Preface
The Admissions process for Year 1 and Year 7 Central Applications for August entry, as well as General Applications for all other Year Groups, is a ‘one form’ application process incorporating all ESF primary and secondary schools including Discovery College. Parents are strongly advised to review this process on the ESF’s website.
Discovery College must be satisfied that students entering are able to engage with an English-medium International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum, and that parents will support students to achieve success within the context of the educational programmes and opportunities offered. For ESF primary and secondary schools, a percentage of places is reserved for students with special educational needs who qualify through the ESF moderation process.
In line with the Hong Kong Government’s requirements for all Private Independent Schools (PIS), Discovery College has no catchment area: any student residing in Hong Kong can apply to attend. When the College is at full capacity, at least 70% of the total students enrolled must have Hong Kong permanent resident status.
Applications for entry to any ESF school, including Discovery College, are made through the Online Admission System (OAS) accessed via the ESF website. Year 1 and Year 7 applications are made during a strictly limited period, during the month of September of the year before children enter school. A few late applications are received each year and may be processed should there be places available.
Parents need only submit one online application per child with their selected preference of schools. Parents may choose up to three selected schools: Discovery College, the ESF school of zone, and/or Renaissance College. If a parent chooses the ESF school of zone as a selected school, there will be a fourth option available for parents to select an alternative ESF out of zone school.
Only one online application may be submitted per student. The life cycle of an application is one academic year. For students choosing an ESF primary or secondary school, he/she can only apply to the school of zone according to their Hong Kong residential address. Discovery College is zone free. Applicants from Hong Kong and applicants from overseas have equal status.
Priority for Admission
Students applying for enrolment to an ESF school, including Discovery College, are placed on a waiting list. In line with the Hong Kong Education Bureau (EDB) requirements, Discovery College shall admit students to school in accordance with the prevailing admission policy, including the overarching requirement to admit students holding Hong Kong Permanent Resident status to no less than 70% of the overall student population of the college. Priority for an admissions interview/assessment will be based on the following ranked criteria.
Students who are able to benefit from an English medium education and who (in order) are:
Note:-
Staff are given priority according to employment terms for ESF or the Private Independent schools.
Priority for Year 1 consideration is subject to having attended K1 by the start of the third term and have completed the whole K2 year. Students recently arrived from overseas are exempt from this requirement. Transport restrictions into Discovery Bay will also be taken into account for Discovery College processing.
Priority for Admission – Internal Transfer Policy
The transfer of current ESF/ESL students between Discovery College and other ESF/PIS schools is allowed following completion of a 2-year commitment period, if applicable, to the current school or if the student has already been with the school for two or more years.
The address proof of school zone must be provided if wishing to transfer to an ESF primary or secondary school. Discovery College and Renaissance College are zone free and hence do not require address proof for school zone.
The student may join the internal transfer waitlist for the year group and school according to the category priority order. The timing of transfer will be dependent on availability.
Year 6 to Year 7 transition – students attending Discovery College are guaranteed a Year 7 place for their secondary phase at Discovery College. It is not necessary to re-apply.
Procedure for transfer request between schools
Year of Birth to Year Level Placement
The ESF system places children in Year Groups according to their date of birth (1 January – 31 December). Children usually start Year 1 during the calendar year in which they turn 5. Children are never admitted early. Occasionally children whose birthday falls late in the year and who are considered to be not ready for school may be advised by our school to delay admission to the following year. Please note that the entry Year Group entered by parents on the application form may be adjusted to ensure the child’s date of birth matches the school’s age requirements.
Applications for a specific academic year cannot be made until September of the previous year at the earliest, e.g. applications for next year cannot be made until September at the earliest.
Consideration may be given for accepting an application of a child in a year group that is one year lower if the applicant has a late (September to December) birthday. This is taken into account along with other material aspects, such as the national teaching system from which the child originates. Greater flexibility may be applied where older secondary age groups are concerned and Year 12 in particular, however, all cases will be examined on an individual basis, and the College reserves the right to accept or reject any application at its discretion, the final decision being that of the Principal.
