Haileybury is one of England’s great co-educational boarding schools — a school with a genuinely remarkable history, set on a 500-acre estate in rural Hertfordshire. Founded as the East India Company College in 1806, Haileybury has spent more than two centuries preparing young people for lives of leadership and service. Today, it welcomes boys and girls from Year 9 through the sixth form, offering full boarding, flexi-boarding and day options. The Year 9 (13+) entry point is the largest single intake, and competition for places is significant, particularly for boarding.
This guide covers the Haileybury 13+ admissions process for 2026: the ISEB Common Pre-Test, the entrance assessments, registration timelines, the full fee schedule, scholarships and bursaries, and how Leading Tuition’s specialist tutors can help your child secure a place at this exceptional school.
Key Facts at a Glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Haileybury |
| Location | Hertford, Hertfordshire SG13 7NU |
| Type | Co-educational independent boarding and day school |
| Age range | 11–18 (main entry at 13+) |
| Assessment method | ISEB Common Pre-Test + entrance assessments + interview |
| Full boarding fees (2026–27) | £19,820 per term (inc. VAT) |
| Day fees (Year 9) | £14,345 per term (inc. VAT) |
| Inspection | ISI |
| Sixth form | A-levels and IB Diploma |
About Haileybury School
Haileybury’s campus is one of the most impressive in British independent education. The school’s historic quadrangle, designed by William Wilkins (the architect of the National Gallery), is surrounded by 500 acres of Hertfordshire countryside, providing space for sport, outdoor education and a boarding community that is genuinely immersive. The school has invested heavily in its facilities in recent years, with state-of-the-art science laboratories, a digital arts suite, a theatre and music school, and extensive sports facilities including an all-weather hockey pitch, swimming pool and cricket grounds.
Haileybury is co-educational throughout and is committed to the view that mixed-sex education from 13 onwards provides a richer preparation for adult life. The school’s pastoral system is built around boarding houses, and the house community — with its rivalries, loyalties and traditions — is central to school life whether pupils board or come as day pupils.
Academically, Haileybury achieves consistently strong results at GCSE and A-level, and the school sends pupils to a wide range of leading universities in the UK and internationally. The sixth form offers both A-levels and the IB Diploma, and Haileybury’s IB results are strong year on year. The school has a particular strength in the sciences, languages and the arts, and its careers programme is internationally recognised.
The History of Haileybury: From the East India Company to Today
The history of Haileybury is unlike that of almost any other British school. The East India Company College was established on the Hertfordshire site in 1806 by the East India Company, which recognised that its rapidly expanding empire needed trained civil servants who understood economics, Indian culture, Oriental languages and law. The College’s most famous teacher was the economist Thomas Robert Malthus, who taught political economy there from 1805 until his death in 1834.
The College closed in 1858 after the Indian Mutiny and the transfer of the Company’s functions to the Crown. In 1862, the site was purchased and opened as the United Service College, later renamed Haileybury College. The school merged with the Imperial Service College — itself a school with deep connections to the colonial civil service — in 1942, becoming Haileybury and Imperial Service College. The “and Imperial Service College” was eventually dropped, but the history remains embedded in the school’s identity, motto and traditions.
Notable alumni from Haileybury’s history include Clement Attlee (Prime Minister 1945–51), the author Rudyard Kipling (who attended the Imperial Service College before the merger), the writer Alan Ayckbourn, and many leading figures in law, business, medicine and public service. The school’s ethos of service and leadership is not merely a marketing phrase but is rooted in more than two centuries of history.
The Haileybury 13+ Admissions Process
Haileybury’s 13+ admissions process is selective and runs over two to three years from initial registration to entry in Year 9. The school is academically selective and uses a combination of the ISEB Common Pre-Test, its own entrance assessments and a personal interview to identify candidates who will thrive in the Haileybury environment.
Step 1: Registration. Families register with the admissions team, typically in Year 5 or Year 6. Early registration is strongly advised as it allows the school to allocate pre-test dates and ensures families are included in all scholarship and open day communications.
Step 2: ISEB Common Pre-Test. Registered candidates sit the ISEB Common Pre-Test, typically in Year 6. The test covers verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, English and mathematics. The pre-test is taken online, usually at the candidate’s current prep school. Results are shared with Haileybury, which uses them as a first-stage filter. The pre-test is designed to assess underlying reasoning ability rather than curriculum knowledge, so candidates who are intellectually strong but not yet fully prepared in CE subjects can still perform well.
Step 3: Entrance Assessments and Interview. Candidates who perform strongly at the pre-test stage are invited to Haileybury for entrance assessments. These cover English, mathematics and reasoning, and are supplemented by a personal interview with a senior member of staff. The interview is an important part of the process: Haileybury is looking for pupils who will contribute to and benefit from school life, and the interview allows the admissions team to assess character, enthusiasm and potential as well as academic ability.
Step 4: Conditional and Final Offers. Offers at this stage are conditional on satisfactory Common Entrance results and a positive headteacher’s reference. CE is taken in Year 8 at the candidate’s prep school and results must meet the school’s minimum standards. Pupils who are not on the CE route (for example, those at non-CE prep schools or international candidates) will follow an alternative pathway agreed with the admissions team.
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Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppHaileybury Fees 2026–27
Haileybury’s fees for the academic year 2026–27 are among the clearest published by any UK independent school. All figures are inclusive of VAT at 20%, which now applies to independent school fees following the government’s policy change that took effect in January 2025.
