Claremont Fan Court School Entrance Guide

Families are encouraged to visit the school, whether on an Open Day or an individual visit. There is an extensive, bookable calendar of events for prospective families available on the website, and these include specific Open Days for specific year groups. Open Days and events include talks from senior staff and tours with current pupils.

You can learn more about how to maximise the use of Open Days by visiting our guide.

Claremont Fan School is unusual in suggesting 8+ as an entry point (this would be entry into Year 4) as it is at this point that the prep school intake expands slightly. It is also possible to apply for entry into Year 3 and Year 5, but entry into Year 6 is normally not possible. The deadline for making an application is early in the Autumn Term, and prospective pupils are then invited to attend an assessment day the same term. Assessments will involve Maths, English and some group work. Offers are then made shortly afterwards so the process is completed quickly. On the basis of this assessment day, scholarship offers are also made.

Claremont Fan School aims for a gender balance in the Senior School and the process for entry at 11+ is more competitive than at 7+ as the intake is smaller. Following an early application in the Autumn Term of Year 6, prospective pupils will be invited to an assessment day towards the end of the term where they will undertake national curriculum-level papers in English (both comprehension and creative writing), Maths and Non-verbal reasoning. Following this, invitations are sent to pupils who have succeeded in the assessments to attend an interview early in the Spring term. Offers are made shortly after this.

Applicants for entry to the Sixth Form at Claremont Fan School will attend an assessment day and also an interview, likely to be with a Head of Department or Head of Year. Conditional offers are then sent out which will be dependent on GCSE grades achieved at the pupil’s current school.

Scholarships are offered for entry at 7+, 11+ and 16+. There is also a specific sports scholarship for entry to Year 9 only. For 7+ entry, the assessment day is used to decide which children will be invited for the scholarship assessment, which takes place a couple of weeks later.

For 11+ entry, Claremont Fan School offers Academic, Music and ‘All-Rounder’ (academic plus two of music, sport, drama, art or citizenship) scholarships. Each scholarship is worth up to between £1000 and £2000 per annum, and the Music scholarship also offers free tuition on one instrument. For the Academic and ‘All-Rounder’ scholarships, the entrance assessments are used alongside interviews to determine offers; for the Music scholarship, auditions similar to a music examination such as Trinity or ABRSM are held in the Spring term.

For 16+ entry, Claremont Fan School offers Academic, Sports, Drama, Music, Art and Photography and Textiles Design Scholarships. Each scholarship is worth up to between £1000 and £2000 per annum, and the Music scholarship also offers free tuition on one instrument. Interviews are used to determine recipients of these awards, alongside presentation of portfolio work for Art and Photography and Textiles Design and auditions for Music scholarships.

Claremont Fan School offers a range of bursarial support for those families who would not otherwise be able to access the school, including a 100% bursary for one applicant per year from a state school. A home visit is usually undertaken as part of the process.