Preparatory school (United Kingdom)

[1] They are also preferred by some parents in the hope of getting their child into a state selective grammar school.

[2] Boys' prep schools are generally for 8–13 year-olds (Years 3 to 8), who are prepared for the Common Entrance Examination, the key to entry into many secondary independent schools.

However, as more girls now go on to formerly single-sex boys' schools that have become co-educational, the separation is less clear.

Provision for younger children is generally called a nursery school or kindergarten.

The numbers attending such schools increased as many parents were overseas in the service of the British Empire.