Our ethos

We know that the admission process can feel like a stressful experience for both prospective pupils and parents. We, therefore, look to make all interactions with the school as kind and supportive as possible whilst enabling prospective families to gather the information they need about the school.

Through the admission process, we want to get to know your child as an individual before any testing takes place. Therefore, we look to meet all candidates (both pupils and parents) at the school, as a first step so that we both get to know one another.

When testing is required, it takes place in small groups with welcoming teachers using fun interactive systems that do not require hours of preparation.

We hope that we have devised our admissions process to create opportunities for both prospective pupils and parents to get to know the school whilst reducing the pressure on what is a stressful time in children’s lives. We also hope that our welcoming and friendly approach reflects the school values of Happiness First and a Community of Kindness.

Key Information for September 2025 Entry

Entry at Age 4+ (Pre Prep)

Your Child's Date of Birth

This applies to children born between 1st September 2020 and 31st August 2021.

How to Register your Child

Please complete the online registration form and the registration fee of £150.00 (please note that this is non-refundable)

Application Closing Date

The closing date for applications is 5.00 pm on Friday 20th September 2024. Unfortunately, applications received after this time will not be considered.

Assessment Sessions

The assessment sessions take place over a three-week period beginning on Monday 23rd September 2024.

What happens at the Assessment?

Children and their parents will be allocated a time slot according to their date of birth during one of the weeks. Children attend and participate in the assessment as part of a group while their parents wait for their child.

The 4+ assessment consists of pupil participation in a range of activities centred on the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. Briefly, these activities comprise number and literacy games, physical games, playing with other children, listening and responding to a story and joining in with singing or rhymes. The assessment usually takes place in the Pre Prep library, lasts approximately 1½ hours and is carefully designed to ensure children feel happy and settled.

The date and time of each child’s assessment will be sent after the closing date for applications.

The results of the 4+ assessments will be communicated on Monday 14th October 2024.

Confirming Acceptance of a Place

Acceptances must be received by 10.00 am on Tuesday 5th November 2024.

4+ Prospectus

For further information, please view the 4+ Prospectus.

Entry at Age 7+ (Prep School)

Your Child's Date of Birth

This applies to children born between 1st September 2017 and 31st August 2018.

How to Register your Child

Please complete the online registration form and the registration fee of £150.00 (please note that this is non-refundable). We advise registration at the earliest possible as most interviews will take place prior to the application closing date.

Application Closing Date

The closing date for applications is 5:00pm on Sunday 1st December 2024.

Assessment Session Dates

  • 7+ group sessions will be held during the first three weeks of January 2025.
  • The 7+ entrance examination will take place on: TBC.

Parents will be notified of their appointments by email.

What happens at the Assessment?

All 7+ candidates have group sessions and sit the entrance examination. In addition, a confidential report form will be sent to parents for completion by their child's current school.

The 7+ group sessions will involve some written and practical tasks in a small group. We will also be observing how pupils interact with others. Pupils can expect to remain with us for approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Parents will have the opportunity to meet with the Head and Senior Deputy Head of the Prep School.

The examination itself comprises papers in English and maths. Specimen English and maths papers are given below. We do not send out further past papers.

Results of the 7+ entrance examination will be emailed and posted on TBC.

Confirming Acceptance of a Place

Acceptances must be received by 12.00pm on Friday 7th March 2025.

7+ Prospectus

For further information, please view the 7+ Prospectus.

Entry at Age 11+ (Lower School)

Your Child's Date of Birth

This applies to children born between 1st September 2013 and 31st August 2014.

How to Register your Child

Please complete the online registration form and the registration fee of £150.00 (please note that this is non-refundable). We advise registration at the earliest possible as most interviews will take place in November.

Meeting Dates

Most meetings will be held on Saturday 16th November and Saturday 30th November 2024 with the final few in early January.

Application Closing Date

The closing date for applications is Sunday 1st December 2024.

