Admissions Process

Families are encouraged to come and visit us at either one of our many open events or for an individual tour.  You will have the opportunity to meet with Mrs Rebecca Smith, our Headmistress, and our Admissions Team, to discuss your child and learn more about the ethos and vision at KES Prep. During the tour you will meet with some of our children and staff and start to get a feel for what makes KES Prep such a special place to be. 

To reserve a place on one of our tours, please click here

For our overseas families, we would happily host an online meeting with you.

Applying for a place formally starts the admissions process.  Applications are made online and a non-refundable application fee of £100 (£120 with effect from 1^st January 2025) is payable at this point.  By completing the application form, your child will be considered for a place within the relevant year group.  It is not a guarantee of a place being offered. 
 
We would strongly advise that you make an appointment to come and meet with Mrs Smith and our Admissions Team, and have a tour of our School prior to any formal application being made.

Application Form

Once an application has been received, our Admissions Team will contact you to arrange for your child to come for a taster day.  A taster day is the perfect way to experience what a normal day in the life of a KES Prep pupil is like. 

Children in Year 1 and Year 2, where places are available, will be informally assessed through observation by our teaching staff.  Children from Year 3 will sit an online assessment at the start of their day and then join their new friends to enjoy the rest of the day.

Children applying for a place in Reception will be invited to attend some of our Tiddler Sessions so our experienced Early Years team can assess their readiness to start school. 

Informal feedback will be given at the end of the day by the class teacher but our Admissions Team will contact you with the formal feedback once all the information relating to their day has been collated. 

Before a place can be formally offered, with your permission, we contact your current school to request a school reference for your child.  That, together with a copy of their most recent school report and the outcome of their taster day, is all taken into consideration prior to a place being offered. 

Once a place is offered, the acceptance paperwork and a deposit of £400 is then required to secure the place.The deposit is confirmation that their place has been reserved. This deposit is then returned when your child leaves the school, providing the correct notice period has been received as set out in the Parent Contract that forms part of the offer. Please note that any acceptance deposit paid to confirm entry of a child to our Nursery is not refundable if the child leaves before or at the end of Reception. 

The main points of entry to KES Prep are at 4+ and 7+.  There may be occasional in-year vacancies to other year groups and our Registrar can provide you with further information should this be required. 

We understand completely how daunting the prospect of finding the right school for your little one can be and we aim to make the process as comfortable as possible.  We hold a weekly Tiddlers afternoon during term time for families to come along with their children so they can familiarise themselves with their potential new setting. 

In addition, for those children who have applied for a place via our website, we hold observation sessions in early January and again in February where the children are invited in for our expert Early Years teachers to assess the readiness of each child to start school. We will look at the age and stage areas of development, ie speech and language development, cognitive and social skills etc.  This allows us to have early conversations with parents of children who may need early support.

Once a place has been offered and accepted, the children joining our Reception class in September will be invited to three settling sessions at the end of the Summer Term; two accompanied and one unaccompanied to help with transition. 

For Year 3, children entering the School will undertake an online assessment at the start of their taster day.

At 11+ children can receive a Head’s Recommendation to King Edward VI School, which gives them an automatic entry without having to sit the entrance exam in January.  Those who do not receive a Head’s Recommendation are required to take the entrance exam alongside external candidates. 

At KES Prep the priority is always to find the best fit for your child and we pride ourselves on working with parents, from Year 5, to find that best fit for their future school.