British School Manila

Admissions Process

The British School Manila welcomes students of all nationalities, provided they successfully complete the school's assessment procedures including fluency in English and that a space is available within the intended year level. Applications are processed throughout the year, subject to space availability.

Submit an enquiry

Get in touch with our Admissions team through the Enquiry form.

Admissions Briefing/School Visit

To ensure that you have all the information you need about the admissions process and answer any questions you may have, we offer families a briefing and school visit as part of the application process. Your children are welcome to join the briefing which usually lasts between 15 to 30 minutes, while our school visits take 60-90 minutes.

As briefing and visit appointments are limited, they are offered by the team in line with our Application Priorities.

Please note that to minimise disruption to our students, advance booking is required for school visits.

Admissions Requirements

In order to process your application we require:

• A complete application form and health record for each child
• School reports covering the past two years, including the most recent (Students coming from a non-British system should include a grade translation and samples of current English and Maths work)
• When completing our online application, you'll be asked to supply details of your current school's headteacher/principal and class teacher/form tutor so they can complete our online recommendation forms - we recommend advising your current school in advance.
• Copy of the birth certificate
• Copy of passport (Applicant and Parents) showing photo, date of birth and passport number, issuance and expiry date
• Recent photos (Applicant and Parents)
• Application fee payable prior to invitation for review/assessment

Review of application requirements

The Admissions team, Primary and Senior School team will review the requirements and application form submitted by the families.

Invitation for assessment

An applicant will be invited if recommended to proceed with assessment.

Assessment duration

Students from different year groups will have varying assessment durations. Please refer to the list below:

• Nursery - Reception: 1 hour
• Year 1 - Year 2: 1-2 hours
• Year 3 - Year 6: 1.5 days
• Year 7 - Year 13: 1 full morning/Interview 15 mins

Note: The school may request for additional days if further assessment is recommended.

Decision

The Admissions team will let the families know the school's decision regarding their child/ren's application, whether they have been accepted, for waitpool, or declined.

There are many areas of The British School Manila we are proud of. One of them is the multi-national student body representing over 52 nationalities.

We hope that if you consider an international school enrollment in Manila, you will allow us to show you what makes the British School Manila so unique.

At BSM we welcome applications from students of all nationalities and backgrounds, from age 3 to 18 years old.

Early Years to IB

From our Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) right through to the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma in Years 12 and 13, we offer an adapted form of the British curriculum focused on preparing students for the 21st Century and ensuring that they can reintegrate into their home countries when they return.

We maintain small class sizes to allow us to really get to know each and every child.

To read more about international school admissions at the British School Manila, please read our Admissions Guide that fully outlines the admissions process and admissions policy.

As an international school welcoming children from more than 50+ nationalities, the British School Manila endorses the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and is committed to supporting the safeguarding and well-being of our students.

Supporting Student & Family Transition

We recognise that transitioning to a new school and often a new country can be a challenging process, so in order to support this transition all new students are given a buddy. The buddy helps them with orientation and introduces them to other students in the year group. The classroom teacher, tutor, student coordinator and school counsellor all meet with new students and help them in their integration into life at BSM and transition from their previous school.

Parent support is also available in the form of orientation meetings that we run at the start of term 1 for new parents. We have an active and enthusiastic Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) that runs a social event at the beginning of each year for all new parents and teachers to introduce them to our community. Our class representatives, who are parent volunteers, encourage new families to participate in events and help parents to access any information they may require.

English Language Proficiency

Students are expected to have at least an age-appropriate level of English. All candidates will go through an English assessment on application that is relevant to their age. Learning Support is also available for incoming students.

Wait Pool and Admissions Priority

A wait pool process is in place. Once admissions by year level have reached the maximum class size, the following Admissions Priority Procedures apply, subject to the Student Applicant successfully completing the entrance assessment.