Adjustments to the Application Process

Overseas applicants

Applications from overseas will continue in the usual way, with entrance assessments in maths and English being taken at your child’s current school in exam conditions.

Applicants resident in the UK

For all students currently in the UK, we have ammended the application procedure to ensure that we keep all pupils and teachers safe during these challenging times.

We have received a large number of applications this year and, given the constraints of space and the need to allow for social distancing, we have decided that we cannot safely bring applicants together at the school for the purpose of sitting entrance assessments.

Having explored the possibilities of taking assessments online, we do not believe that this can be successfully achieved with the current numbers while preserving the integrity of the assessment process. Therefore, for all students currently in the UK, we will not therefore be asking pupils to take traditional entrance assessments in maths and English this year.

Instead, our five-part process will now be as follows:

  1. Completion of registration form and registration fee.
  2. Please confirm by email that we may contact your child’s current school, with a view to obtaining a reference. Please confirm this by Wednesday 13 January.
  3. Please provide copies of your child’s two most recent school reports by Monday 18 January. These should be scanned and sent in one pdf document to admissions@hchnet.co.uk
  4. Your child will be asked to submit an example of his or her handwriting on a page on A4 lined paper. On Friday 22 January, you will be sent four topics/questions and your child is asked to choose one to write about over the weekend. The text must be submitted by 12 pm on Monday 25 January, along with a parent’s declaration that the work is unaided. Your child should spend around 30 minutes on the task, and certainly not more than 45 minutes.
  5. Following careful assessment of school references and school reports, your child may then be asked to meet the Headmaster, Guy Holloway, for a 10-15 minute interview by Zoom between 1 and 5 February. It is absolutely fine for parents to sit with your child if this makes the process more comfortable. Please note that this interview will be recorded so that it can be reviewed by the others involved in the decision making process. The recording will be kept for 30 days after which point the recording will be deleted. Please see our Privacy Notice

We plan to offer places in the week beginning Monday 8 February.

By continuing your application you agree to these ammendments to the process and our terms and conditions.