Our philosophy is that there is no one best senior school for everyone but, rather, a senior school best suited to your son. A small, nurturing single-sex school might be right for one child whilst a highly academic mixed boarding school might be just the ticket for another.

Early in Form 5 you will be invited to a meeting with the Headmaster and Academic Deputy about senior schools. This meeting covers the different types of schools available, how to make the most of a visit and what is involved in the application process. You will then be invited to book an individual meeting with the Headmaster, to talk about your son’s individual character and abilities, helping you to choose a list of schools to visit.

Most pupils apply for two or three schools. It is a good idea to select these during Form 5 because some schools require you to apply then, although some are happy for you to wait until Form 7 or 8 to apply. For state schools, the system is that you apply half a term before the end of your son’s time at CCCS: we can support you with planning for this.

Almost all independent schools have a selection process involving a test, and most do the first, and most important, part of that testing between November and January of Form 6, through online tests in English, Mathematics and Verbal and Non Verbal Reasoning. Your son will have started his preparation for this without realising it, through online learning activities from Form 3 and in a weekly Reasoning lesson from the start of Form 4. We give more formal mock tests from the middle of Form 5 and individual advice and guidance depending on the schools your son will be applying for, to make sure that by the time of the exam, he is ready.

At many schools, interviews are part of the application process. This, again, is something we help with. Before going for an interview, pupils will have interview practice with the Headmaster to ensure that they can present themselves to their best advantage. The Headmaster's knowledge of the different schools means he can tailor the practice interview to the school to which the boy is applying.

By Form 8, therefore, almost all pupils will know which school they are destined for. During the course of their last two years at CCCS, they will be studying for Common Entrance, a set of exams they will sit in the June of their final year. Some schools ask for Common Entrance grades as the final part of the selection process, but whether that is true for your son or not, the Common Entrance syllabus provides boys with a thorough grounding in the subjects they will be taking in senior school and is a valuable preparation for the experience of taking GCSEs.

A final question, once your son has his senior school place, is whether or not he will apply for a scholarship. We usually start preparation for scholarship assessments during Form 7, and we have experience in preparing for academic scholarships as well as for scholarships in music, sport or art. If you are interested in this, please get in touch with us. For those sitting academic scholarships, there are extra lessons throughout Forms 7 and 8 to prepare them for these specific exams which come, depending upon the school concerned, between February of Form 7 and the first week of the Summer Term.

If you have any questions about any aspects of your son’s applications for his next steps, please do get in touch.

Mrs Anna Fairhurst
Deputy Head - Academic