Open Morning – Senior School

Yes please, if they are free to join us then we’d love to see them. There will be plenty of hands-on, interactive activities for prospective pupils to enjoy across all of our departments, making this a wonderful opportunity for them to explore their interests, get a feel for life at MCS, and discover whether it feels like the right fit. It’s also a great chance for them to find out for themselves about the wide range of subjects and opportunities on offer.

That said, the choice is entirely yours. Some families enjoy attending together from the very beginning of the admissions journey, while other parents prefer to visit first on their own to get a sense of the school before bringing their child along to a future event. There is no right or wrong approach, and you will be very welcome, whichever option feels best for you.

We encourage families to visit as many times as they like in advance of making an application, so if, after this visit, you and your child would like to learn more, we’d be delighted if you were also able to join us at another event.

Unfortunately, we are unable to offer parking, but a huge number of buses stop very close to the school, including the Park & Ride buses. Thornhill Park & Ride will get you closest to school. Alternatively, we are a short bus or taxi ride from the station (or around 30 minutes’ walk).

In terms of pupils’ travel to school on a daily basis, we encourage our pupils to walk, cycle or take public transport to school if at all possible. For pupils who have further to travel, we also have a popular Bus Partnership with Headington Rye School, with a range of routes covering a wide area.

Please see our Getting to MCS page for more information.

Yes, they are very welcome to attend! 

Absolutely! We’ll have tea, coffee and delicious pastries waiting for you on arrival to help you settle in. As you explore the school, you’ll also have the chance to enjoy a variety of refreshments, including freshly made pizza in the Sixth Form Common Room, pasta in the Senior School Café, and fresh waffles in the Dining Hall, with plenty of tempting toppings to choose from.

You can also stop by the servery to see what a typical lunch at MCS looks like and perhaps even pick up a sample to take away. We hope it’s a fun and relaxed way to experience a little taste of life at MCS!

We would suggest allowing at least 90 minutes for your visit, but please take your time – we encourage you to take as long as you need in order to see everything you are interested in!

There is no need to bring anything other than yourselves and plenty of questions! We will provide refreshments and admissions information.

You will have been allocated an arrival time, which has been sent to you by email. If that time is not convenient, please do let us know and we will do our very best to accommodate an alternative slot.

When you arrive, please make your way to the main Senior School entrance at the end of Cowley Place and look out for the MCS flags at the gates. We will be there to greet you and guide you to the Dining Hall, where you can collect your name badges and refreshments.

From there, you will be invited to move to our assembly hall (Big School) to join a welcome talk from the Master and the Heads of School, who will share a little more about life at MCS and what makes our community so special. Afterwards, you will be introduced to one of our pupil tour guides, who will show you around the school and give you a genuine insight into day-to-day life here. There’s plenty to see and do so please do let your guide know if there is anything in particular you would like to see.

Once your tour is complete, your guide will return you to the Dining Hall, where members of our academic, pastoral and admissions teams will be on hand to chat, answer any questions and help you make the most of your visit.

We do offer Scholarships on entry to the school in Year 7 and Year 9 as a recognition of achievement, but they don’t carry a financial award. All financial support with fees is offered through our means-tested Bursary scheme.