Admissions process

We offer approximately 60 places to girls aged 16 or over each year. The successful candidates will join the vast majority of our current Year 11 boys as they continue into the Sixth Form. A small number of places will also be available for boys of the same age.

Our friendly and experienced Admissions team will be happy to answer any enquiries you have, and to guide you through each stage of the process. Please call 020 7433 2117/2118, or email [email protected].

We strongly encourage all families to get to know UCS better by visiting us.

Open Evenings run during the Autumn Term. The dates for families interested in applying for a 16+ (2026) will be announced at the start of next year.

Registration is not required for Open Evenings. You may attend without giving prior notice.

Open Evenings start at 5pm with a series of talks from teachers, pupils and the Headmaster in the Great Hall. These will be followed by prospective families embarking on self-guided tours of the school where they can visit department areas to meet teaching staff and current pupils.

We also offer private daytime tours of the Senior School to prospective families. This is a great opportunity to come and visit the school during the teaching day and will provide you with a first-hand experience of life here at UCS. Each tour will run for approximately 40 minutes, with the option of meeting one of the Admissions team at the end. To book a suitable time and date, please contact the Admissions Office at [email protected].

We are now accepting applications for places to join Year 12 in September 2026. The deadline for applications for 16+ (2026) will be Monday 29th September 2025 at 5pm.

Applications to join UCS Sixth Form in September 2025 have now closed.

To apply for a 16+ (2026) place, please complete the online application form below. You will be redirected to our secure online form and payment pages. We estimate that the application process will take approximately 20 minutes. In some cases, you may wish to include additional information (as directed on the form), in which case the application may take longer. You will be able to partly complete the form and save it for completion later if you so wish. As part of the application, you will be required to upload a photograph of the applicant.

There is a £180 registration fee payable (with the exception of bursary applicants) when you submit your application; you will be directed to our online payment facility when you have completed the form. There is no need to print and post your application, or to post cheques.

If you have any queries, wish to send additional information or documents, or would like to make any comments, please contact the Admissions team at [email protected] or call us on 020 7433 2117/2118.

Read our Data Privacy Notice for Parents and Guardians.

Read our Data Privacy Notice for pupils and prospective pupils over age 13.

Initial selection will be by means of the UCS 16+ Assessment… The date of which will be confirmed at the start of next year.

The Assessment will not be subject-specific but will be an objective multiple-choice test of thinking, reasoning and problem-solving skills. There is also a short, 20-minute writing task on a topical issue. These papers are both designed so that they require no preparation.

A confidential report (including a forecast of GCSE grades or equivalent) will be requested from each candidate’s current school. As many candidates as possible will be called to UCS for an interview following the assessment. Offers of places will be made to successful candidates in December. These offers must be firmly and finally accepted or declined at that time. All our offers are conditional on GCSE performance, typically requiring an average grade of 7.0 across all eligible subjects. Further information about our offers and subject requirements will be provided upon application, or are available on request from the Senior School Admissions Office.

Please note that we do not provide past papers.

Interviews take place in November. Candidates who have been successful in the Assessment will be invited to UCS for two one-on-one interviews with senior members of staff. Parents are invited on this occasion too, and will have the opportunity to meet our Senior Leaders and a number of current Sixth Form pupils.

Offers are made in early December.

Our aim is to ensure that a full UCS education is available for all, without financial impediment.

Bursaries are financial awards which range from 10% to 100% of the cost of fees and, in addition, include assistance with co-curricular activities which have a direct bearing on a pupil’s education, such as curriculum-related school trips. These would include music tours, fieldwork and so on. Moreover, we make a digital device (currently a Chromebook) available to bursary pupils free of charge.

Families are asked to indicate their interest in a bursary award on the initial application form – and bursary applicants do not pay the £180 registration fee. Those whose children are called to interview will be contacted by the Finance Office and asked to submit their financial particulars on a separate Financial Disclosure Form to allow us to assess eligibility for an award. All information submitted is treated with utmost confidentiality.

Our assessment of eligibility involves the calculation of Net Relevant Income. This first considers gross annual income of both parents from all sources, minus reasonable housing costs, e.g. annual rent or mortgage. A small allowance is also made for siblings. The size of the bursary award will be informed by this figure. Please note that we will assume that capital assets (including significant equity in the family home) should be realised to meet school fees before fee assistance is offered.

The outcome of the bursary eligibility assessment is made known when we make an offer of a place. Note that there are no additional academic selection criteria applied to girls or boys whose families are applying for a bursary.

All bursary awards are reviewed annually. Awards may go up or down from one academic year to the next reflecting families’ changing circumstances, to ensure that our funds are directed to those most in need.

Any family that experiences difficulty paying our fees should contact the Financial Controller, or the Bursary Coordinator, without delay. A limited amount of fee assistance may be available via our hardship fund for families under such circumstances.

Although our funding of fee assistance is generous, we cannot guarantee to offer a bursary to all those whose sons receive an offer and who are eligible. Under such circumstances we will take account of all aspects of the candidate’s application to UCS to determine those whose bursary applications have been successful.

UCS has a proud musical tradition. We believe that music, of all kinds, makes a unique contribution to the life of the school and to the educational experience of our pupils – whether they consider themselves specialist musicians or not.

The ensemble programme is extensive and diverse, including a Symphony Orchestra, a 50-piece Concert Band, a Chamber Orchestra, four choirs, Wind, String and Brass ensembles and three Jazz groups.

Chamber Music is especially strong, with our groups achieving notable success in national competitions, while we have recently inaugurated a Rock School to include Popular Music. Every two years a full-scale musical is put on in conjunction with the Drama Department.

A Music Scholarship at UCS will entitle the holder to a reduction in the annual school fees of between 10% and 25%. In exceptional cases an award of up to 50% of fees may be made. The precise value will depend upon the standard of applicants and, therefore, the competition in any one year. Music scholars are also entitled to free instrumental tuition at school on an instrument (including voice) at the discretion of the Director of Music.

Termly fees include lunch and personal accident insurance.

Termly fees are payable in full on or before the first day of the term for which they are due. Payment by means of direct debit is generally required. A scheme for payment of fees by means of three equal monthly instalments per term by direct debit is available.

In order to accept the offer of a place at UCS, a deposit is requested. Under normal circumstances this is not returned if the place is not taken up. Full Terms and Conditions will be provided at the time of the offer.

A registration fee of £180 is payable at the time of application. This is waived for families applying for a bursary.