Admissions F.A.Qs

Students who are three years old by 1 September can apply to enter our Early Childhood (EC) programme. 

Throughout Primary School, PSI accepts students with no English. However, as students move into the Secondary School, PSI may be more selective about placing students who have no or limited English. 

Student class placement is determined by the principal and includes the age of the student and their educational grade level history, previous school reports, and results of admissions or other testing. (Some students may need to undergo additional educational testing to determine their English language skills and grade placement.) The chart below may help you understand how grade level placement works. 

 

Admission and continued enrolment at PSI are determined by the Primary and Secondary principals and the director based on the following criteria:

1. The capacity of the school to meet the educational needs of the applicant

2. The potential of the applicant to benefit from the educational services available (including English language proficiency)

3. The effect on the class as a whole of each enrolment

4. Appropriate fit between the School and the applicant’s profile

5. The fulfilment of school financial requirements

6. Successful completion of all enrolment paperwork

The School may require a meeting and / or assessment before enrolment for the following applicants:

1. New students joining EC3, EC4 or Kindergarten 

2. Students at any grade level who may have a learning or social / emotional need (whether diagnosed or undiagnosed) and / or those who will require English Language support. In these cases, a meeting and additional testing may be required.

3. Students at any grade level whose application materials raise questions or concerns that require clarification

In all other cases, principals like to meet with parents and students as part of the admissions process, but PSI will consider applications from overseas without that step. 

The guidelines below are not in order or priority. Depending on the current grade level cohort, priorities will be applied in order to maintain grade level balance.

Documentation

• Completed application documents and and payment of the application fee

• PSI Admissions testing / Play evaluation and / or classroom visit  

Nationality

PSI defines nationality using all of the metrics listed below

• Nationality (by passport/s and birth certificate)

• Country of residence

• Family's first language spoken at home / other languages spoken at home

• Schooling experience (the country / the language of instruction / the length of time spent there)

Family

• Student and Family interview meetings 

• Student / family profile (matching the PSI philosophy and our guiding statements)

• Students who have previously attended PSI

Please go to the Apply Now section of this website. APPLICATIONS ARE NOT CONSIDERED COMPLETE UNTIL THE SCHOOL HAS RECEIVED ALL OF THE  DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED. Application Checklist. 

PSI has ongoing enrolment, which means that students may apply throughout the year. However, it is subject to space availability and academic competence of the applicant. 

If a class reaches capacity, parents are asked if they would like their child to remain in the waiting pool. As openings occur, the School reviews all applicants in order to ensure the best overall fit for that grade level. Only candidates who have completed all parts of the application process, including submitting the necessary documentation and the most recent school reports, can be considered for admissions. 

You do not need to reapply or contact the school. The school registrar will contact you in case of considering your application. In this case, please make sure you have the most updated documentation. Your application remains in the system for 3 years.

Whenever it is not possible to accommodate all qualified applicants, the following enrolment priorities will apply:

1. Currently enrolled students in good standing who have  confirmed that they are returning by 1 May to guarantee their priority enrolment.

2. Completed registration for new students in good standing of foreign embassy staff and international students

3. Siblings of returning students in good standing who have completed all registration requirements 

4. Registration for other students (and those on the waiting pool) with priority based on academic competence and English proficiency

Applications are not considered complete until the school has received all of the documentation required.

Once all documentation, testing and review are complete, the PSI Admissions Office will contact parents with one of three responses:

1. Accepted. Parents are informed of acceptance and starting date. They are directed to the Schools’ online database to complete the enrolment process. 
2. Probationary acceptance. The School will outline the terms of the probation, including the length of time and the goals that must be met. 
3. Not accepted. PSI maintains a waiting pool for families who remain interested in the School. Please note:  PSI does not provide feedback regarding the reasons for non-acceptance. 

Please note:  PSI does not provide feedback regarding the reasons for non-acceptance. 

Once accepted, new families will be asked to sign the online Enrolment Contract in order to confirm their registration.

Admission to EC3 - Kindergarten

Students and parents already in Kyiv are invited to PSI for a morning or afternoon event. During this time, the following takes place:

• The School establishes a ‘play date’ each spring. The registrar contacts families after 15 April. 

• Children are placed in an EC or KG classroom and are observed by our PSI Early Childhood programme teachers and teaching assistants, counsellor, learning support specialist, and principal. Parents are not permitted into the classrooms while the students are there. They may wait in the cafeteria, cafe or reception area.

• A behavioural checklist assists in determining the developmental level of the child.

• Parents fill out a questionnaire about their child and their own views of education. 

• Kindergarten only: Recognition of letters and numbers are observed.

