Music at Eton
Eton is the largest all boys’ boarding school in the UK, home to over 1,300 boys, around 10% of whom hold a music award.
Our Music Department 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 1,300 individual instrument lessons a week within the department.
Coming to Eton has given me countless opportunities which I could have never dreamt about previously.
andrew, music scholar
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. We have 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.
Downloads
2027 Music Awards Application Form
Means-Tested Financial Aid Request Form (MS)
The application deadline for 2027 entry to the 13+ Music Awards is on Friday 27 November 2026.
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, and above all a sense of genuine passion, curiosity and enjoyment. If music examinations have been taken we shall look more for high marks than high grades.
Music Scholarships
Usually 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 of up to 135 minutes of music lessons per week. The Music Scholarship is the only award that 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 2026, for consideration as part of the Bursary Awards process.
Honorary Music Scholarships & Music Exhibitions
Usually up to sixteen Honorary Music Scholarships/Music Exhibitions may be awarded. These awards are made 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.
For families already in receipt of financial assistance on school fees, these come with free tuition on up to 120 minutes of music lessons per week.
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.
To find out more about our Music Awards, please read our prospectus below.
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.
