We highly recommend parents to attend the information session to learn more about our school’s philosophy and curriculum. Parents will also hear from our current students firsthand sharing about their experience studying at St. Nicholas’. Due to the large number of applicants we may receive every year, preference will be given to applicants with parents who have attended our admissions information session.

As mandated by the Education Bureau, we assess all applicants to Nursery 1 (equivalent to Kindergarten 1 – K1) who have submitted the online application form. For limited entry levels (i.e. Lower 2 – L2 and Upper 3 – U3), we base our decision to assess selected candidates on the information provided in the application form and the strength of their report cards. We look at all information provided to gain a basic understanding of the student’s abilities in academics, extra-curricular activities and behaviour. Selected candidates must demonstrate good work habits and proficiency in English, Chinese and mathematics.

There are two parts to the admissions assessment. The first part will be the child’s assessment individually and in a small group, which will last approximately 30 minutes. There will be 5 to 7 children per group. Each child can be accompanied by an adult, most preferably a parent or a guardian. Simple questions in a group include assessing the child’s cognitive, language, social, gross and fine motor skills. The child will also be asked to work individually with Montessori teaching aids.

The second part will be an individual meeting with one of the parents. Each meeting will be approximately 5 minutes, in which the parent will have the opportunity to present his or her educational philosophy, expectations of their child, what they hope their child to accomplish at St. Nicholas’ and briefly introduce the child’s background and personality.

We understand that children may have gotten ill unexpectedly prior to the scheduled assessment date or may fall sick suddenly upon arrival due to exposure to a new environment. Our school will definitely accommodate such extenuating circumstances and reschedule the assessment for the child upon receipt of a registered doctor’s medical certificate with the child’s name and date of the doctor’s visit. The admissions office will inform parents the new assessment date once it has been arranged.

Applicants to Nursery 1 (equivalent to Kindergarten 1 – K1) who are invited to the school for an assessment are provided information during the admissions information session in advance of their arrival, including evaluation criteria and some sample questions. Generally speaking, all assessment is age-appropriate. To help children become familiar with our school environment, we recommend parents to show some photos or videos of our campus and play our school song to your child, so that he or she can be more acquainted prior to the assessment. We also suggest parents to arrive 15 to 30 minutes earlier than the scheduled assessment time, which will allow some time for your child to have some fun in our playground before entering the classroom for the assessment. However, we strongly advise not to arrive more than 30 minutes before your scheduled time as your child may become too tired playing in the playground for too long. Lastly, we do not encourage children to take any interview preparation courses — it’s important for us to know what the child knows, and doesn’t know, in order to set him or her up for success.