We are thrilled that you are considering IS Manila for your child’s education. Our School is a community of learners. We take pride in our High School graduates who matriculate in top universities worldwide but we firmly believe in building a strong foundation of life-long learning even for our youngest students.
Our goal is to make the best educational decisions for your child upon enrollment. Our Educational Team will review each candidate’s Application File. We encourage you to submit your child’s previous and current (to date) academic information alongside the required teacher recommendations. If your child is eligible for our Learning Support (LS) services, please submit all relevant reports associated with your child's current support and needs. IS Manila offers a very robust program.
We look forward to assisting your family and welcoming you to the IS Manila community.
Sarah Houston
Director of Admissions
Admissions Steps
1. Review Admissions Guidelines
IS Manila will admit children provided there is space available in the grade/program and:
- they are able to demonstrate the ability to benefit from IS Manila’s academic program, as determined by interviews, tests and past records.
- they have no unresolved disciplinary or emotional problems in their previous schools.
- they reside with their parent(s) in the Philippines. Any exception must be approved by the School prior to commencing the admission process.
Other Guidelines
The age cut-off date is September 1st as per our Age Placement Policy. High School students should graduate no later than the age of 20.
Students who complete a particular grade level after the start of the IS Manila first semester will be placed in that same grade level for the remainder of the school year.
Students who are admitted after the middle of a given quarter may not receive grades for that semester. In the High School, 80% attendance is required for credit purposes. Attendance at a previous school can be applied towards the 80% attendance rule.
It is the School’s prerogative to accept or reject any application.
Transfer Guidelines
New students may be admitted to IS Manila and enrolled at any time during the school year if a space in the child’s grade/program is available and all admission requirements have been met. Realistically however, it is best to enroll within the first 15 days of the semester but definitely not in the last month of the semester. This is especially true for High School students who need to have credits earned for graduation each semester. Students should be in attendance, at minimum, 80% of the academic calendar to receive credit.
Unless transferring from a very similar academic program, High School students should only plan on entering at the beginning of a semester. The first semester at ISM generally starts in the first or second week in August and ends mid-December; the second semester begins in the second week in January and ends in the first week in June.
In addition to the academic records/official transcripts of previous school years (click here for a sample) submitted along with the application and teacher recommendations, it is very important that transferring students also bring an official transfer document from their current school which, minimally, indicates the following information:
- Name of the school and administrative contact information
- The student’s name and date of birth
- The current grade or level of the student
- Dates of entry and withdrawal from the current school
- The current courses or subjects being taken
- The grades-to-date at the time of the withdrawal and/or comments regarding progress to-date
- A clear explanation of the grading or marking system used by the school and the lowest acceptable passing mark or grade
2. PowerSchool Registration
Once you have created an account, you may begin to complete the Online Application. Please be aware that you will be required to upload documents such as your child’s passport, parent passports, previous and current academic records and if applicable, any learning support documentation.
Please note once you submit, you will not be able to upload these documents, which may delay review of your application.
Once you have submitted the Online Application, you will receive a confirmation email indicating that you have been successful. To apply for another child, you may start another application using your PowerSchool Registration account.
Please note that until you SUBMIT the form, you may save and return to complete it using the PowerSchool registration account login that you created.
3. Online Application Requirements
Your PowerSchool Registration account allows you to track the documents we have received. Please take the time to review the Application File Requirements per grade level.
You must complete all requirements in order for your child's Application File to be reviewed. We highly recommend that you submit your child’s previous and current Academic information along with the required recommendations. Administrative documents may be submitted as they become available.
4. Confirmation of a Seat
It is general practice that admission decisions are made after the applicant has taken the appropriate entrance test(s) on site and has interviewed personally with the relevant School Counselor. However, the School has the prerogative to make early decisions about admission. The final admission decision will be conveyed to the parents by the Admissions Office as soon as possible.
Parents should enroll their children immediately upon acceptance in order to secure their places. Once a place is offered, the student must be enrolled at that time and the tuition paid in order to hold the place for immediate or later entry.
5. Enrollment Process
Once a candidate has completed Steps 1-4 and is formally accepted, the student must complete the Enrollment Process. Enrollment requires clearance signatures on the Enrollment Clearance Form from the Admissions Office, the Cashier’s Office and the Health Clinic.
The following steps are part of the Enrollment Process
- Submission of the Student Health Card and Physical Examination Record directly to the School Health Clinic to obtain a clearance signature on the Enrollment Clearance Form. It is recommended that every family read the Health Clinic Clearance Procedure and obtain all of the necessary forms applicable to the child.
- Payment of Tuition and all other school-related fees. Payments are made directly to the Cashier’s Office. A clearance signature on the Enrollment Clearance Form is required.
- Submission of the signed Parent and School Shared Agreement form to the Admissions Office. A signature on your Enrollment Clearance Form is also required from the Admissions Office.
- Purchase school uniforms at the Uniform Shop.
- School photo IDs may be obtained at the Security Office. Applications for car sticker(s) are also available at the Security Office.
- Sign up for the bus service at the Transportation Office (optional).
- Sign up for the snack and/or lunch option at the Elementary School Canteen for Kindergarten - Grade 4 students (optional).
- Submission of a signed General Proxy for the Board of Trustees Form to the Admissions Office (optional).
Other Documentation Needed
- All students entering Grades 7-12 are required to sign the ISM Drug Policy Form.
- All High School students (Grades 9-12) are required to sign the Honor Code.
Once the Enrollment Clearance Form is completed, a copy should be given to your child’s School Counselor on the first day of school. For a child going to Preschool, the Enrollment Clearance Form may be given to the Preschool teacher.
6. Testing
Tests are usually scheduled to start at 8:00 a.m. in the Admissions Office. The testing has several components including English language skills and Mathematics. For older candidates, if they have studied a foreign or modern language, they may also be tested for French, Japanese, Spanish and Mandarin.
7. Interview
All candidates and their parents are required to meet with a School Counselor. At this time parents may ask more detailed questions about the programs and curriculum. The Elementary School Counselor will make a decision about teacher placement and the Middle and High School Counselors will work out a class schedule. High School students and parents may also want to discuss the International Baccalaureate (IB) program with the IB Coordinator.
Please note: Our policy is to communicate directly with parents in regard to the confidential information of minors. Parents must submit an Authorization Letter if they choose to nominate an authorized representative. This representative must only be one individual who is based locally in the Philippines.
In line with our School's core value of sustaining and safeguarding our environment, IS Manila has moved to an online application process.
If you are not yet ready to apply but would like to inquire or book a tour, please fill out the Inquiry Form. (Please note that an inquiry or an online application does not reserve a space.)
IS Manila requires the submission of a complete Application File in order to be considered for Admission. Our academic calendar typically runs from early August to early June. IS Manila follows an Admissions Priority Policy as our primary mission is to educate expatriate students who are temporarily residing in the Philippines with their parents who have legal residence in Manila. Our Rolling Admissions Policy allows us to accept students throughout the academic calendar. Applications are accepted a maximum of nine months in advance of the school year for which a student is expected to start.
International School Manila