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St Edward's CE Academy Cheddleton

Consultation 2026/20272025/2026 and 2024/2025

Consultation on admission arrangements 2026/2027

In accordance with the School Admission Regulations 2012, Staffordshire University Academies Trust and St Edward’s CE Academy, Cheddleton, wish to hear your views on its proposed changes to admission arrangements for September 2026. 

Your opinions are important to us and we are keen to receive your comments on our admission arrangements before they are formally approved. The consultation will close at 5pm on 6 January 2025. 

The reasons for proposing an amendment to our PAN are attached and also published on the school website along with a full copy of the proposed admission arrangements.   

Proposal

St Edwards CE Academy, Cheddleton, is a member of Staffordshire University Academies Trust (“SUAT”), and propose that the academy’s pupil admission number (PAN) be reduced from 50 to 45 from September 2026. This means that the number of places available for children in Reception in September 2026 and all subsequent Reception cohorts will be 45. 

For children who already have a place in the academy the year groups will not change.  This is the only proposed change to the admission criteria; all other criteria will remain the same. 

Rationale 

The following factors have been considered by the academy and Trust when deciding to consult on this proposal:

  • Current numbers for Reception and projected numbers for future Reception intakes fall short of the 50 pupils.   Bringing our PAN in line with the actual pupil admission numbers will ensure the maximum possible revenue will be received for each cohort and our resources are used more effectively across the school.
  • The total number of pupils from Reception to Year 4 recorded in the October 2023 census was 160 which is below the current capacity of 225.
  • Funding is largely related to the number of pupils on roll and vacancies in classes result in a negative impact on the school budget.  With a PAN of 45, all spaces in a class will be filled and the school can operate more efficiently and cost effectively, giving every single pupil the best possible education.
  • There is no new building in the local area predicted which would increase pupil numbers in our local community catchment area.
  • Reducing the PAN will assist the school in providing stability in long term planning and allow high quality educational outcomes for pupils. 

In accordance with the school admissions regulations, the school is consulting with key stakeholders including; 

  • Parents/carers of pupils and prospective parents;
  • Other persons in the area who have an interest in the proposed arrangements;
  • The local authority
  • Other local schools 

A full copy of the proposed admission arrangements is available on the school website. Any comments should be sent to: office@stedwardscheddleton.co.uk before 5pm on 6 January 2025. 

Yours sincerely 

S.Machin

Principal

Proposed admission arrangements 2026/2027

In Academies that are in the Staffordshire University Academies Trust decisions on admissions are delegated by the Trust Board to the Local Governing Body of the individual academies.

The PAN for SUAT academies are:

Oversubscription Criteria

If the total number of preferences for admission to a SUAT Academy exceeds the Academy’s Published Admission Number (PAN), the following order of priority is used by the Local Governing Body to allocate the available places.

  1. Children in State Care and children who ceased to be in state care because they were adopted or became subject to a residence order or special guardianship order. This applies to children in these categories in England and also to children in these categories previously from outside England.

    SUAT complies with the 2021 School Admissions Code, which requires children who appear to have been in state care outside England, and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted, to be given equal first priority in admission arrangements, alongside looked after children (LAC) and children who were previously looked after by English local authorities (PLAC). This advice refers to these children as internationally adopted previously looked after children – “IAPLAC”. 

    Responsibility for determining whether a child is eligible for IAPLAC priority rests with SUAT who delegate this task to the Local Governing Body. Non-statutory guidance assists and supports SUAT in assessing evidence provided by parents who want their child to be considered under the IAPLAC criterion. The guidance recommends that SUAT Academies should request advice from their Virtual School Head (VSH), if they are in any doubt about the acceptability of evidence provided by the parent of an IAPLAC. 

    Provisions in the Code which apply to PLAC in relation to the admission arrangements of SUAT Academies with a religious character apply to IAPLAC in exactly the same way as they do to PLAC.

  2. Children who satisfy both of the following tests:

    Test 1: the child is distinguished from the great majority of other applicants either on their own medical grounds or by other exceptional circumstances.

    Medical grounds must be supported by a medical report (obtained by the applicant and provided at the point of application). This report must clearly justify, for health reasons only, why it is better for the child’s health to attend the preferred SUAT academy rather than any other SUAT academy.

    Exceptional circumstances must relate to the choice of SUAT academy and the individual child, i.e. the circumstances of the child, not the economic or social circumstances of the parent/carer. They should be supported by a professional report (obtained by the applicant and provided at the point of application), e.g. social worker. This report must clearly justify why it is better for the child to attend the preferred SUAT Academy rather than any other SUAT Academy.


