An Explanation of the Fourth Form (Year 10) Entry Process
A five-month registration window, from June to October, opens a year in advance of the pupil’s proposed entry. To determine your child’s correct year of entry and closing date for registration, please click here.
Registration for entry in 2025 is now closed and will open for 2026 entry in June 2025.
Decisions of places for September 2025 will be announced initially in February 2025, but subsequent places will be offered to those placed on the Waiting List and exceptional late entrants right up until September 2025.
Each year, we expect to offer places to around 20 new Fourth Form students (day and boarding), weighted in favour of girls. Most girls will enter the Hardinge, our 14-18 girls’ house. A handful of boys’ places will be in our 13-18 houses. A small number of places will be available in our day houses too. New pupils will join an existing year group of approximately 200 girls and boys.
Stage One – Registration and documentation (now closed for entry in 2025)
There are two routes of entry; full fee (and likely means-tested fee-assistance awards less than 90% of full fees) and significant (90% to 100%) means-tested fee-assistance and, having read the information fully, we ask you to select the appropriate route carefully.
As part of the registration process, students wishing to join the Wellington College Fourth Form are asked to upload their latest set of school reports and submit a brief personal statement using this template. Please do have the report and personal statement ready when you register. Our preference is for students to delay the application until their latest report is available.
To register your child via the full fee route, or for fee assistance requests below 90%, we ask for a non-refundable registration fee of £360 (£300 + VAT). This can be paid by credit or debit card to complete the process. Alternatively, if you are unable to pay by credit card or would prefer to pay by bank transfer, our bank account details can be found by clicking here. Please let us know if you make a bank transfer by sending an email to admissions@wellingtoncollege.org.uk.
We must stress that this registration fee is non-refundable however far we decide to take your child’s application. This reflects the fact that we put an enormous amount of effort and thought into every application before we choose who to select for each stage of the process. All applicants via this route will be examined remotely and short list selection (after Stage Two below) will take into account information from the personal statement, school reports and the exam results.
Registration for the significant fee-assistance route (90% -100%) does not require a registration fee to be paid. We will, however, ask for a confidential ‘statement of financial position’ form to be completed and sent to us before the exams are completed. This form can be sent directly by families or by any organisation with which they are working (e.g. Royal Springboard). Unfortunately, we do not have financial resources to support every pupil requiring fee assistance and so we are likely, reluctantly, to reject some candidates before Stage Two (below).
Stage Two – Exams
After the closing date, we will write to candidates asking them to take a series of short exams (English, Verbal Reasoning, Maths and Non-Verbal Reasoning) which will be sat using digital software at home. For entry in September 2025, these exams will be taken in mid-November 2024.
In early December, invitations to the short list stages will be sent out by email to selected candidates. Some candidates will be informed that we will not be taking their application any further. It is likely, unfortunately, that only a relatively small number of candidates will be invited to Stage 3 to reflect the small number of 14+ places that will be offered.
References from current schools will be requested for candidates selected for Stage Three.
Stage Three – Interviews and Assessment Days
Candidates will be invited to book a pastoral interview. For entry in September 2025, these interviews will be conducted virtually over Microsoft Teams and will take place in the week commencing 6 January.
We will host an assessment day at Wellington College on Friday 10 January and an additional ‘international’ interview will be offered to those unable to travel easily to Wellington College.
These assessment days will aim to provide an authentic experience of life at Wellington and a chance to experience the culture of the school first-hand.
Fee-assisted places
Full information on our various financial aid options can be found here. Families are asked to estimate the level of fee-assistance that they are likely to require (our fees can be found here) before selecting the route via which to register their child.
Families likely to require less than a 90% reduction in the fees are asked to register via the full fees route and will be asked to indicate their desire to apply for fee-assistance in a form which will be sent out after the closing date.
If you are in any doubt about this or have any questions, please contact the Admissions Department: Tel: +44 (0)1344 444013 Email: admissions@wellingtoncollege.org.uk