What happens at the Meeting?

The 11+ meeting takes place in two parts:

  • Parents will have the opportunity to meet with a senior member of staff and ask questions about life at Chigwell School and also outline their child’s strengths and interests.
  • We meet the candidates separately.

The whole process takes 30 minutes. The School also sends parents a confidential report form to pass on to their child’s current school.

11+ Entrance Examination

The 11+ entrance examination takes place on Saturday 11th January 2025.

More information on the online assessment process is available via this link.

If a candidate performs especially well in the examination they may be called for a scholarship interview and assessment on either Wednesday 22nd or Thursday 23rd January 2025. Candidates have individual interviews in English, mathematics and a general interview with senior members of staff.

Music scholarship auditions are held in the week beginning Monday 13th January 2025. 11+ candidates should have at least Associated Board Grade 4 in the first instrument offered and Grade 2 in their second instrument or singing.

Results of the 11+ entrance examination will be emailed and posted on Thursday 20th February 2025.

Confirming Acceptance of a Place

Acceptances must be received by 10:00am on Friday 7th March 2025.

Bursaries and Scholarships at 11+ Entry

Bursaries and scholarships are available at this entry point. Please note your choice on the registration form.

Scholarships

It might be helpful to know that we expect our Scholars to achieve 7, 8 or 9 grades across the board at GCSE. Before entering for the scholarship, it is worth talking to your current school about your child’s predicted grades.

Bursaries

Bursary awards are made on the academic merit of the candidate, together with parents’ financial circumstances. A link to the bursary application form will be sent to registered candidates at the end of November 2024.

Read more on Bursaries and Scholarships.

11+ Prospectus

For further information, please view the 11+ prospectus.

Entry at Age 13+ (Senior School)

Your Child's Date of Birth

This applies to children born between 1st September 2011 and 31st August 2012.

How to Register your Child

The 13+ entry is only held if there are places available and this year there is likely to be very limited places on offer. To register please complete the online registration form and the registration fee of £150.00 (please note that this is non-refundable).

Application Closing Date

The closing date for applications is 5.00pm on Friday 24th January 2025.

13+ Entrance Examination

The entrance exam will be held on Monday 3rd February 2025.

All candidates will sit papers in English, maths and a modern foreign language paper (a form will be emailed to you regarding the candidate’s choice of language – French, Spanish or German). Successful candidates will be offered an interview after the exam. A school reference request will also be sent to you to pass to your child’s current school.

Interviews

Selected candidates will be invited back for interviews on Thursday 13th February 2025.

Results of the entrance examination will be posted on Monday 24th February 2025.

Confirming Acceptance of a Place

Acceptances must be received by 10.00am on Monday 10th March 2025.

Bursaries and Scholarships at 13+ Entry

Bursaries and scholarships are available at this entry point. Please note your choice on the registration form.

Scholarships

It might be helpful to know that we expect our Scholars to achieve 7, 8 or 9 grades across the board at GCSE. Before entering for the scholarship, it is worth talking to your current school about your child’s predicted grades.

Bursaries

Bursary awards are made on the academic merit of the candidate, together with parents’ financial circumstances. A link to the bursary application form will be sent to registered candidates.

Read more on Bursaries and Scholarships.

Entry at Age 16+ (Sixth Form)

Date of Birth

This applies to young people born between 1st September 2008 and 31st August 2009.

How to Register

To register please complete the online registration form and the registration fee of £150 (please note that this is non-refundable).

The Assessment Process at 16+

Sixth form places will be awarded on the basis of the entrance tests, interviews and a current school report.

Candidates are expected to achieve grade 8s or 9s in the subjects being studied at A level. Grade 7s will be considered on request to the Head of Sixth Form.

We will request the following information once the registration form has been completed.