    Test 2: the child would suffer hardship if they were unable to attend the preferred school.Hardship means severe suffering of any kind, not merely difficulty or inconvenience, which is likely to be experienced as a result of the child attending a different school. Applicants must provide detailed information about both the type and severity of any likely hardship at the time of application.

  1. Children who have an elder sibling in attendance at the preferred SUAT Academy and who will still be attending the SUAT Academy at the proposed admission date; (For admission purposes, a brother or sister is a child who lives at the same address and either: have one or both natural parents in common; are related by a parent’s marriage; are adopted or fostered by a common parent or are unrelated children who live at the same address, whose parents live as partners.)
     
  2. Children living within the catchment area of the preferred SUAT Academy.
     
  3. Other children arranged in order of priority according to how near their home addresses are to the main gate of the Academy, determined by a straight-line measurement as calculated by Google maps or the Local Authority’s Geographical Information System (please see additional notes for further details).

Academies in SUAT that were formerly Voluntary Aided (VA) Schools adhere to the advice provided to SUAT by the Diocesan Board of Education(DBE) as required under Section 3 of the Diocesan Board of Education Measure 1991. Accordingly, any Academy that was formerly a VA school, with the greater levels of Church control and involvement that a VA school has over a Voluntary Controlled (VC) school, will upon conversion retain their existing faith criteria and their definition for catchment. The reason for this decision is that the founding deed of a VA school specifies that the school is for the benefit of that parish and that the admissions arrangements should live up to this as best they can, given the statutory criteria that also applies.

The oversubscription criteria for VA Academies are:

  1. Children in Care and children who ceased to be in care because they were adopted (or became subject to a residence order or special guardianship order). This applies to children in these categories in England and also to children in these categories previously from outside England. 
      
  2. Children who satisfy both of the following tests: 

    Test 1: the child is distinguished from the great majority of other applicants either on their own individual medical grounds or by other exceptional circumstances. 

    Medical grounds must be supported by a medical report (obtained by the applicant and provided at the point of application). This report must clearly justify, for health reasons only, why it is better for the child’s health to attend the preferred SUAT academy rather than any other school. 

    Exceptional circumstances must relate to the choice of nursery and the individual child, i.e. the circumstances of the child, not the specific economic or social circumstances of the parent/carer, and be supported by a professional report (obtained by the applicant and provided at the point of application), e.g. social worker, justifying why it is better for the child to attend the preferred SUAT academy rather than any other academy. 

    and

    Test 2: the child would suffer hardship if they were unable to attend the preferred SUAT academy. 

    Hardship means severe suffering of any kind, not merely difficulty or inconvenience, which is likely to be experienced as a result of the child attending a different school. Applicants must provide detailed information about both the type and severity of any likely hardship at the time of application. 
  1. Children who have an elder brother or sister in attendance at the preferred SUAT Academy and who will still be attending the SUAT Academy at the time of the proposed admission date. (For admission purposes, a brother or sister is a child who lives at the same address and either: have one or both natural parents in common; are related by a parent’s marriage; are adopted or fostered by a common parent or are unrelated children who live at the same address, whose parents live as partners.) 
     
  2. Children who live in the catchment area who themselves are, or whose families are, faithful and regular worshippers of any Christian denomination (as recognised by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and/or the Evangelical Alliance).  Written evidence of the applicants’ commitment to their place of worship will be required.
       
  3. Other children who reside within the catchment area.
     
  4. Children who are outside the catchment area and who themselves are, or whose families are, faithful and regular worshippers of any Christian denomination (as recognised by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and/or the Evangelical Alliance).  Written evidence of the applicants’ commitment to their place of worship will be required.
     
  5. Children who are themselves, or whose families are, committed members of another religious faith.  Written evidence will be required from the faith leader.
     
  6. Other children arranged in order of priority according to how near their home addresses are to the main gate of the Academy, determined by a straight-line measurement as calculated by Google maps or the Local Authority’s Geographical Information System (please see additional notes for further details). 
       
    Where it is not possible to accommodate all children applying for places within a particular category then the Local Governing Body of that SUAT Academy will allocate the available places in accordance with the remaining criteria. If for instance, all the catchment area children cannot be accommodated at a school, children who are resident within the catchment area will be arranged in order of priority according to the remaining criteria.

Additional Notes

Copies of school catchment area maps are available from the Local Authority or individual SUAT academies.

There is no charge or cost related to the admission of a child to a SUAT Academy.

Admissions are administered through a coordinated admission scheme and preferences for maintained schools will be processed centrally by the School Admissions and Transport Service. Each child will receive only one offer of a place at a Staffordshire school.

In accordance with legislation, children who have an educational need or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) that names a particular school as being the most appropriate to meet the child’s needs must be admitted to that school. This will reduce the amount of places available to other applicants.

Children in Care means children who are in the care of, or provided with accommodation by a local authority in accordance with section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989 at the time of making the application.

It is the applicant’s responsibility to provide any supportive information required in order for the application to be assessed against the published admissions criteria, the Trust will not seek to obtain this information on behalf of the applicant.

SUAT Academies that have purchased a SLA with the Local Authority use the Local Authority Geographical Information System (GIS) to calculate home to school distances in miles. The measurement is calculated using Ordnance Survey (OS) data from an applicant's home address to the main front gate of the Academy. The coordinates of an applicant's home address is determined and provided by the Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) and OS Address Point data. Those Academies that have not purchased the SLA with the Local Authority use Google maps.

The requirement to meet the Infant Class Size legislation may result in the refusal of catchment area or sibling applications where a class has already reached its limit of 30 pupils. However, as an exception, the SUAT Academy will give careful consideration to offering places above the Admission Number to applications from children whose twin or sibling from a multiple birth is admitted even when there are no other vacant places.

The home address is considered to be the child’s along with their parent/carer’s main and genuine principal place of residence at the time of the allocation of places i.e. where they are normally and regularly living. If a child is resident with friends or relatives (for reasons other than legal guardianship) the friends or relatives address will not be considered for allocation purposes.

Where parents have shared responsibility for a child, and the child lives with both parents for part of the school week, parents will be required to provide documentary evidence to support the address they wish to be considered for allocation purposes.

It is expected that parents will agree on school places before an application is made, and it may be necessary to request evidence from you to confirm that this is the case. The Local Governing Body is not in a position to intervene in disputes between parents over school applications and will request that these are resolved privately.

If a child’s home address changes during the admissions process it is the responsibility of the parent/carer to inform the Local Authority and/or Local Governing Body immediately. Where there is a proposed house move taking place during the admissions process the Local Authority and Local will only accept the revised address for purposes of allocation where parents/carers can provide documentary evidence of the move by 14 March (primary). It will be necessary for sufficient evidence of a permanent move to be provided by the applicant by this date before it will be taken into account for allocation purposes at the national offer date.

If a place is offered on the basis of an address that is subsequently found to be different from the child’s normal and permanent home address at the time of allocation of places then that place is likely to be withdrawn.

If there are a limited number of spaces available and we cannot distinguish between applicants using the criteria listed, such as in the case of children who live in the same block of flats, then the child or children who will be offered the available spaces will be randomly selected. This process will be independently verified.

Deferred Entry to Reception Class

Parents may request that their child be admitted to Reception Class on a part-time basis, or that their child be admitted to school later in the same academic year until the child reaches compulsory school age (i.e. beginning of the term after the child’s fifth birthday). The effect is that the place will be held for the child in Reception and is not available to be offered to any other child within the same academic year in which it has been offered.

Before deciding whether to defer their child’s entry to school, parents should visit their preferred school(s) to clarify how they cater for the youngest children in Reception and how the needs of these children are met as they move up through the academy.

Admission outside the Normal Age Group

Parents may seek to apply for their child’s admission to school outside their normal age group, for example if the child is exceptionally gifted and talented or has experienced problems such as ill health. In addition, the parents of summer born children may choose not to send their child to school until the September following their fifth birthday and may request that they are admitted outside their normal age group to Reception rather than Year 1.

These parents will need to make an application alongside children applying at the normal age which should explain why it is in the child’s best interest to be admitted outside their normal age which may include information such as professional evidence as to why this is the case and why an exception should be made in the case of the child. A decision as to whether this is an appropriate course of action will be made by the Local Governing Body of the Academy concerned. Parents do not have the right to insist that their child is admitted to a particular year group.

Waiting lists

Unsuccessful applicants will be placed on a waiting list in accordance with the oversubscription criteria stated above and not based on the date their application was received. There will be a period of two weeks after the national offer date whereby available places will not be reallocated. If places become available after this date they will be offered according to the child at the top of the waiting list.

For cases where the infant class size regulations apply, the waiting list will operate until the cohort concerned leaves Year 2 and parents will be written to each year to ask whether or not they wish their child’s details to remain on the list.

For all other cases, Waiting Lists will be kept until the end of the autumn term of admission.

Inclusion on a school’s waiting list does not mean that a place will eventually become available at the preferred school.

A child’s position on a waiting list is not fixed and is subject to change during the year i.e. they can go up or down the list since each added child will require the list to be ranked again in line with the oversubscription criteria.

Children who are subject of a direction by a local authority to admit or who are allocated to a school in accordance with the Fair Access Protocol will take precedence over those on the waiting list.

Late Applications

Preferences received after the closing date will be considered alongside those applicants who applied on time wherever possible. Where it is not practicable because places have already been allocated, or are shortly to be allocated, then late preferences will be considered only after those that were made before this point.

A late application does not affect the right of appeal or the right to be placed on a school’s waiting list.

Repeat Applications

Parents do not have the right to a second appeal in respect of the same school for the same academic year unless, in exceptional circumstances, the local authority has accepted a second application from the appellant because of a significant and material change in the circumstances of the parent, child or school but still refused admission.

“In-Year Transfer” Arrangements

Parents or carers seeking to transfer to a particular Academy may make an application using the appropriate application form, which can be obtained from the Academy. This application will be processed in line with the procedure outlined in the determined admission arrangements alongside consideration of the year group class size and contextual needs. Parents and carers need to be aware that any date set for joining the new school may be after the next term or half term holiday and those parents/carers are responsible for ensuring that their child continues to receive appropriate education in the interim.

Admission Arrangements for Secondary Schools in Staffordshire University Academies Trust

Although parents have the right to express a preference for the school that they wish their child to attend, there is no guarantee of a place being offered at their preferred school.

It is the Trust’s policy to try and meet parents’ wishes where possible, however in some cases there may be more applications for a particular school than there are places available.

Admission to oversubscribed SUAT Academies is determined by the oversubscription criteria given below.

Oversubscription Criteria

If the total number of preferences for admission to a SUAT Academy exceeds the Academy’s Published Admission Number (PAN), the following order of priority is used to allocate the available places.

  1. Children in State Care and children who ceased to be in state care because they were adopted or became subject to a residence order or special guardianship order. This applies to children in these categories in England and also to children in these categories previously from outside England. 

    SUAT complies with the 2021 School Admissions Code, which requires children who appear to have been in state care outside England, and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted, to be given equal first priority in admission arrangements, alongside looked after children (LAC) and children who were previously looked after by English local authorities (PLAC). This advice refers to these children as internationally adopted previously looked after children – “IAPLAC”. 

    Responsibility for determining whether a child is eligible for IAPLAC priority rests with SUAT who delegate this task to the Local Governing Body. Non-statutory guidance assists and supports SUAT in assessing evidence provided by parents who want their child to be considered under the IAPLAC criterion. The guidance recommends that SUAT Academies should request advice from their Virtual School Head (VSH), if they are in any doubt about the acceptability of evidence provided by the parent of an IAPLAC. 

    Provisions in the Code which apply to PLAC in relation to the admission arrangements of SUAT Academies with a religious character apply to IAPLAC in exactly the same way as they do to PLAC.

  2. Children who satisfy both of the following tests:

    Test 1: the child is distinguished from the great majority of applicants either on their own medical grounds or by other exceptional circumstances.

    Medical grounds must be supported by a medical report (obtained by the applicant and provided at the point of application). This report must clearly justify, for health reasons only, why it is better for the child’s health to attend the preferred school rather than any other school.

    Exceptional circumstances must relate to the choice of school and the individual child, i.e. the circumstances of the child, not the economic or social circumstances of the parent/carer. It should be supported by a professional report (obtained by the applicant and provided at the point of application), e.g. social worker. This report must clearly justify why it is better for the child to attend the preferred school rather than any other school.

    and

    Test 2: the child would suffer hardship if they were unable to attend the preferred Academy.

    Hardship means severe suffering of any kind, not merely difficulty or inconvenience, which is likely to be experienced as a result of the child attending a different school. Applicants must provide detailed information about both the type and severity of any likely hardship at the time of application.
  1. Children who have an elder sibling in attendance at the preferred Academy and who will still be attending the SUAT Academy at the proposed admission date; (For admission purposes, a brother or sister is a child who lives at the same address and either: have one or both natural parents in common; are related by a parents marriage; are adopted or fostered by a common parent or are unrelated children who live at the same address, whose parents live as partners.)
      
  2. Children living within the catchment area of the preferred SUAT Academy
      
  3. Other children arranged in order of priority according to how near their home addresses are to the main gate of the school. SUAT Academies that have purchased a SLA with the Local Authority use the Local Authority Geographical Information System (GIS) to calculate home to school distances in miles. The measurement is calculated using Ordnance Survey (OS) data from an applicant's home address to the main front gate of the Academy. The coordinates of an applicant's home address is determined and provided by the Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) and OS Address Point data. Those Academies that have not purchased the SLA with the Local Authority use Google maps.

    Where it is not possible to accommodate all children applying for places within a particular category then the Local Authority will allocate the available places in accordance with the remaining criteria. If for instance, all the catchment area children cannot be accommodated at a school, children who are resident within the catchment area will be arranged in order of priority according to distance i.e. category (6).

Additional Notes

Copies of school catchment area maps are available from the Local Authority or individual SUAT Academies.

There is no charge or cost related to the admission of a child to a SUAT Academy.

Admissions are administered through a coordinated admission scheme and preferences for community, controlled, aided and foundation schools will be processed centrally by the School Admissions and Transport Service. Each pupil will receive one offer of a place at a maintained school.

In accordance with legislation, children who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) that names a particular school as being the most appropriate to meet the child’s needs must be admitted to that school. This will reduce the amount of places available to other applicants.

Children in Care means children who are in the care of, or provided with accommodation by a local authority in accordance with section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989 at the time of making the application.

It is the applicant’s responsibility to provide any supportive information required in order for the application to be assessed against the published admissions criteria, the Local Governing Body will not seek to obtain this information on behalf of the applicant.

The Local Governing Body uses the Local Authority’s Geographical Information System (GIS) to calculate home to school distances in miles. The measurement is calculated using Ordnance Survey (OS) data from an applicant's home address to the main front gate of the school. The coordinates of an applicant's home address is determined and provided by the Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) and OS Address Point data.

The home address is considered to be the child’s along with their parent’s main and genuine principal place of residence at the time of the allocation of places i.e. where they are normally and regularly living. If a child is resident with friends or relatives (for reasons other than legal guardianship) the friends or relatives address will not be considered for allocation purposes.

Where parents have shared responsibility for a child, and the child lives with both parents for part of the school week, parents will be required to provide documentary evidence to support the address they wish to be considered for allocation purposes.

It is expected that parents will agree on school places before an application is made, and it may be necessary to request evidence from you to confirm that this is the case. The Local Governing Body is not in a position to intervene in disputes between parents over school applications and will request that these are resolved privately.

If a child’s home address changes during the admissions process it is the responsibility of the parent/carer to inform the Local Authority and/or local Governing Body immediately. Where there is a proposed house move taking place during the admissions process the Local Authority / Local Governing Body will only accept the revised address for purposes of allocation where parents/carers can provide documentary evidence of the move by 24 January. It will be necessary for sufficient evidence of a permanent move to be provided by the applicant by this date before it will be taken into account for allocation purposes at the national offer date.

If a place is offered on the basis of an address that is subsequently found to be different from the child’s normal and permanent home address at the time of allocation of places then that place is likely to be withdrawn.

If there are a limited number of spaces available and we cannot distinguish between applicants using the criteria listed, such as in the case of children who live in the same block of flats, then the child or children who will be offered the available spaces will be randomly selected. This process will be independently verified.

Waiting lists

Unsuccessful applicants will be placed on a waiting list in accordance with the oversubscription criteria stated above and not based on the date their application was received. There will be a period of two weeks after the national offer date whereby available places will not be reallocated. If places become available after this date they will be offered according to the child at the top of the waiting list.

Waiting lists will be kept until the end of the autumn term of admission. No other waiting lists will be maintained.

Inclusion on a school’s waiting list does not mean that a place will eventually become available at the preferred school.

A child’s position on a waiting list is not fixed and is subject to change during the year i.e. they can go up or down the list since each added child will require the list to be ranked again in line with the oversubscription criteria.

Children who are subject of a direction by a local authority to admit or who are allocated to a school in accordance with the Fair Access Protocol will take precedence over those on the waiting list.

Late Applications

Preferences received after the closing date will be considered alongside those applicants who applied on time wherever possible. Where it is not practicable because places have already been allocated, or are shortly to be allocated, then late preferences will be considered only after those that were made before this point.

A late application does not affect the right of appeal or the right to be placed on a school’s waiting list.

Repeat Applications

Parents do not have the right to a second appeal in respect of the same school for the same academic year unless, in exceptional circumstances, the local authority has accepted a second application from the appellant because of a significant and material change in the circumstances of the parent, child or school but still refused admission.

