Application for ESF Secondary School

caramom

martie 發表於 12-9-7 14:30
Thank you.  Got the magazine and just to find it is real hard to secure a place in EFS.  Any idea h ...

Hi martie,
My kids are studying in SIS, the competition for PY1 is really keen these years, not easy to get a place at all, the interview will be conducted in either English or Mandarin, just according to parent's preference. The chances would be much slimmer if you only apply PY2 or P.1 because all PY1 kids will go to PY2 and then P.1 later, not many (or even no) places left for outsiders, so the best way is to put your child in PY1. Though I don't know if having siblings in SIS is a concern, my youngest girl got a place in PY1 last year, she's in PY2 now.

My suggestion is to apply as much schools as possible, so that you could have more choices, as some popular schools may not even offer your child an interview due to the large number of applicants.

martie

caramom 發表於 12-9-7 14:54
Hi martie,
My kids are studying in SIS, the competition for PY1 is really keen these years, not eas ...

Hi Caramom,

Thank you for your sharing.  My boy is studying P5 in a local school and I want him to study in local international school for a couple of years, then continue to study in the UK for his senior secondary.  Understand it is hard to get a place in P1, P2 of SIS, how is the chance to get into Grade 6/7?  Any idea?

Have you heard of Chinese Fundation, and idea if it is easier than EFS?

caramom

martie 發表於 12-9-10 13:39
Hi Caramom,

Thank you for your sharing.  My boy is studying P5 in a local school and I want him to ...

Hi martie,
If you're planning to send your son to the UK for further education, I suggest you to put him in a British int'l school so that he could adapt better when he arrives UK. Some popular ones such as GSIS, Kellett, FIS (Int'l Section) etc are using the British curriculum at Secondary levels and are taking I/GCSE and A-Levels or IB Diploma. I heard that GSIS will be changing to IB Diploma rather than the A-Levels in a few years, you may contact the school directly to confirm as I'm not sure the exact year that they'll change.

Some schools such as CDNIS (IB) and CAIS (Alberta) are good choices too, though they aren't British schools, they did well in academic as well as in other aspects.

For SIS, usually there are students leaving after P.6 and go for GSIS, CDNIS or ESF. There may be a few vacancies in S.1, but I'm not too sure about S.2 onwards. I believe the waiting list of the Primary Section in SIS is much longer than the Secondary. SIS students will take IGCSE + IB Diploma.

Chinese Foundation, um... I think you're referring to The ISF Academy, am I right? It's easier to get a spot in ISF (especially in higher grades) than ESF, they're adopting IB MYP and DP in Secondary levels. Personally I think the average IB score of ISF is not as impressive as I expected (but it's still ok since this is the first year for ISF students to take IB exam), their average score is 32.8 while all ESF school's average is over 35, South Island achieved 36.2. It's really good as they've many students taking the exam and could still be able to keep their standard, I was surprised when I saw the statistic, http://www.hket.com/store/IMAGE/HKET/2012/201208/20120821/HKET20120821LA01ATL.jpg.

ESF is certainly more difficult to get in, they've long waiting lists for all schools (including Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary), although they're non-selective, they focus on student's English proficiency, as your son is a local school student, I assume that he is falling into Cat. 2, it means he'll only be offered a place after all Cat. 1 students got a place in the school. So the chances are slim for Cat. 2 and ESF have high demand on the candidate's English standard as they claimed that they "teach in English but not teach English".

KWOKS

mingmingyinyin 發表於 12-9-3 16:02
I know the waitlist is very long... But which queue will be shorter, KGV or Shatin College? What do  ...

I can say the chance to KGV equals zero even this school cannot fully 'entertain' its in-house pupils. Some of their pupils were transferred to other ESF which is out of their catchment area.

martie

caramom 發表於 12-9-10 15:34
Hi martie,
If you're planning to send your son to the UK for further education, I suggest you to pu ...

Hi Caramom,

Many thanks for your information.  BTW, what is CDNIS?

Chinese Foundation - I mean Chinese International School.  Any idea if it is difficult to enter into this school?

For ESF, if Cat. 2 applicants will only be consider after all Cat. 1 students are admitted irrespective of the application date, is it right to say that the chance of getting ESF is virtually "zero", considering so many expats are still waiting for a place.

caramom

martie 發表於 12-9-11 13:50
Hi Caramom,

Many thanks for your information.  BTW, what is CDNIS?

Hi martie,
I'm sorry, I've misunderstood. CIS is a popular school, especially their Chinese standard is higher and the academic results are impressive too, it's difficult to get a place just like GSIS, they have long waiting lists too, but I think you could try to send your application since some students will leave after Y9/10 and go overseas for education, hence there may be some places left.

CDNIS stands for Canadian Int'l School in Aberdeen.

I would say Cat. 2 is nearly impossible to get a place in ESF, as you've mentioned there are many expats children waiting for those spots. I knew a girl from a local secondary school was admitted by Island School (Year 9, year 2010-2011) (She is a almost-native English speaker), but I think it's a rare case. The chances would be a little higher if your catchment zone belongs to West Island School or South Island School; for Shatin College or KGV, it's really difficult.

mingmingyinyin

Now does it mean it's even more difficult to go to ESF Secondary School with the newly introduced nomination scheme of $500,000? I wonder if there are really places open up...all those places will go to those nomination applicants...

Bad news to me!

martie

caramom 發表於 12-9-11 19:33
Hi martie,
I'm sorry, I've misunderstood. CIS is a popular school, especially their Chinese standar ...

Hi Caramom,

Thank you for your sharing.

My catchment zone is covered by West Island School.  I think any ESF school will be just fine.   Also on my list is CIS.  I will try both this year and see the outcome in couple of years.  Failing this, I will consider sending my kid to UK maybe in F3 / 4 for IGCSE and A-levels.

BTW, applications for EFS schools are processed centrally in accordance with application information.  Any idea if I can submit my application directly to my desired EFS school (actually if I prefer South Island School as it scored best in 2012 IB exams).

caramom

martie 發表於 12-9-13 13:37
Hi Caramom,

Thank you for your sharing.

Hi martie,
To my knowledge, applications for ESF Primary and Secondary schools are under the Central Application, you can't choose from any ESF school by yourself, the placement is according to your home address and catchment zone.

Btw, I think the campus of WIS is really nice!!