International Pupils
Sandroyd is a home from home for all children, whether they live 20 minutes or 20 hours away.
We are very lucky to have pupils from all over the world come and join us at Sandroyd. Some international pupils will join us for a single academic year, others will spend 4 or 5 years with us progressing on to senior schools within the UK.
We fully understand that for the majority of international parents, the primary aim of sending their child/ren to a UK boarding school is to enhance their English language skills whilst also experiencing the British culture. As such, we limit the number of children of any single nationality, both in a single year group and in the school as a whole, to ensure that they are given maximum immersion. This means that at weekends when the day children go home, the school continues to be predominantly filled with British children.
The admissions process for international children is by means of school reports and handwritten assessment. The Head of Admissions will be able to provide you with more detail on this. Early registration is essential for any international child. With limited places, we are full up to 18 months in advance of admission for some nationalities and we are rarely able to upgrade a waiting list place.
All children whose parents live internationally must have a UK based guardian who is able to have the children at exeat weekends, half terms (if not returning home) and at any other time when the child cannot be at school. A guardian may be a family member, a friend or a formal agent but we are unable to accept an international child without a named guardian. Many of the children receive invitations to spend weekends with other pupils who live locally but a guardian must be aware that this is not always the case. Parental permission is always sought when such invitations are received.
For any information regarding admissions or assessment for international children, please contact Mrs Dinah Rawlinson, Head of Admissions on 0044 1725 530124 or email [email protected]
For information on airport transfers, please see the main admissions section of the website.
Brexit and EU/EEA Pupils
The government has announced that the UK's new Student and Child Student routes, which are part of the UK's new points-based immigration system, will open for applications on 5 October 2020. These new routes will replace the existing Tier 4 (General) and Tier 4 (Child) student routes.
From 5 October, all prospective international students, including those from Europe coming to study in the UK after the end of the transition period, will need to apply through the Student route before coming to the UK. Further guidance for EEA students can be found here.
EEA students resident in the UK on or before 31 December 2020 do not need to apply through the route. They, and their family, are eligible to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme and have until 30 June 2021 to do so. More information on the EU Settlement Scheme can be found here.
The UK Government has produced a Guide to the New Points Based Immigration System which will apply to all overseas pupils wishing to study at Sandroyd.
All overseas pupils studying at Sandroyd will be provided with a hard copy letter of confirmation from the Headmaster indicating they are full-time students at the School to help ease transit through immigration control.