For full senior boarding (Years 9–13), the fee is £19,820 per term, or approximately £59,460 per year. Year 9 pupils who wish to flexi-board three nights per week pay £16,650 per term; those flexi-boarding two nights per week pay £16,055 per term. Day fees for Year 9 are £14,345 per term. Additional charges apply for extras such as individual music lessons, transport, dance lessons, iPads and public examination fees.
Haileybury offers means-tested bursaries for families who would not otherwise be able to afford the fees, and a range of merit-based scholarships. Families who believe they may qualify for bursary support should contact the admissions team at the earliest opportunity, as bursary funding is allocated on a first-come basis within the limits of the school’s bursary budget.
Scholarships at Haileybury for 13+ Entry
Haileybury offers five categories of scholarship at 13+ entry: Academic, Music, Drama, Sport, and Art and/or Design Technology. Academic Scholarships are awarded to candidates who demonstrate exceptional performance in the entrance assessments. Music Scholarships require an audition in addition to the academic assessments. Drama Scholarships are awarded to pupils with outstanding creative and performance potential. Sport Scholarships recognise exceptional sporting ability across one or more disciplines. Art and DT Scholarships reward outstanding visual and design creativity.
All scholarship awards carry a fee reduction and the distinction of a named scholarship. Scholarship holders who have additional financial need may apply to augment their scholarship with a means-tested bursary. Families should register their interest in scholarships at the time of initial registration to ensure they are included in the relevant assessment process.
Is Haileybury the Right School for My Child?
Haileybury suits pupils who are intellectually curious, involved in sport, music or the arts, and who will thrive in a residential community with a strong sense of tradition and service. The co-educational boarding environment means that boys and girls grow up together in a genuinely immersive community — an experience that, for many families, is exactly what they want for their children at this stage of adolescence.
The school’s Hertfordshire location makes it accessible from London, the Home Counties and the East Midlands, and Hertford railway station provides good connections to London Liverpool Street. Day pupils from across Hertfordshire, north London and Essex find the school’s transport arrangements convenient. For boarders, the school’s size — approximately 900 pupils in the senior school — means that there is always something happening, always a new friend to meet, and always a new activity to try.
What Are the Academic Expectations at Haileybury?
Haileybury is academically selective but not narrowly so. The school is looking for pupils who will engage enthusiastically with a broad curriculum, who have genuine intellectual curiosity, and who will contribute to the life of the school outside the classroom. At GCSE and A-level, Haileybury’s results are consistently strong, and the school’s UCAS data shows pupils progressing to a wide range of universities including Oxford, Cambridge and leading institutions in the United States and elsewhere.
The curriculum in Year 9 is broad, covering mathematics, English, sciences, history, geography, modern languages, Latin, art, music, drama, PE and PSHE. Options are kept wide in Year 9 to allow pupils to discover new passions before narrowing at GCSE. The school has particular strengths in sciences, modern languages (including Mandarin) and the creative arts.
Frequently Asked Questions: Haileybury 13+ 2026
When should I register for Haileybury 13+ entry?
Registration is recommended in Year 5 or early Year 6. The ISEB pre-test is taken in Year 6, and you must be registered before the test window. Early registration is especially important if you are seeking a scholarship or bursary.
Does Haileybury use the ISEB Common Pre-Test?
Yes. Haileybury uses the ISEB Common Pre-Test as the first stage of selection. The test covers verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, English and mathematics, and is typically taken at the candidate’s current school in Year 6.
What are Haileybury’s fees for Year 9 in 2026–27?
Full boarding is £19,820 per term (inc. VAT). Year 9 flexi-boarding is £16,650 (3 nights) or £16,055 (2 nights) per term. Day fees are £14,345 per term. All figures are inclusive of VAT.
What scholarships does Haileybury offer at 13+?
Academic, Music, Drama, Sport, and Art and/or DT Scholarships are available. Scholarships carry a fee reduction and may be supplemented by a means-tested bursary for families with additional financial need.
Is Haileybury co-educational?
Yes. Haileybury is fully co-educational from Year 9 through the sixth form, admitting boys and girls as boarders, flexi-boarders and day pupils.
What is the link between Haileybury and the East India Company?
The East India Company College was founded on the Haileybury site in 1806 to train civil servants for the Company’s Indian empire. The economist Thomas Malthus taught there. The College closed in 1858 and the site reopened as a school in 1862, eventually becoming Haileybury as it is known today.
How can Leading Tuition help with Haileybury 13+ preparation?
Leading Tuition provides specialist one-to-one tuition for the ISEB pre-test and Common Entrance for Haileybury entry. We cover verbal and non-verbal reasoning, English, mathematics and all CE subjects. Rated 4.8/5 on Trustpilot. Contact us via WhatsApp.
How Leading Tuition Can Help
The Haileybury 13+ admissions process is multi-staged and begins in Year 6. Families who engage expert tuition early are consistently better placed: their children are more confident with the ISEB pre-test format, stronger in the CE subjects assessed at entrance, and better prepared for the personal interview.
Leading Tuition’s specialist tutors work with pupils from Year 5 onwards, preparing them for the ISEB Common Pre-Test in Year 6 and then continuing through CE preparation and interview coaching. We tailor each programme to the individual pupil’s strengths and gaps, ensuring preparation is efficient and effective rather than simply adding hours of undirected work.
Rated 4.8/5 on Trustpilot, Leading Tuition is trusted by families across the UK. To find out more or to book your free consultation, contact us via WhatsApp at wa.me/447360278449 or visit our website.