Mandarin

Applications Open: - Friday 28th November 2025

Applications Close: - Friday 6 February 2026 - Please note - If you do not complete your application fully by the deadline of Friday 6 February 2026, we may not be able to consider it until August when GCSE results are published.

How to Apply:

Internal students - Applications to join our Sixth Form, via Applicaa, can be made via this link Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend (applicaa.com). PLEASE NOTE that you should use an e-mail address that you check regularly as the Applicca system will contact you with updates about your application.

External students - Year 11 Students from other schools applying to Mayfield Grammar School should apply via KentChoices using this link - https://www.kentprospectus.co.uk/login. Please note - After sending your application, you'll receive a welcome email from Applicaa asking for further information.

If you applied to us before the deadline but have not heard from us for a while please bear with us, we are working through the applications and will get back to you with our decision and advice as soon as we can. We will continue to send messages via Applicaa so please logon from time to time to check if we need some additional information from you

Applications After the deadline

Students who are interested in applying to Mayfield Grammar School for Sixth Form but have missed our application process can contact us once they have their GCSE results in August. After the publication of GCSE examinations results in August we ask that you make an appointment to discuss your application with the Sixth Form team. You need to call 01474 352896 or email admissions@mgsg.kent.sch.uk. Please check you have met our entry criteria for the subjects you want to study and read our Options Booklet under the Sixth Form tab on our website for our general entry criteria. If you meet our criteria, please get in touch, and bring your original documents for GCSE Results Summary and Birth Certificate as ID when you are offered an appointment.

Entry Requirements: -

Entry to the Sixth Form is dependent on demonstrating achievements which show general breadth of ability as well as depth in the specific courses chosen for study in the Sixth Form. For this reason you will need to have achieved all the following:

1. A minimum of 6 GCSEs at Grade 5 and above, preferably on the higher papers, in discrete subjects, with the exception of Combined Science, which counts as two subjects.

2. Grade 5 or above in GCSE English and GCSE Mathematics.

3. To have met the requirements of the individual subjects that you intend to study at A Level/Level 3, which are all, with the exception of Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Further Mathematics and Languages, a minimum of Grade 6 at GCSE on the Higher papers. This is essential.

Essential skills

You will enhance your linguistic skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing and translation), and increase your knowledge, understanding, and capacity for thoughtful discussion of a range of social, political, cultural and historical topics relating to the countries where the language is spoken (see the list of topics below). Learners will develop the ability to communicate in the target language through the study of language, themes and texts. In doing so, they also develop conceptual understandings of how language works. Communication is evidenced through receptive, productive and interactive skills across a range of contexts and purposes that are appropriate to the level of the course. Students will benefit from working in small groups, so will have plenty of opportunities to practise and receive high quality personalised feedback.

Year 1

Study of the following themes:

Identities

Experiences

Human Ingenuity

Social organisation

Year 2

Social organisation

Sharing the planet

We are one of a select number of schools in the country that offers the IB Diploma in Mandarin which is an exciting and rewarding opportunity to reach fluency in the language. The course is worth approximately half the credits of a full A Level and is studied across two years, making it an excellent means of improving students’ Mandarin alongside three A Level subjects. An IB Diploma in Mandarin will help applications to Oxbridge and Russell Group universities stand out from the crowd.

For those who have not completed a GCSE in Mandarin, there is still the opportunity to undertake an enrichment course and HSK 1 & HSK 2 qualifications.

For those who have completed a GCSE in Mandarin and do not wish to take IB Standard Level in the subject, but would like to continue their Mandarin studies, we offer the opportunity to study for the HSK 4 qualification as part of the Sixth Form Enrichment Programme.

Minimum recommended entry requirements:

Grade 7 in GCSE Mandarin

University requirements

Typical offers:

Chinese Studies: Oxbridge – A*AA-AAA Leeds – AAB-AAA SOAS - ABB

Modern Languages: Oxbridge – AAA Exeter – AAB – ABB Kent – BBB

International Business Management (with a language): Bath – AAB Royal Holloway – ABB-BBB

It is possible to combine a wide range of subjects with a language at university level as a Joint Honours degree, Combined Studies or Liberal Arts programme:

Links to Further Education

French, Spanish or German Studies; International Business/Marketing/Management with a language; Politics and International Relations with a language; Joint honours degree that includes a European language and an eastern/world language such as Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Russian; Languages and Economics; Languages with Hotel Management, Mathematics/Science/Engineering with a language, Law and European Law

Links to Careers

Business Management; Translator; Civil Servant; Accountant; Human Resources; Events Management; Retailing; Marketing; Customer Services; Law; International Marketing; Health Service; Media; Transport and Logistics; Teaching; Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL post grad), Journalism and Publishing.