Pupils are invited to join Oakham School from the age of 11 (Year 7). While our main entry points are at age 11 (Year 7), age 13 (Year 9), age 14 (Year 10) and age 16 (Year 12), we warmly welcome pupils at other stages whenever spaces are available. Follow our five-step admissions process, designed to make your journey to Oakham School as seamless as possible.
1. Register your child
Submit your online Registration Form along with the Registration Fee of £150. The dates below should help with your planning:
11+, 13+, 14+ entry: end of November in the calendar year prior to joining
16+ entry: mid-October in the calendar year prior to joining
Whenever we have spaces available, we are very happy to accept registrations after these dates, although scholarship and bursary applications will be closed.
Registering your child means we can keep in touch and let you know the details of the next steps.
2. Sit the entrance assessments
Oakham School is a busy and ambitious community. To ensure this is a good fit for your child, he or she will undertake our entrance assessments. These include some academic exams (appropriate to their age) and an interview (very relaxed for younger pupils, more formal for older ones).
We will request a confidential reference from your child’s current school, which gives us an insight into their day-to-day capabilities.
3. Consider a Scholarship
We welcome applications for a range of scholarships to recognise academic, all-round, creative, or sporting excellence. Scholars are expected to maintain the highest standards in their field, and across School life. Scholarships attract a 10% discount off the Day Fee.
Following academic entrance assessments, scholarship candidates will be invited for separate scholarship assessment days.
4. Offer and acceptance of place
Offers are typically made within two weeks of your child completing all his or her entrance and scholarship assessments. Offers for 16+ candidates who are currently studying GCSEs are conditional upon achieving the required GCSE grades.
The letter will provide details of all the next steps you need to take to confirm acceptance and secure the place, including details of the Acceptance Deposit. The deposit, minus expenses, is returned at the end of your child’s time at the School.
5. Join our community
This is the time to get excited and look forward to your child’s first day at their new school. We will provide a comprehensive Joining Pack to give you all the details you need.
There will be a Familiarisation Day in June, when all our new pupils get to meet one another in advance of the summer holidays. We then host an Induction Day just before the start of term to welcome your child and your family to the Oakham community and help you settle in.
