Eton 2026

[25Green]

Thought I should start a thread on this. What stage are you up too? How are you feeling about it?

But yes, definitely good advice to ring Admissions and see what they are willing to tell you

So your DS1 got an offer finally?
May I know how to prepare the year 7 retest and re-interview? CAT4 again or anything new?
thank you 🙏

Waiting list for my DS

I think someone said it all perfectly earlier in the thread on what they are looking for etc. yes ds1 got in in Y8. I kept going in the process because he was very shy in interviews and at a rather bad country prep but I strongly felt it was the right place for him. He has completely flown since going there - much more outgoing and confident and showing his true academic colours. I worried it was very sink or swim and he really could have sunk. But luckily he’s swum.

@Scatty345 that's great to hear your Son's done so well at Eton. How long was the waiting list I.e. how many boys in the wiating and how many got selected in the end?

Your son had done so well in year 7 reassessment ! Just wanna know the test format, thanks again.

Someone said 150 waiting list, about half of them get an offer finally in year 8, according to the past experience. After the year 7 reassessment, school will give you a waiting number to indicate your chance. Correct me if I’m wrong.

So I think year 7 reassessment is so important, want to know what subjects will be test.

@CCforever irs exactly the same test as they have just done in year 6 and another interview.

And they didn’t give a number but said which third of the list he was in as I recall.

Tranche 3 2026 - my son got an offer after the longest week ever of checking my phone every waking minute. We're now pooping our pants about common entrance, which we know very little about!

Congratulations! Does your son's school prepare for CE?

Yes, but it's a whole new world for us - I had no idea there were so many subjects involved!

Does anyone know much about houses and which might be good ones to aim for?

Thank you so much for your kind reply. Did your DS sit in the CE after receiving the offer in Y8?

Impossible to say as the idea is for a good match between parents, boy and housemaster - so what is a good one for you might not be the right one for someone else! They'll send you the bios of the housemasters to allow you to see the names and backgrounds.

You can prenominate one house - that just means you're guaranteed an interview there but no more (useful if you already have a connection with a particular house and want to make sure you have a chance at that one). Then you'll be assigned 2 others and usually they are a contrast eg. if you prenom a Bekynton house then you'll have at least one catering house in your other two houses to interview with, that sort of thing. You rank all three in order after the interviews and the housemaster does the same, and they try and match up as many first choices as possible.

Just have an open mind with houses, go through the interviews and see how you feel after that. Pretty much every boy says their house is THE best house ever, so the system seems to work pretty well!

Thanks @Xiaoxiong Do the boys who are offered places from the Waiting List still have quite a few choices of House or does it narrow down a lot after the boys with A list places have made their choices?

@Scatty345 Can i please ask did your son had to sit common entrance exam in year 8 after being on the waiting list? What was the process from being in the waiting list to actually getting an offer?

Many thanks in advance.

@Puttinontheritz I believe a boy coming off the wait list should still have a choice of at least a couple of houses - there are 25 houses so there is always movement and of course there are boys "lost" to College every year who had a place in an Oppidan house but then get a KS in Year 8, which frees up their house space.