FQAs for Year 7 and Year 9 entry

Ideally you should start the process at least eighteen months before your child is due to enter the school. For entry in 2025 your completed application form needs to be with us by Friday 13 September 2024, if you are going to apply for a bursary and/or scholarship.

Christ’s Hospital is academically selective and there is a two stage process. Firstly, an Initial Assessment that uses computer based tests (verbal, quantitative, non-verbal and spatial reasoning). Followed by, for those that pass, a residential assessment where there is academic testing and where we also assess a child’s suitability for boarding. As a guide, children joining CH are working towards the higher end of the ability range in both Maths and English National Curriculum syllabuses .

Broadly speaking, the Initial Assessments take place in mid-October and the Residential Assessment takes place just before the start of the Christ’s Hospital term starts in January.

Bursaries: A bursary is means-assessed financial assistance given to help support a family who would not otherwise be able to afford some or all of the school fees. Bursaries at Christ’s Hospital are available to applicants for boarding places only.

When you first complete the registration form you kindly tick the box asking about bursary support. Once you have done that we will send you all of the relevant forms for you to fill in to explain your circumstances – these become increasingly detailed and require proof (e.g. in the form of bank statements etc.) as the applicant goes further through the admissions process.

Bursaries: A bursary is means-assessed financial assistance given to help support a family who would not otherwise be able to afford some or all of the school fees. Bursaries at Christ’s Hospital are available to applicants for boarding places only.

Scholarships: A scholarship rewards outstanding achievements and talent in, for example, academic work, music, sport, art or drama. Scholarships may be honorary or may provide a discount of up to 20% of the assessed fee level.*

Scholarships are awarded to students who are entering the school at Year 7, Year 9 and Year 12 and to existing students who are moving into Year 9 and Year 12. Bursaries make places at Christ’s Hospital affordable; scholarships are an additional bonus for a limited number of outstanding students.

Students may be awarded both a bursary and a scholarship at the same time.

We welcome fee paying day students who are within a commutable distance from the school. Should a day applicant be successful in receiving a scholarship we can occasionally, depending on individual circumstances, offer a small amount of additional fee assistance to support the scholar in taking up their place at the school.

Head’s Award
The Head Teacher has a discretionary award for all-round academic and broader curricular achievement and/or significant potential. This is awarded at the end of the assessment process, can be honorary or financial and can be awarded to a boarding student as well as to a day student.

* If a significant bursary is awarded, parents should not assume that a scholarship will provide additional financial support.

When you first complete the registration form you tick the box that indicates your interest in a particular scholarship. All scholars still have to meet our academic entry criteria. We will look for evidence in a scholarship application of outstanding achievement – we only ask a selected number of scholarship candidates to undertake the scholarship assessments so even if you have applied for a scholarship your child might not necessarily be assessed for one.

Donation governors are people or organisations who support Christ’s Hospital financially and, as a result, are able to “present” a child and become their governor and mentor. There is no financial advantage in having a Donation Governor; presentees still need to be deemed successful academically and to be suitable candidates for boarding. The Admissions department match prospective students with donation governors during the admissions process.

Educational, behavioural or other special needs do not preclude application for a place at Christ’s Hospital. We will make reasonable adjustments to enable candidates with SEN to participate in the assessment process and, if successful, will then consider what reasonable adjustments might be made to enable the applicant to thrive at the school. Parents are advised to speak to the school about their child’s SEN before making an application and we kindly ask you let us know in writing on your application form and provide copies of any relevant referrals or reports.

We welcome fee paying day students who are within a commutable distance from the school. Should a day applicant be successful in receiving a scholarship we can occasionally, depending on individual circumstances, offer a small amount of additional fee assistance to support the scholar in taking up their place at the school.

The general pattern of our boarding is that every third weekend is designated as a “leave weekend”, a half term break or an end of term holiday. On leave weekends, students go home or to guardians on the Friday afternoon and return late on the Sunday evening or, with special permission, early on Monday mornings. For the other two weekends, there are, additional, opportunities to leave the site and/or go home with the correct permissions.

• Missing deadlines. We cannot move an application forward through the various stages until we have complete information.
• Moving house or changing email address and forgetting to tell us.
•  Providing incomplete or old information.

Do not hesitate to contact us, 01403 246555 / hello@christs-hospital.org.uk