Academic year structure

The Academic Year is divided into three terms, Autumn, Spring and Summer. There are holiday breaks between each term.

For 2024-25:

  • Autumn Term (first term) runs from 9 September to 20 December 2024
  • Spring Term (second term) runs from 7 January to 11 April 2025
  • Summer Term (third term) runs from 28 April to 10 July 2025

All dates in this document are inclusive.

Year groups and admission to the school

The Year Group that a child would join is determined by their age on 31 August. Please refer to the table below.

Children who are rising 3
Children may enter the Nursery in the term that they celebrate their third birthday. Children who join as a rising 3 will be in the Nursery for more than one academic year. In such instances, to ensure continuity, the children remain in the same classroom for the second academic year. Children enter Reception in the academic year that they turn 5 years old. The school year runs from 1 September to 31 August.

Early Years School
Junior School
Senior School

Age on 31 August

Year group Age on 31 August Year group Age on 31 August Year group

3

Nursery 6 Year 2 11 Year 7

4

Reception 7 Year 3 12

Year 8

5

Year 1 8 Year 4 13

Year 9

9 Year 5 14

Year 10

10 Year 6 15

Year 11

16

Year 12

17

Year 13

Admission into the school

The school reserves the right to not offer a place if:

  • the child is not toilet trained (below are the requirements for what your child must be able to do)
    • Recognise when they need to go to the toilet
    • Use the toilet independently
    • Deal with their own clothing
    • Wipe themselves when finished
    • Does not need to wear nappies (diapers) or pull ups
  • it determines that the child would not benefit educationally from attending the school
  • if the learning support needs required by the child cannot be supported by the school
  • for any other reason that the school considers relevant
Registration and enrolment fee

A non-refundable registration fee of €250 is required at the start of the admissions process for each child applying to the school.

The School requires the following documents (translated to English):

  • A completed application form submitted online for each child
  • A recent photograph of your child (must show head and shoulders)
  • Birth or adoption certificate in English and notorised
  • Proof of identity for each parent or if applicable proof of sole custody  in English and notorised
  • Proof of the address where the child currently resides
  • A copy of your child’s most recent School report (translated into English with an official school stamp)
  • If applicable, Individual Education Plan, reports from any education professionals such as speech therapist or psychologist (in English).
  • A confidential reference from the child’s current school (see below).

The application is reviewed, and a reference requested from your child’s current school. For applications where The British School of Amsterdam will be a child’s first school, a ‘reference request’ will be sent to parents. In addition, we may request additional information or a meeting.

Upon offer of a place, an enrolment fee is required. This is a one-off payment that is non-refundable and amounts to €750 for Nursery and Reception and to €2,000 for Years 1 to 12. New pupils transferring from Reception to year one will then get an invoice for an additional €1,250.

Cancelling a place before joining

If a place is cancelled before a child joins the school, any school fees paid will be refunded. The enrolment fee will not be returned.

Allocation of places

When a place has been offered, the parents have three working days to email a scanned copy of the acceptance letter that needs to be signed by both parents. If, after three working days, the school has not received a signed copy of the acceptance letter, the child will be placed on a waiting list and the place offered to another family.

Siblings
The school always tries to offer all children in a family a place. Where this is not possible the cancellation and refund policy below applies per child.

Expectations for the child’s living arrangements

We occasionally receive requests from parents for their child to join The BSA whilst the parents are living outside of the Netherlands. The British School of Amsterdam does not enrol any pupils who will be living alone in the Netherlands. If circumstances change when a pupil is in school, parents/guardians must inform the school. If parents appoint guardians to act in place of parents for their time in school, the guardians must be at least 25 years old. The school needs to be certain that home arrangements are conducive to the pupils’ wellbeing and academic progress. Before finalising such an arrangement, full details of two guardians must be shared with the school.

Responsibility of payment of school fees

Irrespective of whether the invoice is sent to a family or company, it remains the responsibility of those signing the acceptance letter to ensure that school fees are paid in a timely manner.

Leaving the school

A term’s notice is required for leaving the school.

Attendance is required for all or part of the term during which a child leaves. The deposit and school fee for subsequent terms can only be refunded if all of the following conditions are met:

  • The online notification of leaving form was submitted on time
  • All fees are paid
  • All extra costs are paid
  • All invoiced amounts for siblings are paid

Please note: refunds will be made to the bank account from which we received the original payment.

The school aims to pay refunds within 30 days of the end of the term in which a child leaves the School. If notice is received late, the School will charge fees for the following term. The deposit (if applicable) will either be refunded once the fees have been paid or retained to part cover any outstanding fees.

Notification of leaving dates 2024-25:

  • For a child leaving during or at the end of the Autumn Term 2024, notification should be received by Friday 13 September 2024.
  • For a child leaving during or at the end of the Spring Term 2025, notification should be received by Friday 10 January 2025.
  • For a child leaving during or at the end of the Summer Term 2025 (and so not returning for the new academic year), notification should be received by Monday 24 March 2025.
Right to amend the Conditions of Enrolment

The school has the right to vary the Conditions of Enrolment under offer which children shall be admitted and educated in the school. Any change will be communicated to parents via email and amended on the website.