fee is £480 including VAT, and this route has no bursary support.
The Orwell Award is different. For 2027 entry, applications close on Sunday 20 September 2026. A candidate must be in Year 11 at a UK state school. Eton considers academic potential alongside circumstances such as refugee or looked-after status, Pupil Premium, being the family’s first prospective university student, or attending a school judged to require improvement.
The Orwell application has no registration fee, but it does require family financial information. Shortlisted candidates sit cognitive, mathematics and general papers and have academic and pastoral interviews in November. Boys travelling from farther away stay overnight. Results are normally issued in early December.
The 2026/27 fee is £21,891 per Half, including VAT. A Half is an Eton term, and there are three, so the published rate gives an annual total of £65,673. It includes tuition, boarding, lodging, most games and most educational materials.
The acceptance payment for boys joining in Michaelmas 2026 is £3,840. Only £500 of that payment is refundable when the boy leaves, and only after the final bill has been settled. The remaining £3,340 is not described as a refundable deposit.
If at least one parent normally lives overseas, Eton asks for an additional deposit equal to one full term’s fee including VAT. It is credited to the final bill. Eton says it will refund this additional deposit in full if a pupil withdraws with a full term’s notice before his year of entry.
Extras are billed in arrears and usually total £500–£1,500 per Half. Examples include music lessons, optional insurance, boat club and trips. The figure is a planning range, not a cap.
Means-tested bursaries range from 5% to 100%. Eton does not publish an income cut-off, because it assesses income, assets, expenditure and other circumstances together. In 2023/24, 247 boys received fee reductions, 99 paid no fees, and the average award was 71%.
Every 13+ family completes a financial declaration at the end of Year 5. A family requesting help then submits the full application in Year 6 by the deadline for its entry route. Late funding is unlikely because Eton allocates funds at least two years before entry. An external assessor may conduct a home or telephone visit.
Awards are reviewed every year. A 100% award may also help with necessary extras such as uniform, a laptop and travel, but that support is not automatic. The college says it cannot fund every eligible application. Do not accept a place on the assumption that a later bursary will become available.
Each house is led by a House Master and Dame, with further residential and domestic staff. Every boy also has a personal tutor. Eton’s pastoral page lists a health centre, professional counselling, chaplains and faith tutors, a safeguarding team and a Learning Support Centre.
The learning-support service covers SEND, English as an additional language and study skills. Eton says all boys are assessed on arrival and may be referred later. Ask before accepting whether the school can meet your son’s specific needs, how often support would be provided, and whether any element costs extra.
The November 2024 ISI inspection found all applicable standards met. It identified the pupil-led co-curricular programme as a significant strength. Its improvement point was more consistent, challenging and relevant delivery of relationships and sex education. That is a useful question for a family visit.
Eton charges £3,000 per year, payable termly, when it sponsors a Child Student Visa or Student Visa. This is an annual administration and compliance charge, not part of tuition. The additional overseas-parent deposit may also apply.
The current attendance policy says sponsored pupils risk losing their visa through regular non-attendance. Ten consecutive unauthorised absences trigger a report to UK Visas and Immigration. Sponsored boys must also obtain approval for travel and overnight leave.
Eton’s publicly accessible visa pack is labelled for September 2024 entrants. It says parents living abroad, or regularly travelling out of the UK, must appoint an Education Guardian. It also explains that this person is not the same as a legal guardian. Because that pack is dated, request the current documents and deadlines directly from Admissions before paying or arranging guardianship.
Eton suits a boy who actively wants full boarding and can manage a large, busy school through the smaller community of a house. For the main route, the practical decision begins before the end of Year 5, not shortly before secondary transfer.
Compare the complete cost, not only the headline fee. For an overseas family using school visa sponsorship, the annual baseline is the £65,673 school fee plus £3,000 sponsorship, before extras, travel and guardianship. Ask Admissions to identify every sum due on acceptance and which part can eventually be returned.
Official pages and documents we read. If a figure matters to your budget or your application, open the link and confirm it is still current.
Friendly orientation, not an application. Dates, fees, and programme details move. Confirm everything with the school.
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Eton is a small riverside town facing Windsor across the Thames, with rail links through Windsor and Slough. Most families searching here are really choosing between Windsor's state schools, Slough's selective grammars and boarding further afield.
5 minStart with your child’s needs and the schools you can realistically access. A boys’, girls’, or co-educational label does not tell you enough about teaching, friendships, support, or daily life.
8 minStart with the child and a realistic weekly timetable. Then confirm who provides care, which nights are covered, and what happens when plans change.
7 minStart with the qualification your child would actually receive. Then check its subjects, language demands, and recognition in the countries where they may study next.