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Admission Policies & Procedure
Go To: Admissions Policy | EAL
Boys and girls are currently admitted to the College from age 2 up to age 18. For the 2012-13 academic year, they will be admitted from age 3 and up. Places are allocated to applicants in order of registration, so it is advisable to register your child or children as early as possible. Applications will be considered for entry at any time during the year in most year groups. Late entry into years studying for public examinations will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The College would not normally allow admissions in the second half of the summer term.
All parents of prospective students are advised to make contact with the Admissions Office at the College. The Director of Admissions is responsible for all admissions into the College. She, or a member of the Admissions staff, is happy to meet all prospective parents to assess their needs and to advise them on the admissions procedure. Such a preliminary meeting is strongly advised for all prospective parents. The Admissions Office will ensure that you receive all the relevant information and documents to enable the admissions procedure to run as smoothly as possible. If you still have any queries please do not hesitate to contact the Director of Admissions, Debbie Cook, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
All prospective parents have to complete the Registration Form, which constitutes the basis of their application to the College. A member of the Admissions Office staff will be more than happy to explain the form and the other information required, in addition to organising a preliminary visit to the College. The Registration Form can be found under Admissions on the school website. The form must be supported by the following documentation:
- Copy of the passports of the student and/or Copy of the student’s birth certificate.
- Copy of passport of one of the parents or the legal guardian.
- Four recently taken passport-size photographs of the student.
- Copies of the student's school reports for the past two years in English if possible, or notarized if translated from another language.
All applicants pay a non-refundable Registration fee of 2,000RMB at the time of registration.
Upon receipt of all the above, the Admissions Office will arrange for the relevant testing and an interview, if this is deemed necessary. The intention is that the offer of a place will be made within a week of the assessment.
After the acceptance of a place at the College, parents must provide the following:
- Medical Form (provided by the Admissions Office)
- Signed acceptance of the College Terms and Conditions and Parent Charter (see below)
- A refundable Placement Deposit of 18,000RMB.
The Placement Deposit will be repaid by means of a credit without interest to the final payment of fees or other sums due when the student finally leaves the College. Until credited, it will form part of the general funds of the College.
School Tours and Open Days
The College conducts school tours at 11am on Wednesdays and Fridays. It is advisable to reserve a place on the school tours as numbers are strictly limited. If for any reason parents are unable to visit the College at this time, alternative arrangements can be made. Each term, the College also holds at least one Open Day, when groups of prospective parents and their children can view classes in operation and be given presentations on various aspects of life, academic and non-academic, in both the Senior School and the Junior School. These Open Days also provide an opportunity to meet the Master, Second Master and the Head of Junior School. Presentations will be followed by a question-and-answer session.
Admissions Policy
Go To: Admissions Procedure | EAL
The College aims to take students with a wide range of skills and abilities. A selection process is involved, though this process is made as comfortable as possible for all concerned. We approach the selection process with the firm belief that all students have got something to offer and so every chance is given to try to accommodate parents and students who obviously want to join us. All students at the College enter at their appropriate year group level. Any exceptions will be made by the Master. The entry requirements are different for all the sections of the College, and are as follows:
Ages on 1st September:
Junior School, Early Years
2.00-2.11 - Pre-School
3.00-3.11 - Nursery
4.00-4.11 - Reception
Students entering Early Years must be toilet trained.
Junior School, Key Stage 1
5.00-5.11- Year 1
6.00-6.11 - Year 2
The entry procedure for Early Years and Key Stage 1 involves the parents and child meeting the Head of Junior School and, if possible, the prospective teacher. There will be no formal test, but every opportunity will be given for the child to get to know the teachers and to interact with other prospective students, whether through set tasks or play. Language proficiency at this stage is deemed less important than the ability to mix socially with the other students and to respond positively to the teacher, both in the classroom environment and the more informal setting of the play areas. At Year 2 the child will also undergo a simple teacher-led test in literacy and numeracy.
Junior School, Key Stage 2
7.00-7.11 - Year 3
8.00-8.11 - Year 4
9.00-9.11 - Year 5
10.00-10.11 - Year 6
Entry into Year 3 is similar to the procedure in Year 2, with a series of small tests reflecting the requisite literacy and numeracy skills. From Year 4, all applicants are assessed by a combination of tests in English, Mathematics and Non-Verbal Reasoning, followed by an individual interview.
Senior School, Key Stage 3
11.00-11.11 - Year 7
12.00-12.11 - Year 8
13.00-13.11 - Year 9
Senior School, IGCSE
14.00-14.11 -Year10
Senior School, Sixth Form
16.00-16.11 –Year 12
Entry into the Senior School involves tests in English, Mathematics and Non-Verbal Reasoning, accompanied by an individual interview.
