Admissions to other year groups
Year 1 entry (September 2025)
We would be delighted to welcome your child into Year 1 in September. The Admissions process would involve a school tour, meeting with the headmaster, Mr Sam Gosden and your child’s attendance at a Taster Day. Make an initial enquiry about Year 1 entry
Years 2 – 5 entry (September 2025)
We are happy to accept registrations for boys and girls to join us in other year groups and places are offered after your child has attended a successful taster session. Make an initial enquiry about Year 2 entry
For whichever year group, children will be invited to come in to the school for one of our Discovery Days. View an example schedule for one of these events.
What does the Taster Day involve?
At the Taster Day, children spend most of the time in the classroom with pupils of their own age. If they haven’t done so already, prospective pupils for entry into Years 2 – 5 will take an informal assessment in Maths and English (reading), just for us to get a feel for their academic ability and identify any areas in which they may need support.
The child-friendly tests will be familiar and manageable to your child. A member of our teaching staff will support your child throughout, and we have found that previous participants have enjoyed the tests and are not daunted by them.
The class-based activities will follow the curriculum for the year group and a typical day will include maths and English. Depending on the day, it may also include exciting, informative lessons in history, geography, science, PE, music, IT and French. We also hear each child read individually.
How can I prepare my child for the Taster Day?
Please do not engage a tutor for your child – the Taster Day is really just a chance for us to spend some time with your child, finding out their current levels of ability and looking at their future potential.
You might want to visit the school with your child ahead of the taster day so they are familiar with the environment, but our teachers are very experienced at making children feel welcome.
Talking through what’s going to happen on the day is a useful way of preparing your child. The informal assessment only forms a small part of the taster day and ultimately we want your children to enjoy themselves, have fun and make new friends.
What level of academic ability are you expecting from my child?
We would expect a child to be attaining above age-related expectations (state schools) or with a standardised score of 112+ if these are used in an independent pre-prep.
Part of the reason we invite children in for the day is so we can get a balanced picture of an individual pupil. For example, a child may be nervous in the tests and not perform particularly strongly, but shows active participation and good knowledge / ability in the class-based activities.
We also look at school reports from the current school which may identify a particular aptitude in a subject.
What other information will you need from us prior to the Taster Day?
In advance of the Taster Day you will need to:
- provide us with a copy of your child’s most recent school report
- complete the registration form
- pay the registration fee
All of these steps need to be completed in order for your child to attend the Taster Day.
