- About MCS
MCS ranks among the top independent secondary schools in The Sunday Times Schools Guide 2024, placed seventh nationally and third in the Southeast. - Admissions
Approximately 1 in 10 pupils receive a bursary or scholarship. We are committed to ensuring an MCS education is open to the brightest pupils, no matter their personal circumstances.
- Junior School
“The Junior School is a very busy and happy school and here, a smile goes a long way.”
- Senior School
28 of our pupils achieved 10 or more 8 or 9 grades in 2024. - Sixth Form
Over 25% of our Sixth Form pupils take up places at Oxford and Cambridge every year.
- Supporting MCS
Your donations contribute over £150,000 a year to bursaries as well as building an endowment to fund bursaries for the future.
- About MCS
MCS ranks among the top independent secondary schools in The Sunday Times Schools Guide 2024, placed seventh nationally and third in the Southeast.
- Admissions
Approximately 1 in 10 pupils receive a bursary or scholarship. We are committed to ensuring an MCS education is open to the brightest pupils, no matter their personal circumstances.
- Junior School
“The Junior School is a very busy and happy school and here, a smile goes a long way.”
- Senior School
28 of our pupils achieved 10 or more 8 or 9 grades in 2024.
- Sixth Form
Over 25% of our Sixth Form pupils take up places at Oxford and Cambridge every year.
- Supporting MCS
Your donations contribute over £150,000 a year to bursaries as well as building an endowment to fund bursaries for the future.
The majority of pupils are admitted to Junior School at 7+ (Year 3). The deadline for registration is 31st October of the year preceding entry and all candidates sit an entrance test in January before entry in September.
There may occasionally be places available for late applicants. Please contact the Registrar if you would like your son to be considered outside the timeframe below.
Starting the application process
We would be delighted to welcome you and your son 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 boys 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. A summary of the key dates for entry in September 2025 is below:
Key dates
| Registration deadline | Thursday 31 October 2024 |
| Entrance examinations | Saturday 11 January 2025 |
| Observation lessons | Thursday 23 or Friday 24 January 2025 |
| Results sent | Monday 3 February 2025 |
| Acceptance deadline | Monday 6 March 2025 |
| Induction | Friday 13 June 2025 |
Registration
To register please complete the online registration form. You will be required to upload an electronic copy of your son’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 son’s hobbies and interests and we will also ask for a reference from his current school at this stage.
"A lot of schools claim to look at the individual child, but you clearly take that seriously".
Parent of a Junior School Applicant
The entrance tests
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.
Boys 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 boys 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”!’
Observation lessons and interviews
Most boys 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 son 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 following the boy’s own interests. He 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 son at this stage.
Results
We will let you know if your son 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 son is not quite ready for us yet, you remain very welcome to apply to MCS at a later stage.
Induction and joining MCS in September
Important joining information is sent out in May and we hold an induction morning in June for parents and new boys. It is an opportunity to meet other new parents and for boys to meet their class teacher and start making friends before they start. Boys settle into the Junior School very quickly when they join and we find that they embrace their new opportunities and routines with great enthusiasm.
Fees
Please visit our Fees page for an overview of Junior and Senior School Tuition Fees at Magdalen College School.
