United Kingdom · Sevenoaks
Walthamstow Hall is a selective girls' day school in Sevenoaks for Years 3 to 13. Its senior pupils take GCSEs or IGCSEs followed by A levels, not the IB. Applications for 2027 Year 7 and Year 9 entry close on 2 October 2026.
Walthamstow Hall is an independent girls’ day school in Sevenoaks. Blackburn House covers Years 3 to 6, the Senior School covers Years 7 to 11, and the Sixth Form covers Years 12 and 13. There is no boarding.
The Junior School moved to the Senior School site in September 2025. Both now use Holly Bush Lane, Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 3UL.
Do not confuse it with Sevenoaks School. Sevenoaks School is co-educational, offers day and boarding places, and uses the IB Diploma in the Sixth Form. Walthamstow Hall is girls-only, day-only and follows an A-level route.
Years 7 to 9 follow a broad programme. The school says pupils study 21 subjects across those years. Sciences are taught separately from Year 7, and pupils add subject choices as they progress.
Most pupils continue with ten GCSE or IGCSE subjects. The current list mixes the two qualifications, so families should check the awarding route for each chosen subject.
Sixth-form students normally take three A levels, three A levels with an Extended Project Qualification, or four A levels with approval. Subject choices are not placed into fixed option blocks. Late applicants may nevertheless find that some combinations can no longer be timetabled.
Year 3 is the main Junior School entry point, although applications for Years 4 to 6 are also considered. The school says Blackburn House is accepting applications for 2026, 2027 and 2028 in every year group.
Junior applications are handled as they arrive. After a registration form and £96 non-refundable fee, including VAT, the pupil attends a taster session. The session may include a written mathematics paper and an online reading-comprehension assessment. The school also requests a report from the current school.
The school says decisions are normally posted within one week of the visit. If a year group is full, it creates a waiting list.
The application deadline is Friday 2 October 2026. The process has three parts: a current Head’s report, an interview and the ISEB Common Pre-Test. The test covers English, mathematics, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning.
Candidates may sit the ISEB test at their current school. Walthamstow Hall will hold a sitting on 11 November 2026 for pupils who cannot do so. Academic scholarship assessments are on 7 November, sport on 12 November and music on 13 November. Offers are due in mid-December.
Demand normally exceeds the number of places. Unsuccessful candidates may be placed on a waiting list, and late applicants join that list if the school is willing to assess them.
A pupil at a prep school that continues through Year 8 can apply during Year 6 and defer an offered Year 7 place until Year 9. The school requires a £1,000 deposit when the deferred place is accepted. Acceptance is due in March of Year 6.
The Year 7 scholarship does not carry forward automatically. Pupils seeking a Year 9 scholarship or award must take the relevant assessments in Year 8. The later mathematics and language checks for deferred pupils are used for setting rather than admission.
Direct Year 9 applications for September 2027 also close on 2 October 2026. Candidates choose standard or scholarship entry by 1 December. The process includes a Head’s report, an interview and either general English and mathematics papers or scholarship assessments.
The dates page now says direct candidates will be assessed on Saturday 16 January 2027. The same section still contains an obsolete sentence saying that entrance and scholarship assessments occur in “Spring Term 2026.” Families should use the dated 2027 schedule but confirm it with the Registrar.
External candidates are assessed through an interview, a Head’s report and predicted GCSE grades. The school requires at least seven GCSEs at grades 9–6, including English and mathematics. It recommends at least grade 7 in each intended A-level subject.
Two current pages give different scholarship deadlines. The Sixth Form admissions page says registration closes on 2 October 2026. The key-dates page says scholarship applications close on 11 October 2026. A scholarship applicant should work to the earlier date unless the Registrar confirms otherwise in writing.
Non-scholarship applications can be considered throughout the year, subject to places and workable subject choices. A late application should not be treated as guaranteed availability.
Admission remains selective. If candidates are otherwise equal, the published priorities are a daughter of a missionary, a pupil with a sister already at the school, and then proximity to the school. The Sixth Form page also says the school may consider whether Walthamstow Hall is the family’s first choice.
