Sha Tin Junior School

Primary and Secondary Admissions Process

1. Selecting Your School

Effective August, parents who choose an ESF school can apply according to their preferred school. There is no school zone policy. The online application will allow parents to choose up to 4 schools.

Parents of students applying from overseas for ESF schools may apply. Applicants from Hong Kong and applicants from overseas have equal status.

2. Determining Your Year Group

tudents are placed in year groups according to their date of birth (1 January – 31 December). Students usually start Year 1 during the calendar year in which they turn 5 years old. Students are not admitted early. Occasionally, a student whose birthday falls late in the year, and would benefit from a delayed start may be advised by the school to delay admission to the following year.

The entry year group submitted by parents on the application form may be adjusted by ESF to ensure the student’s date of birth matches the school’s age requirements.

3. Admissions Criteria

ESF schools are non-selective. The criteria for admission is that students must demonstrate sufficient English language skills so that they can benefit from a mainstream English-medium learning environment.

Applicants will be placed on a waiting list and will be invited to an interview or assessment when vacancies become available.

Priority for an interview or assessment will be based on the following ranked criteria:

• Corporate Nomination Rights Nominees
• The children of full-time teaching staff at ESF or ESF Educational Services Ltd*
• The children of full-time support staff at ESF or ESF Educational Services Ltd*
• The siblings of students enrolled at an ESF school
• Individual Nomination Rights or Class A Kindergarten Debenture Nominees
• Current students requesting an internal transfer
• The children of former students who have attended an ESF school for a minimum of three years or are former ESF students returning from a period overseas or siblings of former students who have attended for a minimum of three years and graduated from an ESF school in Year 13
• Children nominees from universities with collaboration agreements with ESF
• Students who are qualified as an elite athlete#
• The children of parents holding the ‘Top Talent pass’ or ‘Diplomacy/Consulates’ for employment in HKSAR
• Students currently enrolled in an ESF pre-kindergarten programme (for K1 admissions only)
• Other applicants who can benefit from an English-medium education

*Staff are given priority according to employment terms for ESF or the Private Independent Schools.

#National-level athletes and athletes sponsored by the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI) as an elite athlete.

In line with the Hong Kong Education Bureau (EDB) requirements:

• ESF’s 9 primary and 5 secondary schools and Jockey Club Sarah Roe School shall admit students to school in accordance with the prevailing admission policy, including the overarching requirements to admit non-local students (those having overseas passports, excluding HKSAR and BNO) to no less than 70% of the overall student population of all schools operated by ESF. Overseas passport holders will receive priority over local passport holders.
• ESF Discovery College and ESF Renaissance 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.

5. Applications and Waiting List

For Central Application (Year 1 and Year 7), all applications received within the ‘Central Application Period’ (1 to 30 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 school is compiled, taking into account the priority criteria, the parent’s preferences, placement availability and requirements in line with the Education Bureau. Transport restrictions into Discovery Bay will also be taken to account for ESF Discovery College processing. Applicants who are not able to gain a first-round interview are waitlisted for their first preference school.

Year 1 and Year 7 applications received after 30 September respectively will be placed on a waiting list in date order of receipt.

All other General Applications received during the year, are processed by application date order and added to the waiting list according to the first preference school and priority criteria.

6. Interview and Acceptance of School Place

Applicants will be invited for interviews and assessments when vacancies become available. Parents will be invited to meet with school staff to provide further information on their child and have the opportunity to ask any questions. The meeting serves to support the transition process for those children offered places.

Following a successful admissions interview and assessment, a place will be offered subject to availability.Acceptance of an offer must be confirmed by payment of a deposit and a capital levy within the time frame specified which is generally a period of 7 to 14 days.

Acceptance of an offer brings with it a commitment of two academic years to the offering school before any transfer request may be made.

Admission to Year 12
Applications for Year 12 entry to the IB Diploma Programme (IB DP) are based on a student meeting one of the following requirements:

• Achievement, or a prediction, of 5 Grade C’s or above in IGCSE examinations or successful completion of the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP)
• An equivalent national qualification to the MYP or IGCSEs
• Students who have not completed any of the above will still be considered on a case-by-case basis

Entry to the IB Career-related Programme (IB CP) is based on a student showing interest and ability in the area they wish to pursue their career-related study. A general level of educational ability, which will allow the student to be successful in their IB courses and the CP core, is also required.

Students who do not meet the above requirements may still be considered for IB Courses or alternative pathways.

7. If School Place is Not Available

If a student meets the entry requirements for the school and there are no immediate places available, the student will remain on 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 6 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 are required.

If the application expires after one academic year, applicants on the waiting list at the end of the academic year may carry forward their waitlist position by reapplying for the following academic year. Waitlist applicants will be contacted by email before April each year for re-application. No additional fee is required.

8. Re-Application

Re-application is required when:

• an offer for an interview and assessment has been declined;
• an offer of a place has been declined;
• a student has not met the entry requirements at interview and assessment. A new application may be submitted 6 months following the date of the last interview/assessment; and
• the one academic year validity period of the application has expired.