The application process for students looking ahead to September 2023 admission to King Edward’s is now open. This is an electronic application, completed via the college website.
The Application Process
Fully completed applications must be submitted electronically by Tuesday 28 February 2023 for consideration of a place at the college. The first part of the application collects a student’s personal details, the three subjects that they wish to be considered for, and also their student predicted grades. A student must enter all of the subjects they are currently studying in Year 11, along with a predicted grade. Predicted grades could be from a school report, formal GCSE predictions, or indeed what a student believes that they will achieve in August 2023 when GCSE results are published. Please note, the college does not require students to submit copies of reports/predicted grades.
Wherever possible, students should use their own personal email address (and not that of a parent) to apply and to ensure that they have added ‘reportserver@kedst.ac.uk’ to their list of approved addresses, as this is how the application system will keep them updated regarding status changes, requests for personal statements, etc. The college has previously experienced issues with students using ‘@icloud.com’ email addresses, largely linked to the capacity of their accounts, and the student not ensuring there is the capacity to receive emails. Again, this may be useful for students applying to a range of providers to know this, and not just King Ed’s.
Once they have completed this part of the application, a student will be prompted via email to upload their Personal Statement and Career Aspirations documents. Below is some guidance below for students as to what King Edward’s is looking for:
Personal Statement
This is not like a university-style personal statement. All they want to know is a little bit about you, such as why you want to study the courses you have chosen, any hobbies and achievements or what you believe makes you an ideal candidate for the college. There is a 300-word limit in place.
Career Aspirations
They also need a short statement on your career aspirations of no more than 100 words. If you have an idea regarding what career you aspire to after college or university, or indeed if you are not certain, please share your ideas with the college. They can offer any subject advice and guidance to you if needed. You do not need to try to impress the college – it is completely fine for you to say that you are unsure at this stage – we know that at your age we were also uncertain as to what we wanted to do in the future.
An application is not fully completed until we receive both a student’s Personal Statement and Career Aspirations documents
Communicating Decisions to Students
Conditional offers – stating specified grades – are made to applicants whom the college believes have the potential to most benefit from a place, based on the information contained in their application form and personal statement.
Each year, the college is contacted by students who wish they had applied but who chose not to ahead of the 28 February deadline. If in doubt, students are encouraged to apply. Students are advised that they can apply to multiple colleges and hold multiple offers. The college Admissions Team can offer lots of practical advice and will be happy to talk through any dilemmas or concerns students may have.
Decision letters will be sent out to applicants as soon as possible once the college has received and considered their full applications. The college no longer interviews students as part of the application process. All offers are conditional on achieving the required entry criteria (these may differ depending on the subjects a student wishes to study). The entry criteria are printed on the reverse of a student’s decision letter, and they can also find out more about individual subject requirements within our prospectus.
Students who receive a conditional offer from the college will have until Friday 26 May 2023 to accept their place. Again, it is acceptable to hold offers at multiple institutions, attend College Orientation Days, and make a final decision later (e.g., GCSE Results Day). Applicants who do not respond to their conditional offer by 26 May will have their offer withdrawn.
Minimum Entry Requirements
The minimum entry requirements to study three subjects at the college are six GCSEs at grade 5 or above. If a student wishes to take four subjects, they will need to achieve seven GCSEs at grade 7 or above. A number of subjects have their own minimum entry requirements, so please check the information provided for each of our subjects as part of our prospectus to find out more. It is worth noting that the college sticks rigidly to these criteria following the publication of GCSE exam results, and, therefore, it is always important for students to have a range of options open to them.
Please note: BTECs and CNATs do not form part of the college’s minimum entry requirements.
Open Events: Autumn 2022
The Open Events are a great way to see what the college has to offer. This year, the Open Events will be on the following dates:
Thursday 13 October
5.00-9.00 pm
Saturday 15 October
9.00-3.00 pm
For more information and how to book, please click here
