Admissions
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Admission Criteria
Decision Process
A decision is made on the basis of the circumstances of each case.
The process is as follows:
Stage 1 – request
Parents make a formal request to the Local Authority School Organisation Team in writing with any supporting evidence they wish to be considered.
- A request for early entry into Year 7 should be made before 31 October in the previous academic year in order to give sufficient time for the case to be considered prior to the offer of school places on 1 March.
- A request for delayed entry to reception class should be made at the same time as applying for a place for normal entry (i.e. by the closing date of 15 January) in order to give sufficient time for the case to be considered prior to the offer of school places on 16 April.
- A request for in year admission outside of the normal age group should be made on the normal in year transfer form.
We do not accept requests for early entry to reception class for children who will not be of statutory school age.
Stage 2 – decision
Requests for voluntary-aided, foundation and academy schools will be referred to the school to be considered.
Requests for community and voluntary controlled schools will be considered by the local authority. We will look at the following factors but these are not exhaustive:
- Parent’s views
- The needs of the child and the possible impact on them of being educated out of year group
- The child’s medical history and views of medical professionals if appropriate
- In the case of children born prematurely the fact that they may have naturally fallen into the lower age group if they had been born on their expected date of birth
- Whether delayed academic, social, emotional or physical development is adversely affecting their readiness for school;
- Any other information which the parent requests the local authority to consider.
Stage 3 – outcome
Parents are notified of the decision in writing by the School Organisation Team.
Request agreed:
If the request is agreed the application will be considered for the year group requested and ranked alongside any other applications. There is no guarantee that a place will be offered at the preferred school. Parents have a statutory right to appeal against the refusal of a place at a school for which they have applied. This right does not apply if they are offered a place at the school but it is not in their preferred age group.
Where a child has been educated out of their normal age group, the parent may again request admission out of the normal age group when they transfer to secondary school. It will be for the admission authority of that school to decide whether to admit the child out of their normal age group.
Request refused:
There is no statutory right of appeal against the refusal of a request for admission outside the normal age group. However, if the parents are dissatisfied they have the right to complain through the Council’s complaints procedure for decisions made by the local authority or under the school’s complaints procedure where the decision has been made by the school.