Admissions and Fees

Everything you need to know about joining us

Welcome!

Choosing a school for your child, no matter how old they are, can be daunting and overwhelming. With COVID-19, we recognise it’s even more challenging. Schools themselves are looking a bit different and many in-person chats and visits are needing to be virtual.

We are doing everything we can to give you a really good sense of who we are and what makes us different so that you can be sure we are the right school for your family.

We hope our website, and our video in particular, have given you a good window into Frensham Heights but we would also be very happy to show you around our lovely campus. To book a tour with us please click here.

Please do also feel free to contact us directly either on the phone 01252 792561 or by email: [email protected]

We look forward to chatting with you or seeing you soon.

Book a tour Have a look at our virtual open morning

Our Admissions Process

We want every parent to be sure that Frensham is the right place for their child to grow. By chatting with our Registrar or coming for a visit we hope you’ll start to get a strong understanding of who we are. It’s important to us that we choose our students based not only on exam results, but also on who we believe will thrive and benefit from everything the school has to offer and who, in turn, will fully contribute to the life of the school.

Most children join the school each September in the following year groups: Nursery, Reception, Years 3, 7, 9 and 12. If places are available, children are very welcome to join other year groups and also at other times of the year.

Registration forms for entry into Year 12 in September 2022 should be received by Friday 15th October 2021 and for Year 7 & 9, by 30 November 2021.

Whilst we don’t have a specific registration deadline for the Junior School, we do start to fill places early on in the academic year, particularly in certain year groups. If you are interested in joining the Junior School in September 2022, it is worth registering your interest as soon as possible. Please be aware that there is a non-refundable registration fee for all prospective students of £150.

Please click here to register your child.

Visitor Information

Have a look at our Virtual Open Morning

Visits during COVID-19

We hope you will understand that in the current climate, we have to do these a bit differently for your safety and our own. Most importantly, we can only offer tours during certain times and we may not be able to show you inside all of our buildings. We will also still need to ask you to wear a mask indoors. Our staff taking you around, and any you may meet on your tour, will have to keep their distance, so please don’t take this personally!

We would be very pleased to welcome single family tours (no more than 5 people in a group) at the following times:

Monday to Friday: 9:30 – 10:20, 11:00 – 11:50, 2:15 – 3:10.

Please click here to book your tour and we look forward to meeting you soon!

Book a tour

Individual Needs

Frensham Heights is proud to welcome students with Individual Needs, but with a small Support for Learning team, we can only support a small number of children with mild learning difficulties in each year.

If your child has Individual Needs we will ask you for additional information about any known or suspected difficulties or diagnoses relating to your child’s health, wellbeing or learning abilities – such as a formal Educational Psychologist, Medical or Specialist Teacher’s report and an informal conversation with your child’s current school. This information will help us see if we could reasonably meet your child’s needs. Importantly, it will also help us see if your child could thrive and benefit from everything the school has to offer and be able to contribute in full to the life of the school.

To find out more about Support for Learning at Frensham Heights, please follow this link.

Our Assessment Process

Our assessment process is slightly different for each area of the school. We are currently assessing all those children looking at remaining places for the current school year through online interactive and written assessments taking place at home. Please get in touch with us as we would be delighted to explain how this works.

From September we hope we will be able to re-introduce elements of our face to face assessment held here at school. You’ll find more details below of what this will likely involve although of course we will adapt our plans to ensure we keep everyone safe.

Junior School: Nursery - Yr 6

Nursery and Reception
Once you have registered, we’ll invite you to bring your child in for a short informal visit to meet the teachers and other children properly and to explore our wonderful Early Years facilities. Children need to be three years old at the time of entry or in the first half term they join the Nursery and they really must be fully toilet trained.

Year 1 – Year 6

Children looking to join the Junior School will be invited to spend a morning or afternoon with us. During their time here, they will join their year group in all their usual activities and experience a little of what is so special about Frensham. They will also spend a short time one to one with a teacher working through some core numeracy and literacy activities designed to help us ensure your child will happily access the curriculum at Frensham.

We will also ask for a written reference from your child’s current school and for you to share their two most recent school reports. We always aim to give feedback to families within a few days.

