Before you make your decision about applying for entry to Bournemouth School, please try to think about:

• Whether your son has a realistic chance of passing our tests - please speak with his current Headteacher for advice.
• Whether you can arrange transport, especially outside normal school hours. This is important if boys are to gain full benefit from our extra-curricular programme and is particularly relevant if you live outside Bournemouth.
• Whether your son (and you) will be at ease with our discipline and uniform codes.

If you have ANY questions or concerns, please contact us on 01202 512609 or email office@bournemouth-school.org. It is vital that you are in possession of all the information that you require before you make this important decision.

The school is very likely to be oversubscribed, i.e. have more eligible students than there are places available. Under these circumstances, we apply our published over-subscription criteria in allocating places (see our current Admissions Policy).  These criteria give preference to those who live within the 'priority area'.

Parents need to apply for a school place through their local authority before the 31^st of October in the year prior to admission. Only parents who have applied to their local authority will have the right to appeal if their application for a school place is unsuccessful.  Please note that registration for testing does not replace the need to complete the Common Application Form applying for a school place.

Parents of boys wishing to be considered for admission to Bournemouth School or Poole Grammar School must register with one of the schools to sit the test. 

Registration after the closing date for test registrations will only be accepted for the entrance tests where the Consortium is satisfied that illness, bereavement or other circumstance beyond the control of the parent(s) prevented a timely registration for test registration.  Evidence will be required in these circumstances.

If you do not register your child to sit the entrance test by Friday, 8 September 2023 but choose to name one of the Consortium Schools on the Common Application Form, this preference will be treated as invalid because they will not have met the entry criteria.  There will be an opportunity for your child to sit the school entrance tests for consideration after the first allocation of offers on Friday, 1 March 2024, when they would be considered as a ‘late applicant’.

Once you have registered for testing you will receive an email confirming receipt of your application.  If you do not receive this email please contact us immediately. 

After the closing date (midday on Friday, 8 September 2023) we will send out details of the test day.  If you do not receive this information by Wednesday, 20 September 2023 please contact us immediately.

For entry to Year 7 in September 2024 the entrance tests will be held on Saturday, 23 September 2023.

The Late Entrance Test is scheduled for Tuesday, 20 February 2024.

For information about the tests that are used, and for guidance about preparation for the tests, please refer to the ‘Admission Tests’ section of our website.

No. The tests used are devised by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NfER) for GL Assessment and have been tried and tested over time. The results are adjusted according to age therefore it does not matter in which month your child was born as the results are standardised by GL Assessment to take this into account. 

The tests are set in English and cannot be translated as part of the test is the cognitive understanding of English.

Results will be emailed to parents by the end of the day on Friday, 13 October 2023.  On the basis of their test results, boys will either have reached the required standard for consideration for admission at either Bournemouth School or Poole Grammar School, or will not have met the required standard.

No, meeting the required standard and being considered eligible does not guarantee that your child will be offered a place at Bournemouth School as the school is usually oversubscribed and the oversubscription criteria has to be applied.

A panel including the School’s SENCo and an external expert advisor will review all requests and make recommendations as necessary.  Please refer to the Admission Policy and the Access Arrangements - advice for parents for further information and then complete the Access Arrangements Form.

Please do not send your child to sit the entrance tests if they have not been well just before or on the day of the entrance tests. They may not achieve their best and if they are not successful you will always wonder if they could have done better. Please telephone us as soon as possible and we will make alternative arrangements for your child to sit the tests during the following week.  If your child has a long term illness, then please contact us as soon as possible.

No. As part of our agreement with GL Assessment we are not allowed to copy the question or answer papers and have to return all stationery to GL Assessment for pulping.

No. Students may only take this test once in an academic year.

Offers will be made by your 'home' Local Authority offering you a school place subject to your preferences and eligibility on Friday, 1 March 2024.

Following the allocation of places in March 2024 for entry to Year 7 in September 2024, the school will keep a waiting list of all students who had met the required standard but were not offered places.

The waiting list for each year group will cease on 31 August 2025.  Parents who wish for their child to remain on the waiting list for the following academic year will need to submit a new application to BCP Council from 1 June 2025.  The determination of eligibility for admission into years 7-11 is valid for two calendar years from the date of testing.  After such time applicants wishing to remain on the waiting list must be re-tested, to ensure that they are of a comparable standard to the enrolled students in the year group for which they are seeking admission.

Pupil Premium children are those who have been registered for free school meals or are a child of service personnel at any point in the last 6 years.  The list of welfare support payments that trigger FSM eligibility can be found at www.gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals.

Parents will need to provide evidence of eligibility by Tuesday, 31 October 2023 such as:

• Letter from current school/local authority confirming eligibility
• Letter or other document from MoD indicating services employment

To contact our Admissions Office please ring 01202 512609 and ask to speak with the Admissions Officer or email office@bournemouth-school.org

After your child has sat the entrance tests for Bournemouth School you will need to complete a Common Application Form which is available from your ‘home’ Local Authority.  Details of those local to Bournemouth, Christchurch or Poole Council are listed below.  Applicants resident outside Bournemouth must return their forms to their ‘home’ Local Authority who will forward the application to Bournemouth Local Authority.

Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council:
https://www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools-and-learning.aspx

Telephone:  01202 123223 or email school.admissions@bcpcouncil.gov.uk