Music at Eton
Eton is the largest all boys’ boarding school in the UK. With a history dating back to 1440 it has a long list of distinguished former pupils. Eton is home to 1350 boys, around 10% of whom hold a music award, and is renowned for academic excellence, first class facilities, and rich cultural environment.
The Music Department at Eton College is the largest department in the school with a team of six full time music masters under the direction of the Precentor and Director of Music. 75 visiting teachers, all of whom balance teaching with successful performing careers in the music industry, teach over 1300 individual instrument lessons a week within the department. Boys achieve outstanding results in their academic music studies, and have a plethora of options for music-making outside the classroom.
You have access to limitless opportunities.
Kaashif, Orwell Award recipient
The Music Schools at Eton house a modern concert hall, orchestral rehearsal hall, recording studio, rock studio, numerous teaching and practice rooms, and a music library. The school is home to no fewer than eight pipe organs, and all the performance halls in the school have Steinway pianos. There are two chapel choirs, a concert choir, a choral society, three orchestras, two concert bands, two big bands and a large number of smaller ensembles. Senior boys regularly put on their own concerts – a tradition initiated by Hubert Parry during his time as a boy at Eton.
Beyond Eton, boys with music career ambitions often secure the most prestigious of choral and organ scholarships at Oxford and Cambridge, and increasingly Eton musicians win scholarships to music conservatoires in the UK and overseas.
of Eton boys hold a Music Award.
If you have any queries about the music award process please contact Angela Pearce, PA to the Precentor and Director of Music on 01753 370458 or by email.
Downloads
MS KS Bursary Information Sheet
Applications have now closed for 2025 entry to the 13+ Music Awards.
For 2026 entry to the 13+ Music Awards, the application form will be available from the summer of 2025 until the application deadline in late November 2025. This application is for candidates born between September 2012 and August 2013, plus eligible candidates with August 2012 birthdays, who will be in UK school year 8 (or overseas equivalent) in the Autumn Term of 2025.
Music Awards
The standard generally expected of candidates will be Grade VI to VIII on their principal instrument. Although high marks in Associated Board examinations are often good indications of musicianship, we shall also be looking for a thorough grounding in technique and for musical potential. If Associated Board examinations have been taken we shall look more for high marks than high grades.
The Precentor and Director of Music is always available to offer advice should parents or schools wish to get in touch. An informal preliminary visit can be very helpful, and can help establish whether a boy is of a sufficient standard to compete for an award. In the case of overseas candidates, they are welcome to email a video instead.
Music Scholarships
Eight music scholarships are awarded each year. An application for a music scholarship can be made whether or not the candidate already has a conditional place at Eton. Each scholarship entitles the holder to free tuition on up to 135 minutes of music lessons per week. The award can be supplemented up to 100% of the full School fee in cases of financial need. Where fee assistance is required, an online Bursary Application Form will need to be submitted to the Fees and Bursaries Team, by the deadline of 31 October 2024, for consideration as part of the Bursary awards process (which involves a home visit assessment).
Honorary Music Scholarships
In addition, up to two Honorary Music Scholarships may be awarded which come with free tuition on up to 135 minutes of music lessons per week. These awards are only available to candidates who already hold a conditional place. Additional means-tested financial assistance is not available in these cases. A range of non-financial benefits are also awarded as detailed below.
Music Exhibitions
Up to 16 music exhibitions will be offered. Six full music exhibitions pay for up to 120 minutes of music lessons per week, and up to ten honorary music exhibitions are awarded which come with a raft of non-financial benefits detailed below. These exhibitions are awarded to candidates who already have conditional places in the school with the exception of one, which may be awarded to a boy who does not already have a conditional place in the school.
Choral Exhibition
A choral exhibition is made to an advanced singer who is not sufficiently advanced instrumentally to win a music scholarship or music exhibition. This award comes with 30 minutes of singing lessons per week.
| Music Scholarship | Honorary Music Scholarship | Music Exhibition | Honorary Music Exhibition | Choral Award | |
| Number available | 8 | Up to 2 | 6 | Up to 10 | 1 |
| Available to boys without a conditional place in the school | 8 places available if needed | NO | 1 place available if needed | NO | NO |
| Maximum no. minutes instrument lessons per week awarded | 135 | 135 | 120 | NO | 30 (voice) |
| Additional means tested financial assistance may be awarded | YES | NO | NO | NO | NO |
| Eligible for free Alexander Technique lessons | YES | YES | YES | NO | NO |
| Timetabled practice sessions | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO |
| Music Tutor | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES |
| Music Mentor | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES |
Means-tested financial assistance
Families requesting financial support, if a Music Scholarship place is awarded, should complete the Music Scholarship Means-Tested Financial Aid Request Form as soon as possible. Once the details have been uploaded, access will be provided to the online Music Scholarship Bursary Application, to be completed by 31 October 2024. The College will adhere strictly to this closing date. Parents will be informed in November whether they are likely to be awarded a bursary in the event of their son being awarded a Music Scholarship before the deadline for submission of the Music Awards Application Form. This enables parents to make an informed decision about their application. Please contact the Fees and Bursaries Team on 01753 370581 or 370554 or email to start the bursary application process.
