admission priorities

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The council's admissions priorities

The following information will help you to decide whether your child has a good chance of being offered a place at your preferred school.

Where there are more applications received for a community school  or BACA than there are places available we will use the following five admissions priorities to decide who will be given a place. 

Please note: we do not take into account your child’s current school place, your childminding arrangements or workplace address. All allocations are based on the following five priorities:

1. children in the care of a local authority (children in care).
2. compelling medical or other exceptional reasons for attending the school
3. sibling link
4. catchment area
5. other children (if none of the previous priorities apply to your child, he/she will be placed in this category)

If a school is oversubscribed with children in any of the above priorities, the council will use an electronic random allocation system to decide which of the children within that priority should be offered the available places. The use of random allocation will be independently monitored.

Remember...

• the council now uses an equal preference system which means that all the preferences for each school are considered at the same time. If you put a school down as a third preference, you are just as likely to be allocated a place there as someone who has put it as a first preference, assuming both of you fall into the same admissions priority for that school 
• list your preferred schools in order of preference as we will only offer you a place at one school. If we are able to offer you a place at more than one school, we will choose the one that is highest on your list of preferences
• these admissions priorities do not apply to Cardinal Newman Catholic School, which has its own admissions priorities
• checks are made on information provided by parents/carers. If a parent/carer is found to have supplied false or misleading information to gain a place at a particular school, the council reserves the right to withdraw the place, even if the child has started at the school. An example of false information would be the use of an address that is not the child’s normal residence
• twins/multiple births (or siblings within the same year group applying for the same school) no special priority is given for the admission of these children. We will ensure that both children are offered a place at the same school if you list the same preferences for both children. Please indicate clearly on each child’s preference form if they have a twin or other same year sibling also applying

Please note: it is an offence to give false information to obtain a place at a school.  The council will investigate allegations about false information, and will consider prosecution in any such case.