Secondary Admissions – Bishop Mackenzie International School

Secondary Admissions Procedure

As an IB school, BMIS is an inclusive educational environment and welcomes students from a variety of educational backgrounds. Applications for admission are accepted throughout the year. Families seeking admission for their child should make an appointment with the Head Teacher. Students are eligible for admission if there are places available and the school can meet their particular needs. All candidates will take a school assessment before admission. Students with learning difficulties may be admitted if their needs can be met by the school’s Education Support programme or local support services, and the students can be placed in the regular classroom.

Admittance of students who are physically, mentally or emotionally challenged will only be accepted at the discretion of the Head Teacher. Should admittance be granted, the situation would be subject to a termly review. Students whose native language is not English must take an oral and/or written assessment to determine whether they can be admitted. Limited assistance in English as a Second Language is available if the instruction in this area is beyond that which can be reasonably provided by the class and subject teachers.

The Application Process

Application Froms

Inquiries and applications for admission are welcome at any time of the year. Starter packs of information, which also include an application form, confidential reference form, and recommendations form, are available from the secondary school office or can be downloaded from the links below.

Application form

Admission and Testing

Prospective students are eligible for admission if it is believed by the Head Teacher that the school can meet their particular needs and if there are places available.
Admission to the secondary section is non-selective, with the exception of entry into the BMIS High School Diploma programme in Grades 10, 11, and 12. (Click Here)
Admission to the last year of the IB Middle Years Programme (Grade 10) and the last year of the IB Diploma programme (Grade 12) must also allow prospective students to complete the IBO requirements for these programmes if external certification is required. (Parents must contact the Head Teacher before submitting an application for entry to Grade 10 or Grade 12.)

• All prospective students are required to undertake BMIS entry assessments in the core areas of English and mathematics. (These assessments can be sent electronically to the prospective student’s current school before arrival in Lilongwe. Ask for details at the time of application.)

• Other subject-specific tests may be required for entrance into the IB Diploma programme in Grade 11 and 12. (These additional tests are only available on-site at BMIS after arrival in Lilongwe.)

• Students with identified language or learning support needs will be required to undergo further assessment to evaluate the extent that BMIS may be able to support them. (These additional tests are only available on-site at BMIS after arrival in Lilongwe.)

• The results of BMIS admission tests, previous school reports, a confidential report from the previous school, and other relevant documents (e.g. learning support reports, etc.), and discussions with the prospective student and parents all contribute to the admission decision and class placement.

• The school, through the head teacher, reserves the right not to admit a child if an appropriate programme is not available for the child at the time of application.

Age of Admission

The age of admission for year groups in the school is to be based on the child’s age on the 31st of August of the current school year. The classes and dates of birth applicable to current admissions are available from this link: (Click Here)
At the discretion of the head teacher, flexibility of up to one year may be allowed when appropriate. (For example, a child of Year 9 age could be placed in Year 8 or 10 depending on the results of the placement process. No other variance is accepted.)

Admission and Placement

Admittance of students who are physically, mentally, or emotionally challenged will only be accepted at the discretion of the secondary headteacher under guidance from the counselor and learning support teacher, who will conduct any tests necessary to establish the needs of an individual child. Should admittance be granted, the situation will be subject to an annual review. Students with slight to moderate learning difficulties may be admitted if it is believed that their needs can be dealt with by the school’s Educational Support Programme and the students can be placed in the regular classroom for most, if not all, of their subjects.
Students whose native language is not English must take an oral and/or written assessment to determine whether they can be admitted. Limited assistance in English as an Additional Language is available for students with slight to moderate English language needs provided the students can be placed in the mainstream classroom for the majority of their other subjects.
Initial class placement is tentative and the school may advise a change of class after the child’s aptitudes and abilities have been thoroughly assessed more closely by subject teachers.
As a guideline, the optimum number of students for all classes is 22. The maximum number of students in a class is 24. However, in exceptional circumstances, the board of trustees may allow class sizes of 26 students.

Preferential Admission

In circumstances where class sizes are at or over the optimum numbers stated above, preferential admission will be given to students whose parents find themselves in Lilongwe by virtue of their employment. Such cases include, but are not limited to, diplomats posted to Malawi, expatriates recruited to Malawi as TEP holders (including teachers at BMIS) and Malawians relocated by employers to Lilongwe from other parts of Malawi. All applications remain subject to the educational criteria stated above.

Questions?

registrar@bmis.mw

0111 - 756 - 631 or 0111 - 756 - 364

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