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Please refer to the timetable for admissions for the timescales that the Admission’s team will work to when allocating places.
Over-subscription Criteria:
When the number of applications received for a preferred school is less than or equal to the number of available places, all children will be admitted assuming that the school concerned can meet the needs of all applicants. When there are more applications than places in a school, however the admission number is exceeded and the over subscription criteria will be applied to select which children are to be offered places at the school concerned. For children with a Statement of Special Educational Needs, the Authority must admit the child concerned to the school specified on their statement.
When applying the over-subscription criteria to determine who is to be awarded places, all parental preferences will be considered equally and allocated in line with the criteria below. The highest preference school, as listed on the application form, will be offered in the event that one or more preferences can be met.
When considering the remaining available places, the following criteria will be used to determine the children that are to be offered places:
Oversubscription criteria (Community and Voluntary Controlled Primary School)
Children in receipt of a Statement of special educational needs (statutory requirement for admission)
1. Looked after children or previously looked after children i.e. children that are in the care of or have previously been in the care of a local authority, will be afforded priority over those fulfilling points 2 – 7.
2. Children with exceptional medical circumstances, will be afforded priority over those fulfilling points 3 – 7 below.
3. Children residing within the catchment area for the preferred school who have relevant siblings will be afforded priority over those fulfilling points 4 -7 below.
4. Children residing outside of the catchment area for the preferred school, but with relevant siblings who will continue to be in attendance at the preferred school due to being unsuccessful in their application for a place at their catchment school will be afforded priority over those fulfilling points 5-7 below
5. Children residing inside the catchment area for the preferred school will be afforded priority over those fulfilling points 6-7 below.
6. Children residing outside of the catchment area for the preferred school, with a relevant sibling (who will be in attendance at the preferred school at time of admission) that does not meet criteria point 4 above.
7. After applying the categories above, or should the school continue to be in a position of over-subscription in any of the above categories, priority will be based on closeness to the preferred school, measured using the shortest safe walking route.
To clarify, any over-subscription in the above criteria will result in the final determination of the allocation of a place being made on distance. So for example, if there are more applications than places available after applying point 6 above, places will be allocated to those children whose home address is determined to be closer to the preferred school.
Explanatory Notes:
Priority rank 4 – This criteria would apply only in the event that a parent has been unsuccessful in obtaining a place for their child at their catchment school, and is subsequently attending an alternative school with a younger sibling eligible to attend.
Oversubscription Criteria – Community Secondary Schools:
Children in receipt of a Statement of special educational needs/ Individual Development Plan (IDP) (statutory requirement for admission)
1. Children Looked After or previously Children Looked After i.e. children that are in the care of or have previously been in the care of a local authority, will be afforded priority over thosefulfilling points 2-8.
2. Children with exceptional medical circumstances, will be afforded priority over those fulfilling points 3-8.
3. Children residing within the catchment area for the preferred school who have relevant siblings will be afforded priority over those fulfilling points 4-8.
4. Children residing outside of the catchment area for the preferred school, but with relevant siblings, who will continue to be in attendance at the preferred school due to being unsuccessful in their application for a place at their catchment school, will be afforded priority over those fulfilling points 5-8.
5. Children residing inside the catchment area for the preferred school will be afforded priority over those fulfilling points 6-8.
6. Children residing outside of the catchment area for the preferred school, with a relevant sibling (who will be in attendance at the preferred school at time of admission) that does not meet criteria points 4 and 5 above, will be afforded priority over those fulfilling points 7-8.
7. Children currently on roll at a primary school that is designated to be a feeder school for the preferred secondary school will be afforded priority over those fulfilling point 8.
8. After applying the categories above, or should the school continue to be in a position of over-subscription in any of the above categories, priority will be based on closeness to the preferred school, measured using the shortest safe walking route.
To clarify, any over-subscription in the above criteria will result in the final determination of the allocation of a place being made on distance. For example, if there are more applications than places available after applying point 6 above, places will be allocated to those children whose home address is determined to be closer to the preferred school.
Explanatory Notes :
Priority rank 4 – This criteria would apply only in the event that a parent has been unsuccessful in obtaining a place for their child at their catchment school, and is subsequently attending an alternative school with a younger sibling eligible to attend.
Priority rank 7 – This criteria would be relevant within Secondary School Over-subscription Criteria for children who are in attendance at a feeder primary school for the preferred secondary school.
Feeder schools are determined as being the schools that have formal transitional arrangements with a secondary school.
Important Notes for Primary and Secondary Applications:
1. The Local Authority will require suitable evidence to validate that your child was previously a Child Looked After (e.g a copy of the adoption confirmation in order for this criteria to be applied).
2. Applicants wishing for their application to be prioritised on the child’s medical needs must be supported by a medical consultant’s report (obtained by the parents at the time of the application) outlining why the preferred school is the only viable option when compared with other schools that the Authority may be able to offer.
3. Brothers and sisters, whether half, full, step, or foster will be considered relevant where living in the same household and where they will still be registered at the school when the applicant is eligible to attend.
4. The Local Authority will consider the child’s home address to be the place where the child resides for the majority of the school week. In the event that the residency of a child is shared between two parents, the address where the child concerned resides for the majority of the school week will be used for allocation purposes. This is the address that should be declared on the application. If the residency with both parents during the school week, however, is equal, the address for where the child benefit is paid will be used for allocation purposes. Whilst residing within the catchment area for a school forms an element of the over-subscription criteria, it does not guarantee a placement on this basis. The Local Authority will refuse to admit above the school’s admission number, unless the application complies with the permitted exceptions.
5. The Local Authority will use Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to calculate home to school distances. The GIS software adopted by the Local Authority for these purposes will be Routefinder and Mapinfo desktop solutions.
Determination of the shortest safe walking route will be calculated using official routes known to the Local Authority and Highways agencies. The starting point of the calculated route will be determined as being the nearest network point to the main entrance of the property. The main entrance of the home address is determined by the Local Authority to be where the property receives post.
The finishing point of the calculated route will be determined as being the nearest official open gate adopted for use by the preferred school. The coordinates of an applicant address will be determined using the Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) and Ordnance Survey address base data.
Please Note: Where a safe walking route cannot be determined for an applicant, the shortest driving route will be used for allocation purposes.