Frequent Parent Questions

When reviewing applications, we look for candidates:

• Who are motivated/determined.
• Whose academic performance is average to excellence.
• Whose conduct is good overall, and who are respectful of and to others.
• Who are, and whose parents are, committed to the ISP vision, mission and philosophy.
• Who are internationally-minded.
• Who would benefit from the IB curriculum.

Some grades have additional entry requirements, as follows:

• Applicants for Early Years classes (Nursery, Pre-K and Kindergarten) must be the age required as of the cut-off date of the 1st September.
• Applicants to Nursery must be fully toilet trained before the first day of school. They must also be able to feed and dress themselves reasonably independently.
• Students in Grade 11 and 12 at ISP study the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme; a challenging and enriching curriculum that requires an advanced level of academic English. It is our recommendation that applicants to Grade 11 and 12 demonstrate a B2 English level or higher in order to access the IBDP confidently. Non-native English speaking applicants, or those who have not attended an international English speaking school, must provide documented evidence of B1 English level, with at least B1 achievement for all test sections (speaking, reading, writing and listening) as part of their application in order to be considered. We recommend international English assessments such as Cambridge B2 First for Schools, TOEFL, IELTS etc.
• Successful applicants to Grade 10 who are not yet comfortable with academic English may be required to have private tuition in English outside of school as a condition of their acceptance. They will need to attain the required level of English by the end of the year in order to be considered for promotion to Grade 11.

At peak admissions times, several candidates may be applying for the same spot, and in such cases we inevitably need to make a selection. To help us do this, in addition to the criteria above, we may take into account the following factors:

• Siblings already attending, accepted in or applying to the school.
• The existing gender balance of the class.
• The existing language balance of the class.
• Background/experience in an IB programme.

ISP has supplementary learning support services which can be offered to students identified as needing extra help in order to succeed academically at the school.

These services are designed to benefit students who are of average academic ability overall, but who have mild weaknesses in one or two specific core skills (typically reading, writing or mathematics).

The services fall into three categories, or levels:

Many of the ISP students currently receiving additional learning support will have had a recent psycho-educational evaluation performed by an external specialist. This is a very useful tool which enables the learning support team to focus remediation accurately.

If you feel your child might benefit from this type of service and you already have a psycho-educational evaluation report available, please provide a copy of this as part of your application. If you do not currently have such a document, the Admissions Committee may ask you to obtain one before confirming its decision.

Please note that ISP’s learning support services are in high demand and availability is limited. The services are designed to support students with mild weaknesses in certain key skill areas and cannot address more generalised or significant learning difficulties.

We place students into the appropriate grade based on their age on the 1st September of their year of entry, in line with the parameters outlined in our Grade Placement chart, accessible here:

ISP Grade Placement Information

Students in Nursery - Grade 5 attend our Primary School campus (rue du Ranelagh), students in Grades 6 - 9 attend our Middle School Campus (rue Cortambert) and students in Grades 10 - 12 attend our High School campus (rue Beethoven).

When it appears that it could be beneficial for the student, they might be placed in a lower grade than requested, after discussion with the family.

Students are only placed in a higher grade than their age group in exceptional cases, when the cut-off date may be extended to the 31st December. Factors to be considered for such a placement might include:

• The cut-off date in the child’s country of origin.
• The child’s successful completion of the equivalent grade elsewhere.
• A transcript or report cards from the previous year demonstrating exceptional academic performance and social skill.

Please note that no exceptions are granted to Early Years students (Nursery, Pre-K and Kindergarten) based on age or prior school experience.

The final decision on grade placement will be taken by the school based on all the information gathered through the application process.

ISP is home to a dynamic international community and families do come and go throughout the school year, mainly for professional reasons, so mid-year departures are relatively common.

When a space becomes available in the grade concerned, we revisit all the applications on the waiting list, and apply our criteria for admissions once more in order to be able to offer the place to the most suitable candidate.

If you have been offered a place in the waiting pool and places at the school remain unavailable for the school year you originally applied for, you may choose to defer your application to the following year at no extra cost.

In this case, we would simply need to receive up-to-date and satisfactory school reports and Confidential Recommendation Forms during the intervening year in order to revalidate the application.

For additional information, please do not hesitate to take a look at our Frequent Parent Questions, specifically Stage 4: Committee Decision.

In some cases, additional follow-up may be necessary in order for us to be able to make a decision on an application, and this can sometimes slightly lengthen the application process. Examples of this might include:

When the most appropriate grade placement for the applicant is unclear. You can find information about our grade placement policy in our Admissions Policy.

When the applicant has specific needs and we need to consult with specialist colleagues.

When there are technical aspects of the application which require further discussion. For example, this might occur when we are considering an application from a student wishing to transfer to ISP part-way through the IB Diploma programme.

When an interview with the applicant has been requested. If the Admissions Committee does not feel that it has enough information in the candidate’s file to make a decision, we may require the applicant to come to ISP for an on-campus interview as part of the application process.

We will remain in close contact with you throughout the transition and additional information will be sent electronically over the period between May and August. For an overview of the types of information that you will receive throughout this transition period, please see below: