Find out more about how St Mary’s empowers girls by arranging a visit to our Senior School.
Arrange a visit to the Senior School
Arrange a tour to find out more about how St Mary’s empowers girls:
- Experts in educating girls
- Strong GCSE success
- All-round education
- Exceptional pastoral care
- Senior School Scholarships available
- New bus routes towards Frinton, Ipswich and Sudbury
- Top rating of Excellent in ISI inspection
- Small classes
- Top performing Senior School in Essex (ranking by the Sunday Times of Independent Schools with no sixth form)
Year 7 entry
Visit
Families are invited to book an individual tour with Admissions by telephoning 01206 594256 or by emailing registrar@stmaryscolchester.org.uk
Register
The next step is to register your daughter by completing the online registration form and paying a non-returnable Registration Fee of £150.
Scholarships
All registered pupils will be considered for the Academic Scholarship, which will be awarded based on outstanding performance in the Year 7 entrance assessment. Scholarships for Art, Drama, Music, Sport and STEM must be applied for. Applications for Year 7 2026 entry open on Monday 1 September 2025 and close on Sunday 2 November 2025. In addition, all St Mary’s Lower School pupils will be considered for the All-round (Miss Comrie) Scholarship, named in honour of Miss Phyllis Comrie, St Mary’s headmistress, 1935-1957, who had a desire for outstanding St Mary’s Lower School pupils to progress to Senior School on a special designated Scholarship.
EXPERIENCE DAY
Our new Experience Days are an opportunity for girls considering joining St Mary’s to gain an insight into the empowering all-round education we offer. These interactive events include fun-filled activities based on our values of being ambitious, bold, compassionate, dynamic and enquiring. We also highly recommend that girls join us for at least one Experience Event before the admissions process begins in Year 6, to familiarise themselves with the school, meet other girls looking to join and get to know key staff.
Entrance Assessment, interview and report
The online entrance assessment consists of English, Mathematics, Non-Verbal and Verbal Reasoning. St Mary’s is a non-selective school, but the entrance assessment allows our staff the opportunity to gauge the suitability of the school for the prospective pupil and is also used to help with setting in Year 7. Pupils who perform exceptionally well in the entrance assessment may be considered for an Academic Scholarship. All candidates are also interviewed by St Mary’s Principal. Shortlisted Scholarship candidates will be invited to assessments on the strength of their application. Specific times will be allocated following the Scholarship application deadline.
Acceptance of a place
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). See further information on the how to pay page. 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. Bursaries may be applied for once a place has been offered.
Joining
At the New Pupils’ Induction Day in June, girls joining Year 7 in September are introduced to their form teachers, their forms and their Buddies (older girls who will help them to settle into the school). They will enjoy a day of activities designed to help create a smooth transition to Senior School.
Once your daughter is a pupil of St Mary’s, her form teacher will keep in touch with you as she settles in and will be happy to answer any questions.
A strong academic education
We are very proud of our students’ success in their GCSE examinations. Our results are particularly impressive considering we have a broad academic intake – the Senior School entry assessment is for academic tracking purposes only and to ensure that the school can best cater to each girl’s particular needs.
Classes are small and each individual is well known by all members of staff, who identify her preferred method of learning and ensure that she is supported, encouraged and extended so that she is able to do her best in all subjects.
St Mary’s Senior School has strong GCSE success, with half or more of the results graded at 9-7 or equivalent (comparable to grades A*-A) in eight subjects including Physics, Art and Design and Religious Studies in 2024.
A safe environment for girls
We proactively challenge stereotypes, particularly around what girls can achieve, by providing positive role models and examples.
We provide opportunities for the girls to take positive risks and we create a culture where girls are not afraid of failure in a variety of ways, from taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award to public speaking.
We encourage individuality by celebrating individual successes and supporting girls to pursue their passions. We provide opportunities for the girls to develop leadership skills with the variety of positions of responsibility available to girls including Head Girls opportunities.
Senior School Fees
st mary’s 2025 spring and summer term school fees
Please note that St Mary’s fees include lunch
| Original termly fees for 2024-25 | Discounted termly fees for spring and summer terms 2025 where VAT is due | |
| Year 7-8 | £6,050 | £5,672 |
| Year 9-11 | £6,350 | £5,953 |
Please note the fees outlined above are exclusive of VAT. There are three terms per academic year.
St Mary’s fees are payable in advance by the first day of each term. There are various ways to pay, including bank transfer or debit/credit card. You can also opt to spread termly fees across three payments with no interest added. Alternatively, you can spread your fees and pay monthly through My School Fee Plan*.
*St Mary’s School (Colchester) Limited is an appointed representative of Premium Credit Limited which is Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. School Fee Plan is a trading style of Premium Credit Limited (company number 02015200). Credit is subject to status, affordability, terms and conditions apply. Over 18s only. Failure to keep up with your repayments could result in your agreement being cancelled.
You can also spread your fees and pay monthly through My School Fee Plan.
Transport
Due to demand, our Senior School transport has expanded, with new routes from out towards Frinton and Ipswich and an extended service towards Sudbury.
Our St Mary’s bus routes currently include Great Horkesley, West Bergholt, Braiswick, Danbury, Chelmsford, Maldon, Witham, Felsted, Great Notley, Coggeshall, Mersea, Peldon, and Layer. New stops and routes are considered each year. Please contact us to discuss further.
Other providers of school transport stop right outside St Mary’s Senior School – please contact the transport provider directly for information on routes, timetables and prices.