Admission to the College is influenced by a number of other factors. We do not admit students who are citizens of the People's Republic of China (unless they have foreign passports), in line with Chinese law, while in order to ensure a balanced and diverse student body a limit is placed on the number of students coming from a single country.
Proficiency in the English language is crucial in a school where the teaching medium is English, and all applicants will be assessed as detailed above in this area. It is obviously important that students offered a place are able to succeed academically and socially in a school with the high academic and extra-curricular standards of the College. However, we also understand that some applicants might find the entrance tests a little daunting. This is where the student's previous school reports and the interview are important in supplementing the test results.
Everybody, irrespective of age, feels daunted by the prospect of an interview. We are only too well aware of this at the College, particularly as so many of our interviewees are young in age. Everything is done to make the interview as relaxed and comfortable as possible for the applicant. We fully understand the pressure you, and your parents, feel. But, please, relax. All we are looking for is to give you the opportunity to provide further evidence of your strengths and, possibly most important, to show where your interests and activities might make a contribution to the school life of the College. You may well be asked to prepare a topic of interest to you, which can be discussed at the interview.
We expect all our parents to be fully supportive of the ethos and values of the College and therefore all offers of a place are subject to agreement by parents to our Standard Terms and Conditions and Parent Charter, copies of which are available from the Admissions Office, and which will also be sent accompanying the offer letter. A student would not be admitted to the College or allowed to remain there unless living full-time with at least one parent or a legal guardian. Any exceptions to this policy would have to be approved by the College Governing Body.
The decision to offer a place to a student will be taken by the Admissions Committee, comprising the Master, the relevant Head of School, the Director of Admissions and, if required, a representatives of the EAL department. The intention is that the offer of a place will be made within a week of the entrance tests and interview. The College’s decision in offering a placement is final.
Students entering the College from schools following a different academic year, most likely January to November, will normally be required to repeat part of the given year group. If consideration is requested to waive this requirement, the Admissions Committee will base its decision on a wide range of factors, including the results of the entrance tests, the student's age, social maturity and general proficiency in English.
Students may not attend the College until all aspects of the Admissions procedure have been carried out and all the relevant fees paid.
Unless there are exceptional circumstances, The College will place students in the correct year group by age. The allocation of a house or class is the decision of the College. We are happy to receive suggestions from parents regarding a particular house or class. However, parents should consider such requests based on the specific learning needs of the child rather than a preference for a particular housemaster/housemistress or classroom teacher. The College will listen to such requests but will not necessarily grant them, as house and class allocations will be based on several factors such as ability ranges, an effective mix of ethnicity, the proportion of native English speakers to second-language English students, and the ratio of boys to girls.
Students attending the College will be required to re-register for the following academic year during the month of April. No Registration fee will be required.
English as an Additional Language (EAL)
Go To: Admissions Procedure | Admissions Policy
The College is very conscious of the fact that the teaching medium in all subjects, except Mandarin and Modern Foreign Languages, is English, which for many of our students will be their second language. Every effort is made to ensure our students reach the necessary standard of English proficiency for academic and social success at the school, and this is reflected in the resources, both human and material, directed at the EAL department. It may be that a student offered a place at the College is required to have extra English language support, on occasions as a condition of entry, and this will be provided by the EAL department. Students will come out of timetabled English classes for these lessons. If the need arises, this level of support can be increased.
Special Educational Needs (SEN)
The College accepts students with mild learning difficulties on a case-by-case basis. The needs of each individual will be considered against current staffing levels and the available expertise and resources. In general terms students will be offered places if they are able to participate successfully in the regular classroom with a limited amount of support, usually not in excess of an average of one hour per day of individual and/or small group work.
Gifted and Talented Programme
The College believes that all students have strengths that must be nurtured and developed to their full potential, while recognising that some students have particular gifts and talents that require specialist support and encouragement. To fulfil this need, both the curriculum and the extra-curricular programme have been devised to provide gifted students with the widest possible opportunities to enhance their skills and talents. Further details can be obtained from the Admissions Office.
Siblings and Waiting Lists
Siblings of current students will take precedence over new applicants without any previous association with the College. If a student meets all the above admissions criteria but there is no space available, he or she will be placed on the year group waiting list. Priority on the waiting lists will again be given to siblings of students already in the College. The waiting lists are ended at the end of each academic year and parents need to re-apply if they wish to be considered for admission for the following year. A second Registration fee will not be required for entry in these circumstances.
Parental Feedback
The College has gone to great efforts to try to make the Admissions procedure into the school as easy and efficient as possible for all concerned. Nevertheless, we are always aware that we can improve and, for this reason, we do appreciate your feedback once the process is over. The Director of Admissions is always available to discuss ways in which we can do better. We can assure you we will take very seriously your comments and act upon any shortcomings you draw our attention to.