There are 7 steps in our admissions procedure:
1. Request our prospectus. Contact Heather Baim by phone 01462 443888, email or click here to request our prospectus.
2. Come to an Open Day. We hold frequent Open Days where you can tour the school, meet girls and staff and listen to the Headmistress speak. There are several Open Days held in late September and early October, and again in May. These give you a great opportunity to see the school at work, as well as the opportunity to speak in detail to staff and girls. To avoid overcrowding, parents are asked to confirm their attendance so that the experience is as valuable as possible. In recent years we have also been hosting mini tour mornings in the latter part of the Autumn term in order to cater for the high volume of parents interested in the School.
For details of the next Open Days please click here.
3. Visit us individually. This will give you the opportunity to get to know us a little better and to spend time with the Headmistress. We recommend that daughters accompany their parents so that we can begin to get to know them.
4. Register your daughter. Once you have decided that Princess Helena College is the right school for your daughter, we recommend that you register her as soon as possible. There is a non-returnable fee of £100 that accompanies this process. The registration form can be found at the back of the prospectus information booklet. Registered families are kept informed of developments at the college, are invited to key events and are sent a termly newsletter. Registered girls are also invited to our Sleepover event in October, where they take part in a range of activities and meet new friends.
5. Sit the entrance exam. All girls must sit either the College's own entrance examination (held in January) or the Common Entrance Examination (usually in January) prior to the academic year in which they are due to start in September. At 11+ the College's entrance examination includes papers in English and Mathematics, as well as a verbal reasoning test. The English examination will require pupils to write an essay and to complete a comprehension exercise. The maths examination includes questions covering a range of national curriculum topics that your daughter will have studied in her prep/primary school. Academically strong candidates are encouraged to take our scholarship exam (see the scholarship and bursaries section).
6. Places are offered. Entry is based on a satisfactory standard in the examination, a report/reference from your daughter's prep/primary school and information gained from discussions with the Headmistress during your individual visit. We offer priority to siblings and daughters of servicemen and women and the clergy. Places will be offered within 3 weeks of the entrance and Common Entrance exams being taken.
7. Accept your daughter's place. Parents must accept and secure their daughter's place with a deposit of £570 for resident UK nationals and a term's fees for overseas parents. Places are limited and, therefore, we encourage parents to accept or decline their daughter's place as quickly as possible. All new girls are invited for an Introductory Afternoon in early June.