Ballard School 7+ and 11+ Admissions: Admissions Day, Registration and Fees

Ballard School admissions run through registration, a Taster Day or Admissions Day, and an offer made on a best-fit basis, with Nursery, Reception, Year 3 and Year 7 as the main entry points. Year 7 families attend a Saturday Admissions Day in November, and the published admissions policy names teacher-marked writing and maths tasks and an online cognitive ability assessment as possible components, with no external pre-test named.

Ballard is a day school for pupils aged 2 to 16, so there is no sixth form entry, and registration for Year 7 closes in the autumn of Year 6. The Registrar handles enquiries, tours and the registration forms.

Entry points and places

Ballard has four main entry points, which are Nursery, Reception, Year 3 (age 7) and Year 7 (age 11), and other year groups are considered when a place is available. Families interested in a different year are asked to speak to the Admissions Team, and Year 9 has its own registration closing date in the autumn.

Year 7 is the point at which the intake widens, because the year group expands from two classes to four. Entry into Year 10 and Year 11 is accepted only in rare circumstances, since the school places great weight on its GCSE programme and the number of places is extremely limited.

How the Year 7 assessment works

The Year 7 assessment centres on an Admissions Day held on a Saturday in November, where pupils work in small groups led by a member of staff called a Group Leader. Pupils arrive between 8.30 and 8.40 in the morning, the day opens at 9.00 with an ice-breaker, and a carousel of six activities follows, including Design and Technology, Music, Science and Sport.

The admissions policy adds that the process may include analysis by teaching staff of a piece of writing and a range of age-appropriate maths problems, and that pupils may be asked to complete an online cognitive ability assessment. The Admissions Day page itself describes no papers, so it is sensible to ask the Registrar which components will apply to your child.

Parents are invited back after lunch to meet staff and other families, and the school describes the day as a chance for pupils to meet key staff and mix with other children.

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Registration and the admissions timeline

Registration comes first, and every pupil must be registered before attending an Admissions Day or a Taster Day. The registration form asks for a copy of the birth certificate, a passport where relevant, the latest school report and payment of the registration fee, together with a signed declaration of any known special educational needs.

Pre-registration for the main entry points is accepted at any time, whereas for other year groups it can be held only in the academic year before the September start. Closing dates are published in the autumn for Year 7 and Year 9 and in January for Reception, and Year 7 offers are made before the Christmas break.

• Register online or through the Registrar, with the documents listed above
• Attend the Year 7 Admissions Day, a Year 3 Admissions Day where one is held, or a Taster Day
• Meet the Headmaster and have reports or a reference reviewed
• Receive an offer on a best-fit basis
• Pay the refundable deposit named in the fee schedule to secure the place

Interviews and references

Every applicant has an informal meeting with the Headmaster, which may take place online or in person, and the school reviews the latest reports or a written reference from the previous school. A member of the Leadership Team or the Marketing and Admissions Team may also telephone the previous school to clarify something in a reference.

Parents may be invited to visit with the prospective pupil for a meeting with the Headmaster or another delegated person. For Reception, the school may liaise with the nursery the child attends, which can include a visit there.

Scholarships and bursaries

Ballard offers scholarships in academic work, art, design and technology, music, performing arts (dance, drama or musical theatre) and sport, along with an all-round scholarship that combines two of those areas. They are open to current pupils and those registered for entry in Years 7 to 10, and successful candidates may receive a small discretionary discount on fees and join the Laureate Programme.

Applicants complete a form containing a candidate letter and evidence for their chosen discipline, available from the autumn before entry and due in early December. Only those who meet the minimum criteria are invited to a practical assessment day in the Spring Term, with outcomes announced in February.

Means-tested bursaries are limited, reviewed annually in the Spring Term and open to current or registered pupils in Years 3 to 11. An outside company carries out the financial assessment, which weighs income and capital assets and leads to recommendations for the bursary committee. The maximum share of fees covered is not published.

Fees and what they include

Day fees are charged per term and vary by year group, with separate bands for Reception to Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5, Years 6 to 8 and Years 9 to 11. They include snacks, fruit and drinks at breaktime and after school, over 150 weekly co-curricular activities, transport to sporting fixtures, match tea for pupils and parents, and personal accident insurance with return2play for concussion injuries in Years 3 to 11.

Lunch, enhanced learning or EAL lessons, the minibus, the leased laptop in Years 6 to 11 and public examinations are charged as extras. A registration fee and a refundable deposit are listed in the fee schedule, and the deposit is refunded a term after the pupil leaves.

The school offers a payment plan from Year 1 upwards in twelve monthly instalments, and sibling discounts of 10% for a second child, 15% for a third and 20% for a fourth and subsequent children. Discounts are applied to the gross fee before VAT.

Where pupils join from

Ballard runs its own Nursery and Kindergarten for ages 2 to 4, Pre-Prep from Reception to Year 2, Lower Prep for Years 3 to 5, Upper Prep for Years 6 to 8 and a Senior stage for Years 9 to 11. Children who start in the early years can therefore stay within one school, although each entry point is assessed on the same best-fit basis described above.

The pages read name no partner or feeder schools. Because the school ends at Year 11, pupils leave after GCSEs, most of whom study nine or ten subjects, and there is no sixth form entry.

How to prepare

Preparation for Ballard is best matched to the stages the school names, which are a writing sample, age-appropriate maths problems, a possible online cognitive ability assessment, a morning of group activities and a conversation with the Headmaster. Regular writing at the length expected in school and steady practice of the maths already covered in class will usually cover the first two.

For the Admissions Day, children tend to benefit from knowing the shape of the morning, with an early arrival, a small group, a Group Leader and six activities. For the Headmaster's meeting, talking through interests and favourite subjects is usually enough, and the school's stated values of curiosity, kindness, honesty and respect give a natural prompt.

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