Dulwich College Suzhou

1. Initial enquiry and online application. Start by using the Apply / Enquire links on the College website (the school uses an online application portal) or contact the Admissions office by email or phone to request next steps; once you complete the online application an admissions officer will contact you to guide the rest of the process. Parents should save the confirmation and note any application deadlines — the school explicitly directs applicants to the online portal for the first step.

2. Check eligibility and prepare documents. Dulwich College Suzhou requires that students hold a foreign passport and that at least one parent also holds a foreign passport, and both parent and child must have a valid residence visa — if you are unsure about eligibility you should confirm with Admissions before submitting documents. Be prepared to provide passports, valid residence visa paperwork, birth certificate, and previous school reports; the site also refers to an age-placement guide (children should meet the age requirement before 1 September of the year of application). Parents should gather translated/attested copies in advance to avoid delays.

3. Assessments and onsite observation. Entry assessments vary by age: Foundation Stage (DUCKS) applicants are typically observed in a class or asked to attend an onsite observation; Years 3–6 and Years 7–11 take the Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT) and an English-as-an-Additional-Language (EAL) assessment where required. The Admissions Office arranges assessment times and you should allow at least half a day for the CAT-based assessments; bring recent school reports and any assessment accommodations your child requires. Note that Nursery/Reception applicants may be offered provisional places if they cannot be assessed in person at the time of application.

4. Senior school interviews and Year 12/13 entry. Candidates for Years 12 and 13 will be interviewed by the Head of IB or Senior Studies and that recommendation informs the final admission decision; Senior School candidates also have CAT and written English assessments reviewed by the Senior School EAL lead. If your child is applying for the IB years, expect subject-level discussion about prior qualifications and intended university pathways during the interview. Parents should bring transcripts, predicted grades (if available), and any university guidance materials they want considered.

5. Arrangements for overseas or remote applicants. The College can administer entrance assessments remotely for families who are not able to visit Suzhou; contact the Admissions team to arrange a remote assessment and clarify timing, time zones and required supervision. Make sure you understand the remote testing platform, what ID is required for the session, and whether a proctor (parent or school) must be present. The site gives a specific admissions contact for remote arrangements — use that contact to avoid delays.

6. Learning support and language considerations. The College enrolls students only when it is confident it can meet their learning needs; you must provide all previous reports and assessments so the admissions review team can make an informed decision. If your child requires learning support, expect follow-up assessments and consultation with the school's learning-support staff before a final offer is made. For non-native English speakers the school may require additional EAL assessment to determine whether language support is needed and available.

7. Offer, starting place and practical costs to expect. If a place is offered you will be sent offer/acceptance instructions; the Suzhou admissions pages make clear that tuition may be paid annually or by term and that fees do not include certain items (school lunches, bus service, uniforms, trips and private lessons), so plan for those additional costs. The College issues a detailed statement of account monthly and notes a 5% sibling discount for families with three or more children in full‑day programmes; confirm payment deadlines and preferred payment methods with Finance to avoid late penalties. Because detailed fee amounts are not presented on the public admissions overview, ask Admissions for the current fee schedule and the school's refund/withdrawal policy before accepting.

8. Acceptance timing, waiting and start-date logistics. If no place is available for the requested term your child's application will be transferred to the waiting list for the next term or moved to the appropriate year level for the following academic year; waiting‑list positions are not disclosed and the school advises early application. Confirm the expected start date (term start dates are published in the College calendar) and any orientation or induction events, and check what documents you must bring on the first day (ID, medical forms, uniforms). Be aware that school bus routes, lunch accounts and uniform ordering can take time — arrange these as early as possible after you accept a place.

Dulwich College Suzhou operates waiting lists. Placement on a waiting list is determined by the date the application and (where applicable) any required application fee are received; the school sets a clear priority order: (1) children of full‑time faculty, (2) qualified siblings of current students who have completed the application process, and (3) children transferring from another Dulwich College International school. If an applicant does not obtain a place for the term applied for, their name is automatically transferred to the waiting list for the following term, and at the end of the academic year applicants are moved forward into the appropriate year level for the next academic year. The College does not disclose individual waiting‑list positions to parents, so the admissions team's guidance is to apply early and to keep contact details up to date so you receive any offer promptly.

The public admissions information for Dulwich College Suzhou does not advertise internal tuition scholarships or means‑tested bursaries on its admissions overview; the site instead highlights that graduates have earned significant university scholarships at the next stage of study. Dulwich schools in other parts of the network (for example the Dulwich College UK and some other Dulwich campuses) have formal scholarship or bursary programmes and, in other campuses, specific one‑off or programmatic awards are listed on those local admissions pages — so scholarship practice varies across the Dulwich network. If you are specifically seeking fee assistance, talent (music / art /sport) scholarships, or staff/employee discounts, ask Suzhou's Admissions and Finance teams directly for the current policy and any application forms: the College's public page does not provide details of an internal scholarship scheme and recommends contacting Admissions for precise, up‑to‑date information. For context, Dulwich College (UK) and other Dulwich campuses publish separate scholarship/bursary pages describing merit and means‑tested awards, so Suzhou's local policy may be similar or different — the safest route is to request written confirmation from Suzhou Admissions.