Admissions Policy

1. Preface

Discovery College is a Private Independent School (PIS) currently growing by one-year level annually up to Year 13 in 2013.

The College provides an all-through education for primary and secondary students on one campus. Students start Year 1 during the calendar year in which they turn 5 and graduate from the College at the end of Year 13.

The mission of the College is to provide a quality education for all students with English as the medium for teaching and learning, and to offer Chinese (Putonghua using simplified characters) as a specialist subject for all students.

There is provision for Chinese for native speakers (CNL) and for Chinese as a foreign language (CFL), including ab initio courses. All successful applicants will need to demonstrate an aptitude for language learning.

In line with the Hong Kong Government's requirements for all Private Independent Schools (PIS):

• Discovery College has no catchment area: any student residing in Hong Kong can apply to attend.
• When the College is at full capacity, at least 70% of the total students enrolled must have at least one parent who has Hong Kong permanent resident status.
  

2. Priority for Admission

Children of full-time teachers at Discovery College are guaranteed an interview for a place at Discovery College.

Students applying for enrolment to Discovery College may be placed on a waiting list. Where such waiting lists occur, priority for an admissions assessment/interview will be based on the following ranked criteria; students who are (in order):

1. Children who are Nominees under the Corporate Nomination Rights scheme. Across all year levels.
2. Children of full-time teachers at RCHK and at ESF Primary and Secondary Schools.
3. Siblings of students attending Discovery College or children who are Nominees under the Individual Nomination Rights Scheme.
4. Former Discovery College students who left the College to move overseas.
5. Children of Discovery College full-time Support Staff with a minimum one-year employment at date of admission.
6. Children of former Discovery College students.
7. Other applicants.

With the exception of students applying for Year 1, Siblings and Nominees under an Individual Nomination Right will have the same priority for admissions interviews, with the date of application determining the order. A Nominee under a Corporate Nomination Right will receive first priority on the waiting list for an admissions interview and will have priority over all other applicants, but not children of Discovery College full-time teachers.

The order of priority for an admissions interview is determined by the time and date that the Company informs the College of the identity of the Nominee (CNR Form B).

If demand for enrolment in any year level exceeds the places available, then children with at least one parent holding Hong Kong permanent resident status will be accepted before other students with the same priority status.

NOTE: For Year 1 central applications made in September 2013 and September 2014 only, children enrolled in ESF International Kindergartens will be prioritised for interview, subject to having attended the kindergarten for a minimum of two terms prior to the applicable January Year 1 interview period.

3. Admission Procedures

Discovery College will determine the Year Group for admission according to the child's date of birth (01 Jan – 31 Dec). Please note that the Year Group may be adjusted to ensure where possible the child's date of birth matches the school's age requirements.

Year of Birth to Year Level Placement:

Consideration may be given for accepting an application of a child in a year group that is one year lower if the applicant has a late (September to December) birthday. This is taken into account along with other material aspects, such as the national teaching system from which the child originates. Greater flexibility may be applied where older Secondary age groups are concerned, for Year 12 in particular, however, all cases will be examined on an individual basis, and the College reserves the right to accept or reject any application at its discretion, the final decision being that of the Principal.

A student has to be in an IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) for the final 2 years of the programme (Years 10 & 11) to be awarded a MYP certificate.

Applications for Year 13 will not be considered for students who have not completed the first year of the IB Diploma Programme.

• Applicants must submit the application package in full.
• All Year 1 and Year 7 applications received within the Central Application Period (01 September - 30 September) are PROCESSED IN RANDOM ORDER and are assigned a computer generated sequential number. From this list, students are then ordered according to the priority criteria, apart from Nominees under a Corporate Nomination Right, who are ranked according to the time and date that the Company informs the College of the identity of the Nominee, and Nominees of an Individual Nomination Right, who are ranked in order of receipt of their Nomination Rights Application.
• Any Year 1 and Year 7 applications received after the Central Application Period will be placed at the end of their respective priority waiting list in date order of receipt.
• Applications for all other year levels are considered under application date order and added to the waiting list according to the priority criteria.
• Applicants will be invited for an interview at the College as vacancies become available.
• Assessments are administered at the time of interview, apart from Years 1 and 7 where the assessment and interview may be conducted separately.
• Following a successful admissions assessment and interview, a place may be offered.
• Acceptance of the offer must be confirmed by payment of a 2-month deposit (see College Fees).
• Re-application is required when:
• An offer for an assessment/interview has been declined
• An offer of a place has been declined
• A student has not met the entry requirements at interview/assessment
• Where an applicant has been unsuccessful at assessment/interview, a reapplication may be submitted at any time, along with an application fee. The applicant would be added to the appropriate Waiting List, in order of any priority status held and as of the date submitted online, and would need to undertake a new assessment (no earlier than 6 months from the previous assessment) should he/she have priority when a place becomes available.
• If an offer of a place is not made after an assessment/interview, even though the student meets the entry requirements for Discovery College, as at the time places are not available, the child will be returned to the age-appropriate waiting list according to his/her priority status and, in the case of Central Admission applicants, the random number he/she was assigned. In the event a place becomes available within six months of the initial successful assessment, no further assessment will be required.
• Applicants on the Year 6 waiting list will need to submit a new application for consideration for admission to Year 7 and a new waiting list will be established as described above.
• Applicants coming from Discovery Bay International School are required to fill out a "Confirmation of Completion of Commitments" form before the offer of a place is finalised.