Students who turn 3 on or before 1 September are eligible to enrol. In such cases, the school reserves the right to review the child’s progress for an 8-week probationary period to monitor the child’s adjustment to our programme. If the child remains in the EC3 programme, s/he may repeat a further academic year in EC3. The school’s decision is final in determining the child’s placement in subsequent years.

Admission to Primary Years Programme (Grade 1 - Grade 5; ages 6 - 10)

The Primary School Admissions Committee (consisting of the Primary principal, counsellor, learning support teacher and / or the English as an Additional Language teacher) make decisions based on the outcomes of the English proficiency test and observation.

• Based on our capacity to support English language learners, non-native English speakers  may be asked to take a proficiency test to determine their level in reading, writing, speaking and listening. 

• A mathematics test in English may be administered to the applicant (Grades 1-5) on campus.  

• Applicants who may already be in Kyiv and are transitioning schools mid-year spend a minimum of a half day in a homeroom of their current grade level. The homeroom teacher, counsellor, learning support teacher, and principal observe the applicant to assess the school’s capacity to ensure the child’s success in the programme.

• The principal meets with parents.

Admission to Middle Years Programme (Grades 6 - 10; ages 11 - 16)

Students applying for admission to Grades 6 - 12 must take enrolment tests in English and mathematics as well as completing a short writing task to assess English language skills in order to determine the school’s capacity to meet the child’s needs.

Students entering Grades 10, 11 or 12 are expected to be able to meet graduation requirements.

PSI offers a rigorous college preparatory curriculum to all students in Grades 9 through 12. Students applying for admission in Grades 10 - 12 must have sufficient credits for graduation from their previous school(s), based on the PSI requirements, which are as follows.
Required Subjects - Credits

Language & Literature (1st language) - 4

Mathematics  - 3

Humanities - 3

Science - 3

Language Acquisition (additional Language) - 2

Fine Arts - 1

Information Technology - 1

Physical Education - 1

Electives - 7

Total - 25 credits

Students must also complete 2 years of Community and Service in Grades 9 and 10 and 2 years of Creativity, Action and Service (CAS) in Grades 11 and 12.

Students transferring from other schools to PSI between Grade 9 and Grade 12 must submit previous academic school records.  The Secondary principal determines which courses can be awarded credit equivalence. On the recommendation of the Secondary principal, the director may waive a credit requirement. 

Admission to Diploma Programme / High School Graduation Track (Grades 11 and 12; ages 16 - 19)

The IB Diploma Programme / High School School Graduation Track  is a two-year course for students aged 16 - 19. Students must schedule an interview with the DP coordinator to discuss the appropriateness of the programme with regard to university and career goals, as well as the evaluation of their application documents. 

The IB Diploma coordinator will recommend one of the following to the principal:

Full admission to Grade 11 on one of the following paths to graduation

• The full IB Diploma Programme

• The IB Certificate Programme, with the student completing DP course work in selected courses only

• PSI High School Graduation Programme, with the student taking all courses at non-DP level

Provisional Admission to Grade 11 

• Probationary status for at least eight weeks, with the possibility of continued probation

• Possibility of repeating Grade 11 if end-of-year achievement indicates that the student is not on track for graduation

Non-Acceptance

• Student is deemed unprepared for admission to the PSI programme.

Admission to Grade 12

Students applying for Grade 12 may apply for either the IB Diploma Programme (DP), DP certificates or a standard high school diploma. It is important to note that all Grade 12 courses are in the IB DP format, which means that they are designed to be the second year of a two-year programme. This means that in order to accept a student into Grade 12, PSI must ensure that we can match your child’s previous programme. Students may be asked to join Grade 11 or repeat Grade 12 if necessary. It is not unusual for the school to deny admission to Grade 12 students if their previous educational experience is not an appropriate match for our programme. 

Students seeking admission to PSI in Grade 12 must enrol no later than three weeks after the start of the first semester or be transferring from an approved high school in which the student was enrolled in an acceptable senior programme of studies. Students enrolling during their senior year must be able to meet the PSI graduation requirements for Grades 9 through 12 and be fluent in English.

Students with learning support needs will be accommodated wherever possible. However, the School recognises that there are instances where a child may have needs, (academic, physical, social / emotional or behavioural) that may require services or resources beyond the school’s ability to provide a meaningful programme for that student. Therefore, it is the School’s sole discretion to accept or re-admit students outside the normal range of ability and progress who might either require specialist teaching the School cannot provide, or need a disproportionate amount of the teacher’s time.

As a result, applicants with identified learning needs are reviewed separately by our Learning Support team and the appropriate principal. The School may request additional testing or other data before making a final decision. Failure to inform the School about already identified needs may result in the student being exited from PSI.