Preparatory school

Preparatory school or prep school may refer to:

Preparatory school (United Kingdom)

A British preparatory school (or prep school) is a fee-paying school for children of the ages of 8-13, often preparing them for entry into British public schools or other secondary independent schools.

Originally developed in England and Wales in the early 19th century as boarding schools to prepare boys for leading public schools, such as Eton and Winchester, the numbers attending such schools increased due to large numbers of parents being overseas in the service of the British Empire. They are now found in all parts of the United Kingdom, and elsewhere.

Boys' prep schools are generally for 8- to 13-year-olds, who are prepared for the Common Entrance Examination, the key to entry into many secondary independent schools. Before the age of seven or eight, the term "pre-prep school" is used. Girls' private schools in England tend to follow the age ranges of state schools more closely than those of boys. Girls' preparatory schools usually admit girls from the age of four or five, who will then continue to another independent school at 11, or at 13 if the school is co-educational (as most secondary schools now are). However, as more girls now go on to formerly single-sex boys' schools which have become co-educational, the separation is less clear.