Admissions Procedure

Thank you for your interest in Shebbear College - we are delighted that you are considering us for your son or daughter. 

Children join us at Pre-Prep (Reception - Year 2), Prep (Years 3 - 6), Senior School (Years 7 - 11) or Sixth Form (Year 12). Depending on place availability, pupils can join us at any stage of their school life and at any time during the school year. 

We offer full, weekly or flexi boarding to pupils from the UK and overseas aged 8 and above and have two boarding houses, Ruddle and Pollard. 

Offering and Accepting a Place 

We do not offer places based on an entrance exam, however we will assess the levels and merits of every child on an individual basis. This ensures that we are able to provide each individual with the skills needed to succeed, both academically and outside of the classroom, and thrive in whatever they choose to do in the future. 

We are a school which promotes excellence across the curriculum and co-curriculum and you can see evidence of this across the school. Our aim is to build confidence and enjoyment of learning in all of our pupils, which we do through the individual attention that we can offer them. 

Children who join us must be able to access our mainstream curriculum and demonstrate our school values of compassion, courage, courtesy, curiosity, creativity and confidence in all that they do.  

Following a visit and/or Taster Day (or an online meeting for international pupils), we would ask for a reference from your child's current school, and request any additional information from parents through our Registration Form. If we feel that Shebbear College is the right school for them and that they would thrive here, we would then be able to formally offer a place. 

Joining the Prep School 

If you are interested in your son or daughter joining our Pre-Prep or Prep School, the first thing to do is to come and visit us for a tour, a meeting with our Head, Mr Jenkins or Head of Prep, Mr Foale. We would then invite your child in for a Taster Day in their current year group. This is a great opportunity for them to meet the other children and get a feel for the school. During the Taster Day our teachers will be able to informally observe your child in order to make sure that our school would be a good fit for them and that they would be happy here. Your child is welcome to have more than one Taster Day here. 

Joining the Senior School

As is the case for the Prep School, anyone considering joining us from Form 1 (Year 7) upwards would start with a visit to the school. We offer tours, meetings with our Head, Mr Jenkins, followed by Taster Days in order to give your son or daughter the opportunity to experience a day at our school.

We ask prospective pupils joining the Senior School to sit an entrance assessment before they join us. This is simply designed to help us establish the academic ability and level of each child; there is no pass or fail mark and children should not feel at all worried about this.

The entrance assessment includes a CAT4 test. This is a diagnostic assessment that is designed to help pupils and teachers understand how children learn and what their academic potential might be. Pupils cannot do any prior preparation or study for this type of assessment.

Joining the Sixth Form

For pupils looking to join our Sixth Form, we would invite them in to meet our Head, Mr Jenkins and any relevant Heads of Departments to discuss A-Level or BTEC options. We hold a Sixth Form Open Event and Taster Day in the autumn each year which are designed to give prospective pupils a taste of life in the Sixth Form, but you are welcome to visit us at any time throughout the year. There is no entrance assessment for the Sixth Form but we do ask for your GCSE results and a reference from your current school. 

We welcome a number of new pupils into our Sixth Form each year, all of whom have flourished in these all important years of their education. Our Sixth Form is unique, small enough to be a big part of the supportive Shebbear College community, but large enough for the pupils to have their own space and independence, taking ownership of their academic achievements and developing their skills. 

International Admissions

We welcome pupils from all over the world to join our school. We are home to international pupils from many different countries who benefit from being in a British school environment.

Boarding is offered from the age of 8 – 18 and as we are a relatively small school, all of our overseas pupils mix fully with others from a range of different nationalities. For more information on the admissions procedure for those joining us from overseas, please visit our International Pupils page. 

Choosing the right school for your son or daughter is not an easy decision. Every school is different, but so is every child - it’s about finding the right fit. We want to make this process as easy as possible for you and this section of our website will tell you more about the Admissions journey at Shebbear.

Please use our admissions calculator below to find out the relevant information for your child.