Welcome to Admissions
Additional places now available for 7+ 2026
We are delighted you are considering Merchant Taylors’ Prep for your son.
Choosing the right school for your child is probably one of the most important decisions you will ever make. At Merchant Taylors’ Prep we provide an outstanding academic experience, uncovering your son’s unique strengths and talents, and ensuring he leaves confident and well-prepared for life at senior school.
The best way to get to know us is to come and visit us in action. We hold Open Mornings every term and we’d be delighted to book you on our next one.
We welcome children into Merchant Taylors’ Prep at 3+, 4+ and 7+. Demand for places is high, so we encourage you to register your son as early as possible.
Please get in touch if you wish to discuss your child’s application. We look forward to meeting you soon.
Jane Stevens
Admissions
Application
Admission applications can be submitted from birth.
To register your child for a place at Merchant Taylors' Prep, please complete the Application Form and submit it, along with a registration fee of £180 (including VAT), to the School Admissions Department. Please refer to our website for details on how we process your data.
MTP Transparency Notice for Pupil Applicants
After assessment an official offer may be made and you will be asked to complete and return a Parental Acceptance Form together with a deposit of £1060.00. The sum of £600.00 will be set against the first term's fees, £400 will be set against the final account and £60 is a non-refundable administration fee. If your son is to continue his education at Merchant Taylors’ School in Year 9, the balance will be kept and reimbursed upon his leaving the school. If he leaves Merchant Taylors’ Prep to a different school, the balance will be reimbursed at that point, as long as the correct notice period of one term has been given.
2025 Applications
Date of assessments: 3rd & 4th November 2025
Closing date for registration: 10th October 2025
Offer letters will be posted on: Date to be confirmed
- 3+ assessments take place in October or November each year for entry to Nursery for the following September.
- Candidates are invited to Nursery in small groups for a session that lasts about an hour.
- The assessments are play-based and children will be invited to play with other children and with our Nursery staff.
- Parents are invited to have a coffee in the adjoining room whilst their child is playing but it is also possible to stay with your child.
- Our assessment criteria are three-fold. Firstly we are looking for signs that children will take direction from one of the teachers and respond to them. Secondly, we are looking for signs of sociability and finally we are looking to see that their oral language is developing.
- Teachers completing the assessments are very experienced at working with young children and are very good at encouraging children and making them feel at ease.
- Parents are notified of our decision by letter a few weeks after the assessment.
2025 Applications
Date of assessments: 6th January 2026
Closing date for registration: 11th October 2025
Offer letters will be posted on: Date to be confirmed
- 4+ assessments take place in January each year for entry to Reception for the following September.
- Candidates are invited to school in groups of 10-15 boys for a session that lasts about an hour.
- The assessments are informal and are based on the Early Learning Goals of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum.
- All assessments activities will be very similar to activities that children carry out in their current nursery.
- We contact nurseries to provide written reports for all candidates.
- We are looking for teachability and sociability in our 4+ assessments. We are not looking to find out what the children know but whether they have the potential to flourish in our learning environment.
- All candidates are notified of our decision by post at the end of January.
2025 Applications
Date of assessments: 19th November 2025
Closing date for registration: 11th October 2025
Offer letters will be posted on: Date to be confirmed
- 7+ assessments take place in November each year for entry to Year 3 for the following September.
- Candidates are invited into school for their assessment, which lasts for about an hour and a half.
- The assessment consists of English, Maths and Non-Verbal Reasoning.
- We do not release sample papers but the assessments are based on the National Curriculum.
- We contact schools to provide reports for all candidates.
- We are looking for teachability and sociability in our 7+ assessments but we also need to ensure that candidates have the necessary skills to be successful in our learning environment.
- All candidates are notified of our decision by post in early December.
Admission to MTS
Parents of pupils at the Prep School will be given an assurance at the end of Year 5 which will be confirmed in the February when they are in Year 6 as to whether their son will be able to progress to Merchant Taylors’ Senior School at the end of Year 8. This decision will be based using the Prep School’s internal data and thorough knowledge of the pupils. Pupils are not required to sit entrance examinations in order to progress to the Senior School.
New announcement from MTS on 15/03/2024
From September 2024, Merchant Taylors’ School (MTS) will no longer offer 13+ (Year 9) places but instead make an enlarged offer at 11+ (Year 7) for pupils who wish to join MTS. This change will affect pupils currently in Year 5 and below at Merchant Taylors’ Prep (MTP), who will leave MTP at the end of Year 6 rather than at the end of Year 8. They will either progress to MTS, if they have been offered a place, or to another secondary school, if MTS has not offered a place. For prospective parents who are offered and accept a place at MTP for their son, please note that pupils at MTP will remain with us until the end of Year 6 and will transfer to secondary school (MTS or otherwise) at the beginning of Year 7. MTP will continue to offer preparation for other secondary schools, should MTS not be the right school for individual pupils. Please email office@mtpn.org.uk should you have any questions.