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Tonbridge School

School rating 4 / 5 by

High Street Tonbridge Kent TN9 1JP United Kingdom
Boarding
6th to 12th
Day
6th to 12th
Gender
Boys only

Academic

Tonbridge School review by .

Tonbridge School had a very strong academic program. In particular the English department was known to be first rate. The science department has well equipped labs and classrooms. The arts and technology subjects are located in a superb new building with the most modern and up to date facilities available. In the earlier years classes can contain up to 20 students and, for the majority of subjects, are not set in first year. After this, as students are able to choose which subjects they study, class sizes decrease and setting is brought in. At A-level classes are much smaller and usually no larger than 12 even in the more popular subjects. The teaching at Tonbridge is really first class. The staff try to give the pupils a broader education than the curriculum would otherwise allow. The staff are still able to teach the pupils all that they need to know to perform at least as well as those from other schools. The education I received at Tonbridge certainly opened my mind to discovering new things and gave me a desire to learn which I have found hugely helpful at university.

College Counseling

Tonbridge takes a lot of time in making sure that each boy chooses the best....

Sample insights on college counseling

  • They have contacts at most of the major universities and feel perfectly comfortable picking up the phone and advocating for a student to get accepted somewhere they feel is a good fit for that student. However, these counselors are certainly not magic bullets. They cannot guarantee that a student will get into an Ivy League university...
  • For those wishing to move on to Oxford or Cambridge, the provision is second-to-none. In the months running up to application and interview, every subject faculty offers classes (often run by former Oxbridge tutors) exploring further areas of their subject as well as offering advice on personal statements, interview technique and more...

Admissions - Getting Accepted

Tonbridge has a very fair and open admissions policy with no feeder schools which get....

Sample insights on admissions

  • For the interview, dress conservatively. Try to be very clean and put together. Also, I was a tour guide for two years and at the end of every tour, we were asked to evaluate the candidate so if you think the tour is not apart of the process, you are very wrong. Ask questions and be interested. Also, tip for the parents: the kids speak on the tour. Do not ask their questions for them...
  • Most younger siblings have an easy time in the admissions process. I can only think of one case of a younger sibling not being admitted. About half of the students who entered with me had come from public schools. The remainder came from private K-6 schools, or had transferred from other New York private schools The Elizabeth Morrow School and St. Bernard were two of the larger feeder schools...

School Life

The houses at Tonbridge are of the highest quality and the majority of the boarding house have undergone refurbishment in the last few years to make them up to date and comfortable. The atmosphere varies very much from house to house and it is important to look around them before applying if at all possible so as to choose a house that suits you. The boarding houses all prepare their food in house and so there is a bit of variability in quality although the food has generally been much better since a recent school inspection! The day houses eat....

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