A student has to be in the IB Diploma Programme / Career-related Programme (Years 12 & 13) for the full 2 years of the programme and should start school in mid-August of the beginning of the academic year. There is some flexibility in the starting date, but apart from in exceptional circumstances as determined by the College a student will not be able to start after 4 weeks from the start of the academic year. Applications for Year 13 will not be considered for students who have not completed the first year of the DP / CP.
Immigration Status
An offer of a place cannot be made to a child who is not a resident of Hong Kong unless the child is permitted by the Director of Immigration to reside in Hong Kong. Unless clearance is obtained from the Director of Immigration, no child will be admitted to any school in Hong Kong whose travel document/passport bears the endorsement “Visitor” over the immigration stamp.
Parents of non-local children are advised to seek the approval of the Director of Immigration as soon as possible for entry to Hong Kong of the child in question, for the purpose of study.
All admission application processes up to making a formal offer of a place can be undertaken prior to approval being received from the Director of Immigration for entry / residence in Hong Kong, e.g. issue of Employment / Dependent / Student Visas.
Please note that a permanent resident of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) who is not of Chinese nationality will lose the status of a permanent resident under the circumstances described on the Immigration website, and an applicant should check their Hong Kong residency status with the Hong Kong Immigration Department.
Policy Review
Discovery College’s admissions policy is subject to regular review. It is the responsibility of individual applicants to check the College website for any updates to the policy.
Enquiries
Enquiries about this policy should be directed to the Admissions Manager at Lorena.heath@dc.edu.hk.
General
Applications for entry to Discovery College are made through the Online Admission System (OAS).
Year 1 and Year 7 Central Applications are made during the month of September of the year before the student enters school. General Applications for all year groups can be made throughout the whole year.
Parents may only submit one online application form per child with their selected preference of schools. Zoning applies for ESF primary and secondary schools, but NOT for Discovery College.
For Central Applications (Year 1 and Year 7), all applications received within the ‘Central Application Period’ (during the month of September) will receive a computer generated random number. Applications will be ranked by priority category and assigned a random number for central processing. The interview list for each ESF/PIS school is compiled, taking into account the priority criteria, the parent’s preferences, placement availability and requirements in line with the Hong Kong Education Bureau. Transport restrictions into Discovery Bay will also be taken into account for Discovery College processing. Applicants who are not able to gain a first-round interview are waitlisted for their first preference school. Each year, Discovery College is oversubscribed with applications, and so unfortunately, we are not able to interview all applicants who apply on-time. Year 1 applications received after the Central Application period will be placed on a waiting list in date order of receipt.
Current ESF kindergarten graduates will enjoy priority PLUS an interview-free process when applying for Year 1 at an ESF school.
All other General Applications received during the year are considered under application date order and added to the waiting list according to the first preference school and priority criteria.
Applicants will be invited for interview and assessment at the school as vacancies become available. Following a successful admissions interview and assessment, a place may be offered subject to availability. Acceptance of the offer must be confirmed by payment of a deposit within the time frame specified on the offer letter, generally a period of between seven and 14 days.
Acceptance of an offer is with a commitment of two academic years before any internal transfer request can be made regardless of the residential address.
Re-application is required when:
If a student meets the entry requirements for Discovery College but there are no immediate places available, the child will be returned to the age-appropriate waiting list according to his/her priority status and, in the case of Central Admission applicants, the random number he/she was assigned. In the event a place becomes available within six months of the initial successful assessment, no further assessment will be required. If an offer is made for an alternative school, no re-interview and re-assessment is required. If a place has not become available after six months from the initial successful assessment, the child will be required to undertake a further assessment to be considered for the offer of a place should one subsequently become available.
Discovery College Year 6 students are guaranteed a secondary place at the college when transitioning to Year 7.
Application Fee
The application fee is HK $ 2,000.
This is a non-refundable, non-transferable fee which covers the cost of admissions administration, including personnel, system costs, commissions paid to our online service provider, etc. Due to the high number of applications, the collection of this fee does not constitute any assurance that an interview or a school place will be offered. Method of payment is by VISA/MasterCard through PayDollar, the ESF’s online payment service provider.
