DfE number: 4015
Admission number: 202
Where the school receives more applications than places available, the following oversubscription criteria will be applied once places have first been allocated to pupils who have an education health and care plan which names the school:
- Looked after children and previously looked after children. Previously looked after children are children who were looked after, but ceased to be so because they were adopted (or became subject to a child arrangements order or special guardianship order). Applications for previously looked after children must be supported with appropriate evidence i.e. a copy of the adoption order, child arrangements order or special guardianship order.
- Children whose older brother or sister attends the school and will still be there at the time of admission
- Other children living in Ashton-in-Makerfield, and Garswood and North Ashton in St Helens.
- Other children living nearest to the school.
Tie-breaker
Where there are more children in one particular criterion than the number of places available, places will be allocated to the children who live nearest to the school. The distance will be measured in a straight line from the child’s home address to a central point at the school using a Geographical Information System (GIS) which is based on ordnance survey. If we offer the last place available at the school to one of twins (or triplets, and so on), our policy is to admit the other twin or triplets too. Occasionally, the distance from home to school is the same for more than one child (for example, if more than one child lives in the same block of flats). In these cases, we will use a system to randomly pick who will be offered a place.
Distance from school
When considering your child’s application, we will use the permanent home address we have for you at the closing date for applications. If parents are separated and the child spends time at each parent’s address, the address of the parent who receives Child Benefit will normally be used, but the Local Authority reserves the right to request other documentary evidence as fit the individual circumstances.
Brothers and sisters
We will include:
- Half-brothers and half-sisters;
- Stepbrothers and step sisters; and
- Foster brothers and foster sisters;
who live at the same address as part of the same family unit.
Late applications
Late applications (those received after the closing date) will only be considered after those received by the closing date. The only exception to this is applications for looked after children that are received by 30 November will be included with on time applications.
Waiting lists
Places may become available at a school after the offer date. We will:
- Put all children who we refuse a place at one of their preferences on the waiting list for the school;
- Keep the list in priority order, decided by the oversubscription criteria for the school only;
- Offer any place that becomes available to the next child on the waiting list; and
- Maintain the waiting list until the end of the autumn term.
We must keep the waiting list in order of the oversubscription criteria for the school. This is a legal requirement. We cannot take into account the date the application was received or the length of time a child’s name has been on the waiting list. This means that both on time and late applications are treated the same for waiting list purposes. Your child’s position on the waiting list may change if another applicant is refused a place and their child is ranked higher in the school’s oversubscription criteria.
Applications outside of the normal age group
Parents may seek a place for their child outside of their normal age group, for example, to a higher year group if the child is gifted and talented or to a lower year group if the child has experienced problems such as ill health. Where a child has been educated out of their normal age group at primary school, 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. 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 in year admission outside of the normal age group should be made on the normal in year transfer form.
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 in accordance with the oversubscription criteria for the school. 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.
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.
