Admissions
In the St Mary’s Admissions section of our website you’ll find information on everything from your first visit to St Mary’s through to joining us.
Arrange a private visit, a virtual tour or reserve a place at an Open Day
You can arrange a private tour with our Registrar, Mrs Justine Tierney, who will be happy to find a time that’s convenient for you. This will enable you to find out everything you’d like to know and give you a real feel for the school. We can also talk you through the St Mary’s admissions process.
Alternatively, reserve a place at an upcoming Open Day.
St Mary’s admissions process
If you like what you see, the next step is to register. We would advise doing this as early as possible as we are a very popular school and after we allow for siblings, and girls moving up from the Lower School to the Senior School for Year 7 admissions, the date of registration is taken into account when allocating places.
You can find out more about the St Mary’s admissions process for the Kindergarten, Lower School and Senior School below. Alternatively, please don’t hesitate to contact our Registrar, Mrs Justine Tierney, to find out more about St Mary’s admissions.
The process for St Mary’s admissions is straightforward and we are here to assist if you have any questions at any point. Once your child is registered, we will be in touch regularly and will support you through the St Mary’s admissions process.
Points of admission
Please note that the main entry points are Kindergarten, Preparatory (Reception) Class at the Lower School and Year 7 at the Senior School.
Entry into other years is only possible if space is available so please contact our Registrar for the latest information. We rarely take girls into Years 10 or 11 because teaching for some GCSEs starts in Year 9, but we would be happy to discuss options if you would like to find out more.
St Mary’s admissions – Kindergarten
The following information will give you an overview of St Mary’s admissions to the Kindergarten.
Kindergarten sessions often get booked up over a year in advance so please contact us as early as possible to find out about availability and to register your child.
To accept a Kindergarten place offered, we ask parents to complete and sign the Acceptance Form, issued by the Registrar, and return it to the school.
Close to the time of joining, your child will be invited to take part in a Familiarisation Session. This is designed to help them feel settled in the Kindergarten and make for a smoother transition from home or nursery. Parents are also welcome to discuss their child’s learning experiences with the Kindergarten team to make sure that, together, we are giving your child the best possible start in education.
Once your child has joined the Kindergarten, they will have a nominated ‘key person’ – a member of staff assigned to your child who will monitor their progress and wellbeing as soon as they start and throughout their time in the Kindergarten. They will be the first point of contact if you have any questions or concerns.
St Mary’s admissions – Lower School
The following information will give you an overview of St Mary’s admissions to the Lower School.
Many girls progress to the Lower School from St Mary’s Kindergarten, but others join from a range of nurseries. Girls may join the school in other year groups if there is a place available. Please check with our Registrar for the latest information as there are often very few places available.
Before a place in Lower School years other than the Preparatory (Reception) Class is offered, girls are invited to take part in a Taster Day. In this way, we are able to get to know your child and to draw on our many years of experience to ensure that St Mary’s is the right environment for her to learn and develop, and that she will in turn contribute to the life of the school.
When a place at the school is offered, parents are asked to complete and sign the Acceptance Form, issued by the Registrar, and return it to the school along with an Entry Deposit of £400, which is returned when your child leaves us (subject to meeting the terms and conditions issued along with the offer). This Entry Deposit continues to the Senior School when your daughter progresses to Year 7.
Girls joining St Mary’s Lower School’s Preparatory (Reception) Class attend a number of Familiarisation sessions, where they meet with the Preparatory Class teacher before they start school. The Preparatory Class teacher also meets with each girl joining and her parents, either at school or in their home depending on the preference, to help get to know every girl before she starts.
Once your daughter is a pupil of St Mary’s, her class teacher will keep in touch with you as she settles in and will be happy to answer any questions.
St Mary’s admissions – Senior School
The following information will give you an overview of St Mary’s admissions to the Senior School.
The main entry point to St Mary’s Senior School is at the start of Year 7. Girls may join us later in Year 7, or in Years 8 or 9 if a place becomes available. It is not usual for students to join us in Years 10 and 11 as the GCSE courses have already begun.
For full information and a schedule of the admissions procedure for entry to Year 7 in the coming years, please see the Year 7 Admissions Timeline. Parents looking to secure a place for their daughter in other year groups are invited to contact our Registrar, who will advise on the availability of places and explain the admissions procedure and timescale.
Once registered for a place, your daughter will be invited to attend a Taster Day. St Mary’s is not an academically selective school, but we do ask girls who might like to join us to sit an Entrance Assessment. This enables us to ensure that St Mary’s is able to offer just the right amount of challenge and support to every new student. We also identify our Academic Scholars on the basis of their performance in the Year 7 Entrance Assessment.
The one-hour online Entrance Assessment takes place at St Mary’s Senior School and ascertains candidates’ underlying potential in literacy, numeracy and verbal reasoning. It is not possible to coach for the assessment.
The Entrance Assessment is just one element of St Mary’s Senior School admissions process. We also request a report from the current school and invite each candidate to take part in an informal interview with the Principal, Mrs Nicola Griffiths, or a senior member of staff at the school.
Once a place is offered, parents are asked to complete and sign the Acceptance Form, issued by the Registrar, and return it to the school along with an Entry Deposit of £400, which is returned when your child leaves us (subject to meeting the terms and conditions issued along with the offer).
If your daughter is transferring from St Mary’s Lower School, the Entry Deposit paid when she joined the Lower School continues to the Senior School, so there is no need to pay it again. Year 7 Scholarships are offered at the same time as the offer of a place.
Please note that siblings and Lower School pupils are given priority for places in Year 7. Date of registration is then taken into account when offering places.
Girls joining Year 7 are invited to an induction along with their parents, and will also be invited to other events at the school. Our Phase Lead for Year 7 also meets each pupil before they join, often at their current school, to help get to know them further before they join.
With girls often joining from over 30 different schools, we have many initiatives in place to help girls settle. Please contact us if you would like further information about the St Mary’s admissions or joining process.
Senior School Scholarships
Scholarships are available to those looking to start the Senior School in Year 7. These include Academic, Art, Drama, Music and Sport as well as our prestigious all-round (Miss Comrie) Scholarship.
We very much look forward to helping you explore everything we have to offer at St Mary’s.
If you have any questions regarding St Mary’s admissions, please don’t hesitate to contact our Registrar, Mrs Justine Tierney at registrar@stmaryscolchester.org.uk
