Admissions Criteria
At Dulwich College Suzhou, our admissions teams are here to support your family’s transition into the College. Whether you are relocating from abroad or are already familiar with China and Suzhou, our admissions team are here to help.
Admissions Criteria
All applications to Dulwich College Suzhou must satisfy the entry requirements of the College and the guidelines set by the Bureau of Education for entry into international schools:
- Students must be foreign passport holders, with at least one parent holding a foreign passport and a valid residency permit in China.
- Students with parents from Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan with permanent residency status may also apply.
- Students can also be accepted under special circumstances in China after consultation and full documentation has been submitted and accepted by the Suzhou Education Bureau
- To better understand your family’s eligibility, contact us for more information.
In addition to the providing the application form and supporting documents, all students wishing to enrol are subject to the application criteria below. To determine which year to apply for, please refer to our age placement guide below. As a general rule, students should have reached the age indicated in the table before 1st September of the year of application.
See Age Placement
|
Age as of 1 Sept |
Dulwich Year Level |
Grade Equivalent |
Dulwich/UK Key Stage |
Curriculum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
3 |
Nursery |
Nursery |
DUCKS Early Years Foundation Stage |
Dulwich College Curriculum based on the English National Curriculum |
| 4 |
Reception |
Pre-Kindergarten |
||
| 5 |
Year 1 |
Kindergarten |
DUCKS Lower Primary Key Stage 1 |
|
| 6 |
Year 2 |
Grade 1 |
||
| 7 |
Year 3 |
Grade 2 |
Junior School |
|
| 8 |
Year 4 |
Grade 3 |
||
| 9 |
Year 5 |
Grade 4 |
||
| 10 |
Year 6 |
Grade 5 |
||
| 11 |
Year 7 |
Grade 6 |
Senior School |
|
| 12 |
Year 8 |
Grade 7 |
||
| 13 |
Year 9 |
Grade 8 |
||
| 14 |
Year 10 |
Grade 9 |
Senior School |
IGCSE |
| 15 |
Year 11 |
Grade 10 |
||
| 16 |
Year 12 |
Grade 11 |
Senior School |
IBDP A Level |
| 17 |
Year 13 |
Grade 12 |
Our Nursery is a mixed age provision, catering to our youngest students (2-4). Our highly trained teachers and support staff provide students with opportunities to explore their individual interests through a carefully designed, continuous and open provision, intersected by key teaching inputs. We understand that students make progress in different areas at different rates and we work closely with parents to support their child's unique learning journey. Dependent on age, students will spend up to 2 years in the Nursey unit before moving into our reception classes (turning 5 in a given academic year).
Applicants will be asked to participate in an onsite observation and/or online assessment depending on location and time of application.
All previous school reports, observations and assessments should also be made available to the College at this time. Where possible it is strongly recommended that the child spend a morning or day in either Reception or Year 1 in advance of admission so that the College can gauge the child’s level of readiness.
Applicants who cannot be assessed in person will be admitted on a provisional basis at the discretion of the Head of DUCKS.
Students applying for admission to the Junior School undertake assessments to ensure they can access the curriculum. Students are required to take the Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT) consisting of verbal, quantitative and non-verbal assessments. An English language assessment will also be administered for students who may benefit from English language support when entering the College.
The Admissions Office will arrange a time for the student to sit the assessments either onsite or online.
Students entering the Senior School are required to take the Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT) consisting of verbal, quantitative and non-verbal assessments. All students will be asked to complete a written English test as an additional language assessment, which is reviewed by the Head of Senior School EAL (English as an Additional Language).
Students entering the Senior School are required to take the Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT), consisting of verbal, quantitative and non-verbal assessments. All students will also be asked to complete a written English test as an additional language assessment reviewed by the Head of Senior School EAL (English as a Additional Language).
Candidates applying for a place in Year 12 or 13 will be interviewed by the Head of IB or Senior Studies, who will make a recommendation to the Head of Senior School.
Special arrangements can be made for the assessments to be administered in an applicant’s current school. Please contact [email protected] to make arrangements.
Learning Support
We only enrol students whom we know we can support. We enrol students with learning challenges when the information available indicates that the student’s learning needs can be met by the services we provide.
Our team will consult students and parents to conduct all necessary assessments and review copies of all previous reports and records. We request that parents provide all information available to enable our admissions review team to make an accurate decision about learning support services and admission.
Language Support
At Dulwich College Suzhou, we appreciate the cultural diversity that non-native English speakers bring to our school and we are able to support a percentage of students who are non-native English speakers. Applicants who speak languages other than English should be able to demonstrate age-appropriate academic proficiency in their native tongue. Our admissions team may request that students be assessed on their ability to handle the academic challenges of English before an admissions decision is made.