English school terminology is a mess of historical accidents. A public school is private, a prep school prepares for an exam some of its pupils never sit, and an academy is a state school. If you did not grow up in the system — or even if you did — the vocabulary is a genuine obstacle.
Here is what the terms actually mean.
Prep school
A preparatory school is an independent school that prepares children for entry to independent senior schools. The name comes from preparing pupils for the Common Entrance examination.
Ages vary, which is the main source of confusion:
- Traditional prep: 8 to 13, feeding senior schools at 13+
- Modern prep: 7 or 8 to 11, feeding senior schools at 11+
- Many now run 4 to 11 or 4 to 13 as a single school
The 11 versus 13 split is largely regional. Much of London operates on 11+, in line with the state system. Parts of the country outside London, and the traditional boarding schools, retain 13+ entry via Common Entrance or pre-testing.
Practically: if you are choosing a prep school, the first question is which senior school age it feeds, because it determines when your child moves and which exams they sit. Our prep school stage guide covers what to look for, and choosing a prep school goes into the criteria.
Pre-prep
The section for the youngest children, usually 3 or 4 to 7. Sometimes a separate school, more often a department within a prep school on the same site.
Entry at 4+ can be competitive in London, though most pre-preps outside the most oversubscribed London schools are not selective in any meaningful sense at that age. See the 4+ assessment and our pre-prep stage guide.
Public school
A public school is a private, fee-paying school. The term is historical: these schools were "public" in the sense of being open to any paying pupil, rather than restricted to a particular locality or trade, in contrast to private tuition at home.
In modern usage it refers loosely to a group of long-established, mostly boarding senior schools. It carries connotations rather than a definition, and nobody agrees on the membership. For practical purposes, "public school" means an independent senior school with a long history — and the word you want in almost every other context is "independent".
Independent school
The correct umbrella term for any school funded by fees rather than the state. Roughly 2,500 of them in the UK. They set their own curriculum, their own admissions and their own term dates.
Independent schools are inspected. Most schools belonging to the main associations are inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate; others are inspected by Ofsted. Both publish reports. Our article on ISI vs Ofsted explains the difference in what they report.
Since January 2025 independent school fees have been subject to VAT — see VAT on private school fees.
Grammar school
A state-funded, academically selective secondary school. Free to attend, entry by examination at 11 — the 11-plus.
The critical point for newcomers: grammar schools only exist in some parts of England. Roughly 163 remain, concentrated in a handful of areas. Most of the country has none. See grammar schools by county for where they actually are.
Confusingly, some independent schools have "Grammar School" in their name for historical reasons and are fee-paying. Check whether a school is state-funded rather than relying on the name.
Comprehensive, academy, free school, maintained
All state-funded and free. The differences are about governance rather than what happens in a classroom:
- Comprehensive — a non-selective state secondary. The default across most of England.
- Maintained school — funded and overseen by the local authority.
- Academy — state-funded but independent of the local authority, run by an academy trust. Most secondary schools in England are now academies. They have some freedom over curriculum and term dates.
- Free school — an academy set up new rather than converted.
- Voluntary aided / voluntary controlled — usually faith schools, with the church or another body involved in governance and often in admissions. See faith schools and religious ethos.
For parents, the practical differences between these categories are smaller than the differences between individual schools.
Other terms you will meet
All-through school — covers both primary and secondary ages, typically 3 or 4 to 18. Common in the independent sector. Removes one or two transitions, which suits some children a great deal.
Senior school — the independent sector's term for secondary, usually 11 or 13 to 18.
Sixth form college — a standalone state institution for 16 to 18, offering A-levels and often a wider vocational range than a school sixth form.
Day school / boarding school — self-explanatory, but note that most boarding schools also take day pupils, and many now offer weekly and flexi-boarding.
Non-association independent school — an independent school not in one of the main associations, inspected by Ofsted rather than the ISI.
Common Entrance — the traditional 13+ entrance examination set by the Independent Schools Examinations Board.
Pre-test — an online assessment sat in Year 6 or 7 for entry to senior schools, increasingly used in place of or alongside Common Entrance. See ISEB Common Pre-Tests explained.
Why any of this matters
Two reasons, both practical.
Age of transfer. Whether your local independent schools work on 11+ or 13+ changes when your child moves and what they prepare for. Get this wrong and you find out late.
Comparing like with like. A selective grammar, an all-ability comprehensive and a highly selective independent school produce very different exam statistics for reasons that have little to do with teaching quality. Knowing which category you are looking at is the first step to reading the numbers honestly — see how to read school league tables.
Next step: search independent, prep and grammar schools by type, age range and area on the school search — or read our comparison of state and independent schools.