The British School of Alexandria

Admission And Parents

The British School, Alexandria is a selective school and admission is subject to assessment and interview.

Whilst the school would prefer assessments to take place in the spring term ready for entry in the new academic year, we understand that this is not always possible in an international setting and assessments are carried out throughout the year.

Assessments are subject to there being vacancies in specific classes. Copies of reports from the children’s previous schools should be available before the children are assessed. For Foundation Stage admissions, the British School requires the latest copy of the child’s nursery report, whilst in Primary and Secondary years reports for the last three academic years in previous schools are mandatory as well as a formal letter of recommendation from their form tutor.

Please contact the School Registrar either by phone or by e-mail to admissions@bsalex.net.

For further queries or should you require reserving a parent tour, please contact the Registrar by email: admissions@bsalex.net or by telephone +203544 5426 Ext. 5 or in person at 7 Kafr Abdou street, Kafr Abdou. Office hours are from Sunday to Thursday 8am to 3pm.

Procedures & Policy

Procedures

Admission forms are available from the administration department on 7 Kafr Abdou Street, Kar Abdou, Roushdy.

Parents or guardians who wish to apply for admissions should bring in a copy of their child’s passport and/or birth certificate as well as previous school reports of their child’s last three Academic years.

For Admissions enquiries, please contact our admissions office by e-mail on: admissions@bsalex.net or by telephone (03) 544 54 26 ext. 5

Assessments

Foundation Stage 1

The British School offers entry for children who are three and half years (3.5 years old) or older by 1 st October. Children are assessed for entry into our FS1 class at the beginning of the spring term (January). Children are invited in small groups to attend short assessment sessions where they are observed and assessed by our teaching faculty on their readiness for the Foundation Stage of school.

Foundation Stage 2

If there are spaces available in the FS 2 class assessments may take place at any time of the academic year. Children are invited to join the class for a morning session and are observed by teachers and assistants to assess their readiness for the education that we offer, including their English language ability, their behaviour and for their ability to get on with the other children and adults in the class. Teachers will be given 48-hour notice of a FS2 child joining the class for an assessment throughout the year to allow them to prepare any additional resources required.

Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 Schools

If there are spaces available in the Pre-Prep and Prep classes, assessments may take place at any time of the academic year. Prospective pupils are accepted from Year 1 (aged 5.5 or older by 1 st October) to Year 6 (aged 10.5). Pupils are invited to join the class for the day and during the day will undergo a series of online assessment tasks relevant to their age and the expectations of our school. They will also be engaged in conversation by the teaching staff throughout the day to assess their level of spoken English. Observation of the pupils at work and at play will assess their behaviour and interactions with others in the school.

Senior School

If there are spaces available in the Senior School classes assessments may take place at any time of the academic year. Admission to the Senior School is highly selective. All prospective pupils are invited to undergo online entrance assessments which may vary accordingly. Pupils will also be interviewed by the Head of Senior School to appraise their spoken English ability and their general attitude towards their academic studies and school life. Our pupils are entered for extended level IGCSE/GCSE at the end of Year 10 and this is taken into account by us when assessing potential pupils. Subject options are discussed with pupils during the interview sessions. Only under exceptional circumstances will children be accepted into Year 10. IGCSE results, or equivalent, are the most important source of information for admission into Sixth Form. Entry into Year 12 is dependent upon the pupil’s AS level results.

Pupils/parents residing in Egypt

The parents will pay for the registration form, complete it, and present it with the required documentation. The pupil will come on the stipulated date for assessment (payable in advance) and for interview by the relevant Head of School, followed by parents’ interview by the school Principal.

For pupils/parents living abroad

The parents will fill out the soft copy of the registration form (payable upon their return to Egypt), and send it with the required documentation. The pupil will undergo the assessment online if possible (payable in advance through bank transfer) or come to the school if required. In case of the online assessment of a previous pupil of the BSA, the class teacher assessment can be done by the BSA asking for his previous teacher/HoS looking at past records. If the online assessment is not applicable, the process cannot be completed unless the child physically comes to Egypt to be assessed in class by the class teacher. This applies to pupils coming from all countries. In exceptional circumstances the school would get in contact with their current school for verbal reference from the Form tutor/HoS, analyse thoroughly their past reports for academic and behavioural purposes, request a written report no older than 6 months, and the pupil would be interviewed over Skype by the Head of School and the parents by the Principal.

Waiting list

• If a particular class or year group is full, the school operates a ‘waiting list’ procedure.
• A child’s name is added to the waiting list in priority of date of application.
• Once a vacancy occurs, the highest priority on the waiting list is contacted via email and telephone.
• If, after 24 hours, the parent does not respond, we move to the next person on the waiting list.
• Unsuccessful candidates may apply for retesting after a period of time subject to their being vacancies in the relevant class.

Payment

A registration fee of £2,000 and a deposit fee of £250 per pupil must be paid within two weeks of an invoice being issued. Tuition fees must be paid by the due date.

Exceptions

• Siblings of existing students.
• The children of British citizens.
• Other expatriate children who have been educated within an English curriculum school.
• Siblings of past students.
• Children of past students.