Admission outside the Normal Age Group

Parents may seek to apply for their child’s admission to school outside their normal age group, for example if the child is exceptionally gifted and talented or has experienced problems such as ill health.

These parents will need to make an application alongside children applying at the normal age which should explain why it is in the child’s best interest to be admitted outside their normal age which may include information such as professional evidence as to why this is the case and why an exception should be made in the case of the child. A decision as to whether this is an appropriate course of action will be made by the Local Authority / Local Governing Body who will take into account the circumstances of the case and views of the Principal of that Academy. Parents do not have the right to insist that their child is admitted to a particular year group.

Sixth Form Admission Arrangements

Applications for admission to the Sixth Form will be dealt with by the Academy in accordance with the Trust’s published admission arrangements. Individual Academies will provide detailed information on the admission policy including minimum entry requirements for particular courses on request.

Children already in the Academy will not be required to apply formally for places in Year 12 but should have reached the minimum entry qualifications for admission into the sixth form, details of which are included in the published admission arrangements.

External applicants will not be refused the opportunity to make an application, or told that they can only be placed on a waiting list rather than make a formal application.

Any applicant refused a place in year 12 is entitled to make an appeal to an independent appeal panel whether the child is already attending the Academy or is an external candidate. Minimum entry requirements are the same for internal and external applicants.

Schools must not interview children or their families for entry to Year 12, although meetings can be held to provide advice on options and entry requirements for particular courses. Entry must not be dependent on attendance, behaviour record or perceptions of attitude or motivation.

“In-Year Admissions” Arrangements

Parents or carers seeking to be admitted to a SUAT Academy may make an application directly to the preferred Academy using the appropriate application form. This application will be processed in line with the procedure outlined in the determined admission arrangements alongside consideration of the year group class size contextual needs.  Parents and carers need to be aware that in the case of transfers between local schools, any date set for joining the new school may be after the next term or half term holiday and those parents/carers are responsible for ensuring that their child continues to receive appropriate education in the interim.

 

 

 

Admission arrangements 2025/2026 & 2024/2025

In Academies that are in the Staffordshire University Academies Trust decisions on admissions are delegated by the Trust Board to the Local Governing Body of the individual academies.

The PAN for SUAT academies is:

Oversubscription Criteria

If the total number of preferences for admission to a SUAT Academy exceeds the Academy’s Published Admission Number (PAN), the following order of priority is used by the Local Governing Body to allocate the available places.

  1. Children in State Care and children who ceased to be in state care because they were adopted or became subject to a residence order or special guardianship order. This applies to children in these categories in England and also to children in these categories previously from outside England.

    SUAT complies with the 2021 School Admissions Code, which requires children who appear to have been in state care outside England, and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted, to be given equal first priority in admission arrangements, alongside looked after children (LAC) and children who were previously looked after by English local authorities (PLAC). This advice refers to these children as internationally adopted previously looked after children – “IAPLAC”. 

    Responsibility for determining whether a child is eligible for IAPLAC priority rests with SUAT who delegate this task to the Local Governing Body. Non-statutory guidance assists and supports SUAT in assessing evidence provided by parents who want their child to be considered under the IAPLAC criterion. The guidance recommends that SUAT Academies should request advice from their Virtual School Head (VSH), if they are in any doubt about the acceptability of evidence provided by the parent of an IAPLAC. 

    Provisions in the Code which apply to PLAC in relation to the admission arrangements of SUAT Academies with a religious character apply to IAPLAC in exactly the same way as they do to PLAC.

  2. Children who satisfy both of the following tests:

    Test 1: the child is distinguished from the great majority of other applicants either on their own medical grounds or by other exceptional circumstances.

    Medical grounds must be supported by a medical report (obtained by the applicant and provided at the point of application). This report must clearly justify, for health reasons only, why it is better for the child’s health to attend the preferred school rather than any other school.

    Exceptional circumstances must relate to the choice of school and the individual child, i.e. the circumstances of the child, not the economic or social circumstances of the parent/carer. They should be supported by a professional report (obtained by the applicant and provided at the point of application), e.g. social worker. This report must clearly justify why it is better for the child to attend the preferred school rather than any other school.

    and

    Test 2: the child would suffer hardship if they were unable to attend the preferred school.

    Hardship means severe suffering of any kind, not merely difficulty or inconvenience, which is likely to be experienced as a result of the child attending a different school. Applicants must provide detailed information about both the type and severity of any likely hardship at the time of application.