It is important to note that an application will not be processed without payment of the application fee. Please ensure that you have applied for the appropriate academic year and Year Group. The application fee will NOT be refunded for incorrect application or early application.
Supporting Documents
It is important to note that an application with insufficient supporting documents will not be processed. Before you start the application process, please view the ‘General Instructions (for General and Central Applications)’ on the ESF’s website. In addition to the application form, you are required to submit supporting documents on the ESF website electronically.
If you are applying for ESF/Discovery College/Renaissance College Central Applications in September for Year 1 or Year 7 for the next academic year, supporting documents must be uploaded on the online application form by 5 October for Year 1 and by 2 October for Year 7.
We suggest parents do not wait until the Central Admissions deadline of 30 September to submit the online application.
If you are applying under General Applications for Discovery College, supporting documents must be uploaded to the online application form as soon as possible to complete the application.
Supporting documents include copies of:
Nomination Rights
See Nomination Rights Terms and Conditions.
Assessments and Interviews for Admission
All ESF schools offer an inquiry-based English-medium education and, as such, children applying to join an ESF school, including Discovery College, must demonstrate sufficient English language skills to engage with the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum.
For Year 1 admissions, the process used to assess a young child’s level of English language competence is through a play-based approach. Assessment reports from kindergartens also support the admissions process at Year 1.
Primary (Years 2 – 6) and Secondary students (Years 7 – 13) applying to join Discovery College will take age-appropriate assessments for English language. Secondary students will also take age-appropriate assessments for mathematics. In addition, applicants are assessed for learning skills and cognitive ability. The assessments are accompanied by interviews that will explore each student’s potential for language learning as well as their ability to engage and succeed within the English medium curriculum being offered at the school. The student’s academic background, previous school reports and reference, and supporting documents support the admissions process for those students offered places.
In addition to the age-appropriate assessments, secondary applicants may also be required to undertake an online English placement test. Applicants must be able to demonstrate behavioural responsibility and the principles of good citizenship.
Whilst assessment interviews for Primary (Years 1 to 6) have to be undertaken in Hong Kong at Discovery College, assessment testing for overseas secondary students (Years 7 to 13) can be undertaken with the cooperation of the applicant’s current school and subsequent interviews arranged to be undertaken by Skype.
Discovery College will request the details of a senior member of staff of an applicant’s current school, and retains the right to verify the identity of any person nominated by parents to administer assessments on our behalf, either by way of a school’s website, or contact with the school’s Principal/Head Teacher or senior staff member of an educational company nominated for this purpose.
Admission into the IB Diploma Programme / Career-related Programme
The IB Diploma Programme (DP) and Career-related Programme (CP) are designed for students who have successfully completed their middle years of secondary schooling. Various indicators of this success exist as possible pathways for entry to the DP or CP:
New students will normally be entered into the DP or CP according to the preference of the student / their families and with the agreement of the Vice Principal i/c Years 12-13.
The CP is designed to provide students with learning experiences in a specialist, career-related area, while the DP is designed to provide an academic programme in a broad range of subject areas. Students wishing to take the CP should therefore show a significant interest in one of the specialist areas offered by the College as a prerequisite for admission to the programme.
A Student with grades lower than the requirement but who, in the judgement of the IB Diploma Coordinator, would be a suitable candidate for Year 12 entry may be admitted as a DP Courses student. However, all cases will be examined on an individual basis, and the College reserves the right to accept or reject any application at its discretion. Students will be counselled on the correct choice of either DP, CP, or DP Courses.
FAQs on Admissions
See the frequently asked questions on the Online Admissions System (OAS).
Admissions Enquiries
Enquiries may be sent to either Ms Lorena HEATH (for Secondary and combined Secondary / Primary applications) at Lorena.heath@dc.edu.hk or Ms Agnes HUNG (for Primary applications) at agnes.hung@dc.edu.hk.
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