  • The GCSE subjects and examination boards
  • Details regarding separate science or dual award science at GCSE
  • Candidates applying for history should indicate which periods they are studying for GCSE
  • Candidates applying for religious studies should indicate which specification they are following
  • A-level choices and of those, the two subjects to be taken in the entrance exam.

Bursaries and Scholarships

Bursaries and scholarships are available at the 16+ entry point.

  • Candidates may apply for academic, music, art and/or drama scholarships.
  • A combination of academic/drama, academic/art or academic/music scholarships can be applied for, but not a combination of drama, art or music.
  • Candidates may also apply for a bursary (means-tested award) and one of the scholarship categories.

Read more on Bursaries and Scholarships.

Application Closing Date

The closing date for fee paying and scholarship applications is 10.00pm on Monday 28th October 2024. Applications received after this time are very welcome but will only be considered for fee paying places. Boarding applications must be made directly to the school (as per below). Please see more on our boarding pages.

16+ Entrance Exams

Entrance exams for all sixth form candidates will take place on the afternoon Wednesday 6th November 2024. Candidates will be advised of timings closer to the date. Candidates will sit papers in two of their chosen A Level subjects.

Interviews

Selected candidates will then be invited back for interviews on Saturday 23rd November 2024. Invitations for art, music and drama scholarship assessments will also be sent out during this period.

Results

Results will be emailed and posted on Monday 2nd December 2024.

Confirming Acceptance of a Place

Acceptances must be received by Monday 6th January 2025.

16+ Prospectus

For further information, please view our 16+ Prospectus.

Entry at Age 16+ (Sixth Form) - International Boarding Students

Before you apply

Before making your application to Chigwell, you should consider the following points, these will also assist you during the application process:

  • Research your A Level subject choices
    What interests you, where do your skills lie, and what do you hope to study in the future? Be sure to read our prospectus and see what subjects we offer. Please view our current prospectus.
  • Research University courses
    Having an idea of what course you would like to study or institutions you would like to go to after sixth form will help you research your A Level choices. It’s important to consider the Entry Requirements for each course as well.
  • Draft your Personal Statement
    This is your chance to shine! Tells us what you can do, what you’ve done, and what you will bring to our unique school community.
  • Ask us
    Feel free to ask us any questions you may have about any part the application process. You can email us at rdarkin@chigwell-school.org (Miss Roxanne Darkin, Head of Careers & Sixth Form Coordinator).

What you need to apply

We require certain documents in order to support your application, so please make sure you have the following:

  • Your IELTS Report (or equivalent)
  • Your current and previous school reports
  • Personal Statement
  • Registration fee
  • Copy of your passport.

How to apply

Please contact the School directly to apply. Contact Miss Roxanne Darkin, Head of Careers & Sixth Form Coordinator by email at rdarkin@chigwell-school.org

What happens next?

Every applicant must sit entrance tests, usually in English and Maths, and an additional chosen A Level subject. These can be sat whilst visiting us, but can also be sat at one of our authorised Education Agencies or a British Council office. Please contact us if you have any questions about this.

All applicants also have an interview with the Head of Sixth Form, this may be conducted by Skype or other real-time video conferencing programme, or whilst visiting the school. We understand that visiting the school may be difficult, be we hugely encourage you to come and visit us, especially as you’ll be spending two years living and studying here. We can answer as many of your questions as possible and give you as good an idea as we can about school life at Chigwell, but it is ultimately your decision and how you feel about the school environment.

We’ll acknowledge receipt of your application and request any further documentation we may need.

You will need to return your acceptance form along with your first terms fees and your deposit to confirm your place. If you require a Visa to study with us, we will send you an email detailing the Tier 4 Visa application process.

Further Information

Read more about boarding at Chigwell.

Register for 4+

Pre Prep

Register for 7+

Prep School

Register for 11+

Senior School

Register for 13+

Senior School

Register for 16+

Sixth Form

International Boarding at 16+

Sixth Form

Please contact Miss Roxanne Darkin, Head of Careers & Sixth Form Coordinator.