  1. Children who have an elder sibling in attendance at the preferred Academy () and who will still be attending the Academy at the proposed admission date; (For admission purposes, a brother or sister is a child who lives at the same address and either: have one or both natural parents in common; are related by a parent’s marriage; are adopted or fostered by a common parent or are unrelated children who live at the same address, whose parents live as partners.)
      
  2. Children living within the catchment area of the preferred SUAT Academy.
      
  3. Other children arranged in order of priority according to how near their home addresses are to the main gate of the Academy, determined by a straight-line measurement as calculated by Google maps or the Local Authority’s Geographical Information System (please see additional notes for further details).

Academies in SUAT that were formerly Voluntary Aided (VA) Schools adhere to the advice provided to SUAT by the Diocesan Board of Education(DBE) as required under Section 3 of the Diocesan Board of Education Measure 1991. Accordingly, any Academy that was formerly a VA school, with the greater levels of Church control and involvement that a VA school has over a Voluntary Controlled (VC) school, will upon conversion retain their existing faith criteria and their definition for catchment. The reason for this decision is that the founding deed of a VA school specifies that the school is for the benefit of that parish and that the admissions arrangements should live up to this as best they can, given the statutory criteria that also applies.

The oversubscription criteria for VA Academies is:

  1. Children in Care and children who ceased to be in care because they were adopted (or became subject to a residence order or special guardianship order). This applies to children in these categories in England and also to children in these categories previously from outside England. 
      
  2. Children who satisfy both of the following tests: 

    Test 1: the child is distinguished from the great majority of other applicants either on their own individual medical grounds or by other exceptional circumstances. 

    Medical grounds must be supported by a medical report (obtained by the applicant and provided at the point of application). This report must clearly justify, for health reasons only, why it is better for the child’s health to attend the preferred SUAT academy rather than any other school. 

    Exceptional circumstances must relate to the choice of nursery and the individual child, i.e. the circumstances of the child, not the specific economic or social circumstances of the parent/carer, and be supported by a professional report (obtained by the applicant and provided at the point of application), e.g. social worker, justifying why it is better for the child to attend the preferred SUAT academy rather than any other academy. 

    and

    Test 2: the child would suffer hardship if they were unable to attend the preferred SUAT academy. 

    Hardship means severe suffering of any kind, not merely difficulty or inconvenience, which is likely to be experienced as a result of the child attending a different school. Applicants must provide detailed information about both the type and severity of any likely hardship at the time of application. 
  1. Children who have an elder brother or sister in attendance at the preferred SUAT Academy and who will still be attending the SUAT Academy at the time of the proposed admission date. (For admission purposes, a brother or sister is a child who lives at the same address and either: have one or both natural parents in common; are related by a parent’s marriage; are adopted or fostered by a common parent or are unrelated children who live at the same address, whose parents live as partners.) 
      
  2. Children who live in the catchment area who themselves are, or whose families are, faithful and regular worshippers of any Christian denomination (as recognised by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and/or the Evangelical Alliance).  Written evidence of the applicants’ commitment to their place of worship will be required.
      
  3. Other children who reside within the catchment area.
      
  4. Children who are outside the catchment area and who themselves are, or whose families are, faithful and regular worshippers of any Christian denomination (as recognised by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and/or the Evangelical Alliance).  Written evidence of the applicants’ commitment to their place of worship will be required.
      
  5. Children who are themselves, or whose families are, committed members of another religious faith.  Written evidence will be required from the faith leader.
      
  6. Other children arranged in order of priority according to how near their home addresses are to the main gate of the Academy, determined by a straight-line measurement as calculated by Google maps or the Local Authority’s Geographical Information System (please see additional notes for further details). 

    Where it is not possible to accommodate all children applying for places within a particular category then the Local Governing Body of that SUAT Academy will allocate the available places in accordance with the remaining criteria. If for instance, all the catchment area children cannot be accommodated at a school, children who are resident within the catchment area will be arranged in order of priority according to the remaining criteria.

Additional Notes

Copies of school catchment area maps are available from the Local Authority or individual SUAT academies.

There is no charge or cost related to the admission of a child to a SUAT Academy.

Admissions are administered through a coordinated admission scheme and preferences for maintained schools will be processed centrally by the School Admissions and Transport Service. Each child will receive only one offer of a place at a Staffordshire school.

In accordance with legislation, children who have a statutory statement of special educational need or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) that names a particular school as being the most appropriate to meet the child’s needs must be admitted to that school. This will reduce the amount of places available to other applicants.