4. Applications for Admission

Once an online application has been successfully submitted, along with payment of the application fee of HK$800, a hard copy of the completed online application form, along with supporting documents, must be sent directly to "Discovery College (Attn: Admissions Manager), 38 Siena Avenue, Discovery Bay, Lantau Island, Hong Kong". Supporting documents include copies of:

• Student's Birth Certificate;
• Student's Passport (including their visa status, if any) or Hong Kong Permanent ID Card;
• Student's current and last year's school reports;
• Parent's Hong Kong Permanent ID Cards or Passports (including their visa status, if any);
• Parent statement indicating reasons why the student should be considered for entry to Discovery College;
• A reference letter/form from student’s current school (for applications to Year 3 and above);
• Details of parent attendance at Discovery College (if applicable);
• Examination certificates/results (for Year 12 & 13 applications);
• Student's photograph showing his/her full frontal face with clear facial features, measuring 4cm (width) x 5cm (height) and
• Proof of employment of the director or employee whose Nominee is nominated under a Corporate Nomination Right (for Corporate Nomination Rights applications only).

An application with insufficient supporting documents will not be processed and the applicant will be notified accordingly.

5. Application to ESF and ESF Private Independent Schools (PIS)

Dual applications are permitted to both systems. For statistical purposes, parents are asked to indicate schools applied by ticking the box/es on the individual application forms. Applications to Discovery College and Renaissance College are through a separate application process to other ESF schools.

6. Assessments and Interviews for Admission

Applicants must demonstrate through assessments and an interview that they are capable of engaging with an English medium IB curriculum.

Students applying for admissions to Discovery College take age-appropriate assessments for English. In addition, applicants are assessed for learning skills and cognitive ability. The assessments are accompanied by interviews that will explore each student's potential for language learning as well as their ability to engage and succeed within the curriculum being offered at the school.

Applicants' academic background, previous school reports and supporting documents will also be taken into account. Applicants must be able to demonstrate behavioural responsibility and the principles of good citizenship.

Whilst assessment interviews for Primary (Years 1 to 6) have to be undertaken in Hong Kong at Discovery College, assessment testing for overseas Secondary students (Years 7 to 13) can be undertaken with the cooperation of the applicant’s current school and subsequent interviews arranged to be undertaken by SKYPE.

7. Admission into the IB Diploma Programme

The IB Diploma Programme is designed for students who have successfully completed their middle years of secondary schooling. Various indicators of this success exist as possible pathways for entry to the IB Diploma Programme:

• A minimum of 36 points (out of a total of 63) in the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP);
• An average, or predicted average, of 5 Grade C’s in the IGCSE examinations;
• New applicants will be admitted to the college and the programme on the basis of school transcripts, written applications, interviews and admissions tests.

Students successfully completing any of the above will normally be entered into the IB Diploma Programme. Students with grades lower than the requirement but who, in the judgement of the IB Diploma Coordinator, would be suitable candidates for Year 12 entry may be admitted as an IB courses student. However, all cases will be examined on an individual basis, and the College reserves the right to accept or reject any application at its discretion. Students will be counselled on the correct choice of either full Diploma status or Courses status.

8. Nomination Rights

See Nomination Rights Terms and Conditions

9. Fees

See College Fees

10. Immigration Status

An offer of a place cannot be made to a child who is not a resident of Hong Kong unless the child is permitted by the Director of Immigration to reside in Hong Kong. Unless clearance is obtained from the Director of Immigration, no child will be admitted to any school in Hong Kong whose travel document/passport bears the endorsement "Visitor" over the immigration stamp. Parents of non-local children are advised to seek the approval of the Director of Immigration (www.immd.gov.hk) as soon as possible for entry to Hong Kong of the child in question, for the purpose of study.

11. Withdrawal of Students

For withdrawal of students, please refer to the Student Withdrawal Procedures.

12. Admissions Enquiries

Enquiries may be sent to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

13. Policy Review

Discovery College's admissions policy is subject to regular review.

It is the responsibility of individual applicants to check the College website for any updates to the policy.

14. Enquiries

Enquiries about this policy should be directed to the Admissions Manager at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .