Entry at 7+

We would be delighted to welcome you and your child on a visit to the Junior School in the months prior to application. You will gain an invaluable insight into what makes our school so unique from our chatty Junior School pupils and have an opportunity to meet the Master, Helen Pike, and our Head of Junior School, Tim Skipwith.

You will find more information on our Open Events page, and our Admissions Dates document gives a full timeline for the year.

Book a visit

To register please complete the online registration form. You will be required to upload an electronic copy of your child’s birth certificate or passport and make a online payment of the £180 (inclusive VAT) registration fee. We accept applications on a rolling basis throughout the year for Junior School places, but we encourage you to bear the 31st October deadline in mind if you can. In the weeks leading up to our tests, we will contact you to ask for more information about your child’s hobbies and interests and we will also ask for a reference from their current school at this stage.

APPLY ONLINE

We look carefully for potential as well as at current attainment. Our assessments involve a combination of written papers, observation lessons, activities and a short interview with the Head of Junior School for most candidates. We also take the school reference into consideration as well as the applicant’s wider interests and any other relevant information.

Pupils take tests in English (spelling, descriptive writing and three short comprehension exercises) and Maths. Tests are relatively short (15‐20 minutes each for each part of the English test and 45 minutes for the Maths test) and there are play times between them. All candidates are tested together and many of the tests are teacher led. There are breaks and a playtime between them. For more information about what to expect please follow the links Admission at 7+ and sample paper.

We would very much like the pupils to have a positive experience when they come for their tests, whatever the outcome, and we do our very best to make the process enjoyable and fun.  As the parent of one of our recent candidates said: ‘Thank you to everyone at MCS for making the process for my son so painless. After his interview I said “Did you have a nice time?”– and his reply “It was brilliant”!’

Most pupils will be invited back to MCS for observation lessons about a week after the 7+ test day. These will be in small groups, and the lesson is 2 hours long (either 9–11am or 1–3pm). During the course of this lesson, your child will leave the group to meet the Head of the Junior School, Mr Skipwith, for a short interview. The interview will last approximately 10 minutes, and will be a relaxed chat about each child’s interests. They will be invited to bring an object (or picture) to stimulate discussion.

Our tests and interviews are designed to explore the way in which each child thinks, no special preparation is expected or required.  However, MCS offers a voluntary Pre-Assessment Service for candidates looking at entry into the Junior School should you wish to gain an idea whether an application would be appropriate for your child at this stage.

We will let you know if your child has been offered a place at the beginning of February and you will need to confirm that you wish to accept the place by returning the correct forms and pay a deposit (currently £750 for UK applicants and £1,500 for applicants living overseas) by the agreed acceptance date. If we are unable to offer a place, owing to lack of spaces, or because your child is not quite ready for us yet, you remain very welcome to apply to MCS at a later stage.

Important joining information is sent out in May and we hold an induction morning in June for parents and new pupils. It is an opportunity to meet other new parents and for pupils to meet their class teacher and start making friends before they start. Pupils settle into the Junior School very quickly when they join and we find that they embrace their new opportunities and routines with great enthusiasm.