The school says it supports mild and moderate learning differences within the resources it can reasonably provide. Classroom adjustments are the first response. Additional provision may include individual specialist lessons, small-group support, study skills, literacy, numeracy or social-skills work.
Parents should disclose needs and discuss adjustments with the Registrar well before applying. Access arrangements for entrance assessments require supporting evidence, such as an educational psychologist’s report. A family should ask the school to confirm the proposed provision and cost before accepting a place.
Individual learning-support or English-as-a-foreign-language coaching costs £281 per term for ten lessons in 2026–27. The SEND policy also says that financial cost, practicality, effectiveness and health and safety can affect what the school considers reasonable.
The school publishes these termly tuition figures from September 2026:
| Section | Fee per term | Three-term calculation |
|---|---|---|
| Junior, Years 3–6 | £7,600 | £22,800 |
| Senior and Sixth Form | £10,365 | £31,095 |
Junior tuition includes lunch. Senior lunch is separate at £406 per term, or £1,218 for three terms. The school labels £10,365 as the “total cost per term,” after the introduction of VAT on private-school fees.
The Senior registration fee is £180 and non-refundable. Second daughters receive a 5% tuition discount. Third and later daughters receive 10%.
Other current Senior charges include:
| Service | Published charge |
|---|---|
| Individual music, speech and drama, or musical theatre | £303 per term for ten lessons |
| Breakfast | £7 per day |
| Late Study with tea | £5.25 per day |
| Minibus single journey on main routes | £4.65 |
| Sevenoaks station return service | £88 per term |
Paid clubs and music or theatre tuition are subject to 20% VAT. Minibus prices differ by route. Families should request a complete quotation for the services they expect to use.
The publicly linked acceptance form still gives deposit amounts for an autumn 2025 start. Those figures should not be used as a current quotation. Ask for the 2026 or 2027 acceptance form before paying.
The published terms describe two parts: an acceptance deposit and a £500 long-term deposit. The acceptance deposit is normally non-refundable. A limited refund may be possible if the school fills the exact vacancy, after deducting administration costs. The long-term deposit is normally credited to the final account when the pupil leaves.
Withdrawal requires a full term’s written notice. Without it, the school can charge a term’s fees in lieu and apply the deposit towards that liability. This rule can also apply when a pupil withdraws before starting. The terms provide a separate exception when a Sixth Form entrant misses the grades in a conditional offer.
Means-tested Senior School bursaries are available for entry to any year group. Awards are discretionary, depend on both income and assets, and are reviewed annually. The school says support can reach 100%; a Founder’s bursary recipient pays a nominal £50 per term.
A new applicant must submit the bursary form and evidence no later than the entrance-examination date. The pupil must still meet the school’s academic admission standard. Funds are limited, so eligibility does not guarantee an award.
The school also states that daughters of missionaries working in a foreign mission field are educated without charge. Other scholarships recognise academic, creative, music or sporting strengths. Families should distinguish an honorary award from one that actually reduces fees.
The Senior day begins at 8:35am. Booked breakfast is available from 7:30am. The normal departure time is 4:15pm, and supervised Late Study runs until 6:00pm from Monday to Thursday. Minibus users attend Late Study without its separate charge.
The school publishes routes serving places including Oxted, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells, Kings Hill, Otford and Kemsing. A place on a route is not promised by the fee table. Confirm the stop, schedule and seat before choosing a home around the service.
The November 2023 ISI inspection found that most standards were met, including the education-related standards. It found failures in safeguarding and leadership because required recruitment checks and oversight had not always been completed.
ISI returned for an unannounced progress-monitoring visit in December 2024. That report found that all standards considered during the follow-up were met. It recorded stronger recruitment checks, safeguarding processes and governor oversight.
The Sevenoaks city guide compares Walthamstow Hall with Sevenoaks School. The United Kingdom guide explains the wider independent-school context.
Official pages and documents we read. If a figure matters to your budget or your application, open the link and confirm it is still current.
Friendly orientation, not an application. Dates, fees, and programme details move. Confirm everything with the school.
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