We’re delighted that you’re ready to take the next step towards joining the Oakham community. Applications are welcome for our main entry points at Year 7, Year 9, Year 10 and Sixth Form, with occasional places available in other year groups. Our straightforward admissions process is designed to help you move through each stage with confidence.
While the steps below provide a framework, we recognise that each student and every family is different. That’s why our Admissions Team takes a personal approach to every application, offering the same care, attention and support that students can expect throughout their time at Oakham. The five steps below outline the admissions process and what happens at each stage.
1. Register your child
Submit your online Registration Form along with the Registration Fee of £180. The dates below should help with your planning:
11+, 13+, 14+ entry: end of November in the academic year prior to joining
16+ entry: mid-October in the calendar year prior to joining
Whenever we have spaces available, we are very happy to accept registrations after these dates, although scholarship and bursary applications will be closed.
Registering your child means we can keep in touch and give you all the details of the next steps, including the entrance exams and scholarship assessments.
2. Sit the entrance assessments
Oakham School is an ambitious and vibrant community, shaped by a six-day-a-week rhythm and routine. To ensure this environment is the right fit for your child, all applicants take part in our entrance assessments. These include age-appropriate academic exams and an interview – relaxed and informal for younger students, and more structured for older applicants.
We will also request a confidential reference from your child’s current school, which gives us an insight into their day-to-day capabilities.
Find out more about 11+, 13+, 14+ and 16+ entry.
Currently in Year 5? Find out more about our early assessments that take place in May each year.
3. Consider a Scholarship
We welcome applications for a range of scholarships to recognise academic, creative, or sporting excellence. Scholars are expected to maintain the highest standards in their field, and across School life. Scholarships typically attract a 10% discount off the Day Fee.
Following academic entrance assessments, scholarship candidates will be invited for separate scholarship assessment events.
4. Offer and acceptance of place
Offers are typically made within two weeks of your child completing all his or her entrance and scholarship assessments. Offers for 16+ candidates who are currently studying GCSEs are conditional upon achieving the required GCSE grades (a minimum of three Grade 6’s and four Grade 5’s).
The offer letter will provide details of all the next steps you need to take to confirm acceptance and secure the place, including the Fees, full Terms & Conditions and details of the Acceptance Deposit. This Deposit, minus expenses, is returned at the end of your child’s time at the School.
5. Join our community
This is the time to get excited and look forward to your child’s first day at their new school. We will provide a comprehensive Joining Pack to give you all the information you need.
There will be a Familiarisation Day in June, when all our new students get to meet one another in advance of the summer holidays. We then host an Induction Day just before the start of term to welcome your child and your family to the Oakham community and help you settle in. Your child’s Housemistress or Housemaster will be in touch to introduce themselves, giving you the opportunity for a more personal conversation if needed.