If candidates already have a conditional offer of a place at the school with a bursary offer, parents are required to resubmit a Bursary Application Form by 31 October 2024 for the purposes of the annual financial reassessment.
Timetable
- By 31 October 2024 – Parents submit Bursary Application Form
- By 22 November 2024 – Parents or current school submit Music Award Application. Eton reserves the right to request a recording of a candidate by way of first stage in the audition process if there is a high number of applicants.
- By 13 December 2024 – Eton will confirm which candidates are to be auditioned in person in January/February 2024
- 27 January – 30 January 2025 – Auditions (overseas candidates who have been seen in person by the Eton Admissions Department or had a pre-audition in the Eton Music Department may request a virtual audition – please email us)
It is most helpful to be informed in advance of any days or times when a boy will not be available for audition. Letters confirming the date and time of the audition will be sent to parents before 24 December 2023.
The audition
Each candidate will be auditioned and awards are offered on merit alone. The audition will take between 30-40 minutes and no more than 15 minutes of music should be offered (no more than 8 minutes on one instrument). Candidates will be required to play two contrasting pieces on their principal instrument and one piece on their second instrument (if applicable) and to sing one piece if singing is offered; to read at sight; and to do ear tests as appropriate to their technical standard. Accompanists will be provided by Eton College, and a 30 minute rehearsal will be offered. Candidates may bring their own accompanist but the Precentor and Director of Music must be informed soon after the audition times are sent out. It is strongly recommended that Eton accompanists are used. As well as being first rate accompanists, their knowledge of the process allows them to steer the candidate calmly through the audition.
Conditional places
Candidates who are successfully awarded a full Music Scholarship or the one Music Exhibition with a place are entitled to a conditional offer of a place in the school. Candidates must still pass the Common Entrance Examination for Public Schools (or do at least reasonably well in our King’s Scholarship examination) before any music award can be confirmed. Boys at a state school do not take Common Entrance but must pass the Eton Entrance Exam based on the National Curriculum. If a boy should win a place at Eton College through the Music award process, a house will be allocated to him after discussion between the Director of Admissions and the Director of Music.
In the case of boys who did not gain a Conditional or Waiting List place in the Eton Assessment, a computerised test and interview will be offered on the same day as the music auditions take place.
Boys normally come to Eton in the September after their 13th birthday. There is some flexibility for boys with an August or September birthday to come to Eton when they have just turned 14.
Conditions
As a condition of their awards, Music Scholars and Exhibitioners agree that:
- in order to ensure their ongoing musical development, they will participate fully in appropriate musical activities selected for them by the department throughout their time as a music award holder;
- the progress of music award holders is monitored informally and formally during a pupil’s time in the school;
- they will take music GCSE or IGCSE. They usually opt out of a subject to make extra time available for practice. Such arrangements will be made at the discretion of the Precentor and Director of Music and the House Master, after discussion with parents;
- they will have all instrumental and singing lessons from Eton teachers only;
- they will have instrumental lessons on the instruments offered at audition during their time at Eton unless prior permission has been given by the Precentor and Director of Music;
- instrument lesson lengths needed each week by Music Award Holders are determined by the Heads of Section each term; where fewer than 135 or 120 minutes per week are used, the remainder are not accumulated or carried forward;
- Eton pupils are expected not to commit to performances or competitions outside of school during term times without the permission of the relevant Head of Section. The same permission is required if you wish to apply for a vacation instrumental course involving one-to-one tuition.
The acceptance by parents or guardians of any award offered after the auditions constitutes their agreement to these conditions. Failure to meet these conditions could lead to an award being withdrawn.
Charging for Music Lessons for Music Scholars and Exhibitioners
Should any boy miss a lesson for unknown or unsatisfactory reasons his house master is informed. In cases where lessons are paid for by the school, if the house master and Precentor and Director of Music decide this is the boy’s fault, the missed lesson will be charged to the parents/guardian. This includes Music Scholars and Music Exhibitioners.
Where Heads of Section advise Music Award Holders that more than 120/135 minutes tuition per week is required, and the Award Holder’s parents agree, the additional cost will be charged to parents.
