Admissions Process

How to make an application (Registration)

To reserve a place for your son, you should complete an initial Registration Form and return it to the Director of Admissions, Merchiston Castle School, Colinton, Edinburgh EH13 0PU. The first, non-refundable part of the Registration Fee (£50), should accompany the completed form. This may be paid by cheque, bank draft or electronic fund transfer. The registration fee helps to cover the cost of processing your initial application, and we regret that forms received without the necessary fee will not reserve a place.

We will write to you to acknowledge receipt of the form and your payment. Reservation of a place is also subject to the following:

• A later confirmation from you that you would like to proceed (usually requested in September of the year before your son is due to join us. See ‘Confirmation of Entry Form’ below).

• Entrance assessments, and receipt of a satisfactory report from your son’s current school

• Places being available in your son’s year group

Click here to print request a Prospectus pack or to print our a copy of the Registration Form.

When to apply

We will accept registrations at any time of the year but, since some year groups (and day places in general), may become oversubscribed, we suggest you make a reservation as early as possible. Entrance assessment days are held between January to March each year (for entry in that year), although we will continue to assess pupils after those dates provided spaces are available.

After you have applied

We will continue to keep in touch with you; and you and your family may be invited to join us at school events. In September of the year preceding entry, we will ask you to confirm your application to us by completing and returning a Confirmation of Entry Form which carries the second non-refundable part of the Registration Fee (£100).

The Confirmation Form also gives us permission to contact your son’s current school to request a report on his progress, and the Confirmation Fee helps to cover the costs of processing applications, and administering and marking assessments. We will then write (in November or December of that year) to invite your son to take part in one of our Entrance Assessment Days.

• For information on Scholarships and Bursaries, please click here
• A list of frequently asked questions is available here
• For details of procedure after your son is enrolled, please follow this link.
• For the full Admission Policy, please click here