Cognita Group Of Schools

When was the Cognita group of schools founded? 

Cognita was launched in 2004 by His Majesty the King’s former Chief Inspector of Schools.

What is your Mission?

To enable our children to thrive in a rapidly evolving world.

Where are the various schools located? 

Cognita owns and operates, 29 private day schools across 40 UK sites, in London and other parts of England and Wales.

What age range are your students? 

Our students range in age from 1 to 18 years old.

Can you share the admission process? 

Once families apply to the schools and pay the registration fee, the school will usually arrange assessments for the students to take.  If the family is outside the UK at the point of application, this can be done remotely, at their current school, an agent’s office, or in exceptional circumstances, at home. The final step is an online interview with the headteacher.

Do the schools offer exchange programs within the group of schools?

Yes, we regularly welcome visiting groups of students from Cognita schools in other countries to the UK.

Share your philosophy on education and global citizenship

There are three main pillars to a Cognita education – academic excellence, character development, and global perspectives. Our global family provides a platform for the continual exchange of ideas and inspiration, creating a vibrant culture of limitless possibility for our students and educators. We are developing new ways all the time to connect the people within our global community in order to deepen learning and build a global perspective for everyone. The global diversity at the heart of Cognita fuels our innovation. We take our best and share it, so we all can improve.

What type of extracurricular activities are offered?

A wide range of co and extracurricular activities are offered across our schools, though this will vary from school to school. Typically, they cover sports, music, creative and performing arts, business, languages, coding, and a school newspaper.

What are the university destinations of your students?  

Cognita students have progressed to over half the world’s top 100 universities. In the UK, this includes Oxbridge colleges and other Russell Group institutions, as well as Ivy League institutions in the US.

What co and extracurricular activities do you offer?

A wide range of co and extracurricular activities are offered across our schools, though this will vary from school to school. Typically, they cover sports, music, creative and performing arts, business, languages, coding, and a school newspaper.

How do you support student well-being? 

Our Director of well-being sits on the Group Executive and is in charge of the welfare and pastoral care of all students at Cognita schools. Our Be Well Charter is at the foundation of a Cognita education and is integral to our overall mission to enable our children to thrive in a rapidly evolving world. Cognita is focused on:

• Embedding a culture of well-being that is living and breathing in our schools through a number of Be Well initiatives
• Tracking and evaluating well-being across all our schools
• Ensuring the availability of high-quality resources and guidance for all our schools

Tell us about the UK immigration service you offer for students and their parents.

The Cognita international team in the UK includes a UK Visas & Immigration Compliance Manager, who works with eligible international families and their representatives to prepare them to make successful visa applications. Cognita Schools Ltd holds a license to sponsor international students on the Child Student and Student visa routes and can support one parent in each family on a Parent of a Child Student visa.

What is the benefit of the Parent Visa?

The Parent of a Child Student visa allows parents with children aged 4 – 11 years who hold offers to study at Cognita UK schools to accompany their children to the UK and live with them while they attend our schools. Only one parent per family can apply for this immigration route and the parent’s visa ends when the youngest enrolled child turns 12 years. In addition, parents on this immigration route are not allowed to study or take paid work in the UK.

How does the application process work? 

Once families apply to our schools and pay the registration fee, the school will typically arrange assessments for the students to take. If the family is outside the UK at the point of application, this can be done remotely, at their current school, an agent’s office, or in exceptional circumstances, at home. The final step is an online interview with the headteacher.

Does a family select which school in the group of schools to apply to?

Sometimes a family has a specific Cognita school in mind and applies it directly. Other times, they need some guidance from the International team to help identify the best-fit school for their family profile and circumstances. For example, the parents may want a school with a successful football team, an active music department, or a great Economics teacher. It’s always the International team’s pleasure to assist in these matters.

How diverse are your school communities in the UK?

Our schools are diverse communities, although the dominant nationality at all schools is British. We have over 1,200 international students from over 80 countries studying with us across the 29 UK schools, including 25 from West Africa. Our schools in London are the most diverse, Southbank International School in particular.

Do the schools offer Day or Boarding? 

All 29 Cognita UK schools are private day schools. We can place older children who are coming without their parents with suitable homestay families and can recommend guardianship agencies to support this. When placed with a homestay family, children get a home-away-from-home (e.g., homecooked meals and their own private bedroom) and acquire cultural knowledge from spending their evenings and weekends with British families, which can be advantageous when applying to selective universities.

What is the admission process? Is there a deadline? 

All Cognita schools operate a rolling admissions process. However, places at some schools can be particularly competitive. We recommend making early applications to Brighton College Prep Kensington, North Bridge House in London, Southbank International School in London, and Downsend School in Surrey in particular.

Do you offer scholarships?

Individual Cognita schools offer their own scholarships, rather than anything being offered at the Cognita level.

How do we contact you for more information or to schedule a visit to the school?  

Families are welcome to contact Neil Herrington, Head of International Student Recruitment Cognita via email [email protected]  or call +44 (0)7825 385967

Anything else you would like to share? 

Cognita recognizes the high academic standing in which Nigerian students are held,  and is eager to welcome more Nigerian students to our schools. 

They expect the Parent of a Child Student visa route to present an attractive alternative to boarding for many Nigerian families, allowing them to access a first-class Cognita education and stay together as a family.

Cognita owns and operates schools in many UK university cities, and is well placed to support children to find places at the schools as dependents students of their Parent’s Student visas. Given the high number of Nigerian students enrolling in postgraduate programs at UK universities every year

For more information about Cognita Group of Schools, kindly visit cognita.com

You can also reach out to Neil Herrington, Head of International Student Recruitment Cognita via email [email protected]  or call +44 (0)7825 385967