Admissions Process

Admissions Policy

Applications are welcome from parents of children aged 2 years (Nursery) up to 18 years (Year 13) St. Stephen's is open to children of all nationalities.

St. Stephen’s is looking to enroll well-rounded individuals who believe in the School’s philosophy of “East meets West”. Participation in all aspects of school life is essential and requires a command of the English language, which is the medium of teaching and learning.

The School's admission policy requires all students in Year 1 and above to be assessed for English language ability. Additional assessments will be made of numeracy and non-verbal reasoning abilities. Very young children (Nursery, Kindergarten and Reception) are not expected to have a high standard of English. Older students with low levels of English language ability may be required to join our English Support Programme.

Admissions to St. Stephen’s and allocation to particular year groups are authorised by the Head of Campus.

Admissions Procedures

1.   Orientation Visit
Interested families are requested to contact the school in order to arrange a school tour and fill in an application form.
For those who are interested in pursuing their application the following documents will be required.

2. Taster / Testing Day
Prospective Primary and Secondary aged students will join classes for 2 days. During this time the students will normally spend 4 or 5 lessons with the class they would most likely join if they were accepted to St. Stephen’s.  Year 5 and up will undergo English language, mathematics and non-verbal reasoning assessments. Prospective Nursery and KG students have a day in class but do not take any formal assessments.
The Taster / Testing days allows the school to collect information about the suitability of the student. However, it also allows the parents and the student to make an informed decision about the educational future of the student and is therefore an essential part of the admissions process.

3.     Meeting the Head of Campus
After the Taster/testing days a meeting will be set up with the Head of Campus where decisions regarding the acceptance of the students are explained to parents.

4.     Acceptance and Offer
After a successful application a formal offer letter will be sent to parents; parents will then need to confirm their acceptance of the place and pay the required fees. Registration is complete once fees are paid and students are issued with a PIN number.

5.     Information
An information pack will be issued to parents which  contains all the information need to ensure a happy start to the child’s education at St. Stephen’s.

Criteria for Acceptance

• A decision whether or not to accept a student will be based on a number of criteria as detailed below:
• The student’s English language ability
• The results of the assessments taken on the Taster / Testing Days
• Teachers’ comments on how the student worked / behaved during the Taster / Testing days.
• The student’s reports from previous school(s).
• Class size and availability

A decision will be made on a student’s English language ability based on the student’s performance during the taster/testing day.  The decision will not just be based on an examination but also whether, in the opinion of the class teachers, a student will be able to cope with the curriculum, which is mainly taught in English.

If a student’s English language ability is not felt to be strong enough to cope with the curriculum, the parents will be asked to agree to either, extra English Support lessons in school, or re-apply to the school, after the student has had time to improve their English.

Students of Year 10 age (14 to 15 years old) will normally not be allowed to join Year 10 part way through the year, unless they are coming from another school with a similar curriculum, and they may have to join Year 9.