Middle & Senior School: Yrs 7 - 11

Our Year 7-9 assessments for entry to the school in September 2022 will take place on Saturday 15th January 2022. We will invite children into school in small groups to take some short tests in Maths, Spelling, English Reading Comprehension, Non-Verbal and Verbal Reasoning and also Creative Writing. Those applying for Years 9 or 10 will also complete an assessment in Science. Rick, our Head and the Head of the Middle or Senior School, will also meet the children for an informal small group interview.

It is our aim to assess the whole child. Academic tests help us determine if your child will be able to access the curriculum but places go to those who we feel will contribute to and thrive at Frensham. To help us do this, we will also request references from your child’s current school and also their two most recent school reports.

Once the children have completed their entrance assessments they are invited join us for lunch in our lovely dining room before enjoying a range of activities across the afternoon. We then hope that parents will be able to join us for tea at the end of the day.

We aim to have all papers marked and offers made within one-two weeks of the assessment weekend.

If you are interested in a place in Year 10 please contact the Admissions team to find out more.

Deferred Entry and Pre-testing

Deferred Entry and Pre-testing

Pretesting offers an opportunity for children to be assessed in the Spring Term of Year 6 for a place in Year 9. By completing assessment at this stage, families can be offered peace of mind and security with regards to their children’s education and the children themselves are free to enjoy their last years at prep school. Note that we will still welcome applications from families of children in Year 8 who would prefer to leave assessment until this stage.

Assessment

Our assessment process is the same for both pretesting candidates and those currently in Year 8. We use standardised tests that are age adaptive so that younger children are not at a disadvantage.

Sixth Form

We ask those looking to join us in Year 12 to complete a 45-minute general paper as part of a taster day in mid November here at Frensham. Students looking to study Maths or Science at A Level may be asked to complete an assessment in either Maths or Science as well. There will also be an interview with Rick, our Head and we will ask for a reference from their current school as well as a copy of their most recent school report.

Students must have achieved, or be likely to achieve, at least six GCSE passes at grades 9 – 4, with, where relevant, a grade 6 in the subjects they want to study at A Level. Students who want to study Mathematics at A Level should preferably have achieved, or be likely to achieve a grade 7 in Mathematics GCSE. Students who want to pursue the subject at A Level with a grade 6 will be considered and will have a short interview with the Head of Mathematics to determine their suitability for the course.

Sixth Form: Scholarship Students

Further information about our Sixth Form Scholarship Programme will be provided on the entrance assessment day in November. We will invite prospective scholarship candidates to a scholarship day upon successful completion of the entrance assessment tests.

Academic Scholarship candidates will be invited for a further interview and a 60-minute scholarship paper in a subject of the student’s choice.

Sports, Drama, Dance, Art or Music Scholarship candidates will be invited to an audition and interview with the Head of Department relevant to their chosen scholarship.

Scholarships

As with most things, we do scholarships a bit differently. They are non-monetary and are not applied for in a traditional manner. Our scholars are expected to contribute and participate fully in the life of the school and beyond, involving themselves in all activities related to their scholarship as well as supporting other students. As such, scholarships are awarded on the basis of aptitude, attitude, participation and leadership potential. It isn’t possible to fairly judge for a scholarship when a student first enters the Middle School. We wait until the end of Years 7 and 9, when students have had a chance to settle and find their real passions, before awarding scholarships. Scholarships are awarded by Heads of Departments for Academic, Performing Arts, Creative Arts and Sport and confirmed by the Head.

Offers

Offers are normally sent out within one-two weeks and you would normally receive one of four potential responses.

Guaranteed offer: successful candidates will be offered a guaranteed place to start the following September (or the start of Year 9 for pre-test candidates). Places must be accepted by the first Monday in March
Waiting list offer:these candidates we be offered a guaranteed place as soon as a place becomes available
Offer to retest (pre-test candidates only):if we feel your child has not quite reached the level required in the pretest, but we think they would really benefit from a Frensham education, we may invite them to come back for assessments in Year 8
Regret:if we unfortunately feel that Frensham is not quite the right fit for your child.

Deposits

If you wish to accept an offer of a place at Frensham for your child, we would ask you to pay a deposit as follows:

Nursery: £300

Junior, Middle & Senior School: £500 (day) or £1000 (boarders)

Parents of overseas boarders are asked to pay a full term’s boarding fees in advance to secure a place for your child.

Should you accept a deferred place at Frensham, we would request a deposit of £1000 per child for day places and £1500 per child for a boarding place.