Children in Care means children who are in the care of, or provided with accommodation by a local authority in accordance with section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989 at the time of making the application.

It is the applicant’s responsibility to provide any supportive information required in order for the application to be assessed against the published admissions criteria, the Trust will not seek to obtain this information on behalf of the applicant.

SUAT Academies that have purchased a SLA with the Local Authority use the Local Authority Geographical Information System (GIS) to calculate home to school distances in miles. The measurement is calculated using Ordnance Survey (OS) data from an applicant's home address to the main front gate of the Academy. The coordinates of an applicant's home address is determined and provided by the Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) and OS Address Point data. Those Academies that have not purchased the SLA with the Local Authority use Google maps.

The requirement to meet the Infant Class Size legislation may result in the refusal of catchment area or sibling applications where a class has already reached its limit of 30 pupils. However, as an exception, the SUAT Academy will give careful consideration to offering places above the Admission Number to applications from children whose twin or sibling from a multiple birth is admitted even when there are no other vacant places.

The home address is considered to be the child’s along with their parent/carer’s main and genuine principal place of residence at the time of the allocation of places i.e. where they are normally and regularly living. If a child is resident with friends or relatives (for reasons other than legal guardianship) the friends or relatives address will not be considered for allocation purposes.

Where parents have shared responsibility for a child, and the child lives with both parents for part of the school week, parents will be required to provide documentary evidence to support the address they wish to be considered for allocation purposes.

It is expected that parents will agree on school places before an application is made, and it may be necessary to request evidence from you to confirm that this is the case. The Local Governing Body is not in a position to intervene in disputes between parents over school applications and will request that these are resolved privately.

If a child’s home address changes during the admissions process it is the responsibility of the parent/carer to inform the Local Authority and/or Local Governing Body immediately. Where there is a proposed house move taking place during the admissions process the Local Authority and Local will only accept the revised address for purposes of allocation where parents/carers can provide documentary evidence of the move by 15March (primary). It will be necessary for sufficient evidence of a permanent move to be provided by the applicant by this date before it will be taken into account for allocation purposes at the national offer date.

If a place is offered on the basis of an address that is subsequently found to be different from the child’s normal and permanent home address at the time of allocation of places then that place is likely to be withdrawn.

If there are a limited number of spaces available and we cannot distinguish between applicants using the criteria listed, such as in the case of children who live in the same block of flats, then the child or children who will be offered the available spaces will be randomly selected. This process will be independently verified.

Deferred Entry to Reception Class

Parents may request that their child be admitted to Reception Class on a part-time basis, or that their child be admitted to school later in the same academic year until the child reaches compulsory school age (i.e. beginning of the term after the child’s fifth birthday). The effect is that the place will be held for the child in Reception and is not available to be offered to any other child within the same academic year in which it has been offered.

Before deciding whether to defer their child’s entry to school, parents should visit their preferred school(s) to clarify how they cater for the youngest children in Reception and how the needs of these children are met as they move up through the academy.

Admission outside the Normal Age Group

Parents may seek to apply for their child’s admission to school outside their normal age group, for example if the child is exceptionally gifted and talented or has experienced problems such as ill health. In addition, the parents of summer born children may choose not to send their child to school until the September following their fifth birthday and may request that they are admitted outside their normal age group to Reception rather than Year 1.

These parents will need to make an application alongside children applying at the normal age which should explain why it is in the child’s best interest to be admitted outside their normal age which may include information such as professional evidence as to why this is the case and why an exception should be made in the case of the child. A decision as to whether this is an appropriate course of action will be made by the Local Governing Body of the Academy concerned. Parents do not have the right to insist that their child is admitted to a particular year group.

Waiting lists

Unsuccessful applicants will be placed on a waiting list in accordance with the oversubscription criteria stated above and not based on the date their application was received. There will be a period of two weeks after the national offer date whereby available places will not be reallocated. If places become available after this date they will be offered according to the child at the top of the waiting list.

For cases where the infant class size regulations apply, the waiting list will operate until the cohort concerned leaves Year 2 and parents will be written to each year to ask whether or not they wish their child’s details to remain on the list.

For all other cases, Waiting Lists will be kept until the end of the autumn term of admission.

Inclusion on a school’s waiting list does not mean that a place will eventually become available at the preferred school.

A child’s position on a waiting list is not fixed and is subject to change during the year i.e. they can go up or down the list since each added child will require the list to be ranked again in line with the oversubscription criteria.

Children who are subject of a direction by a local authority to admit or who are allocated to a school in accordance with the Fair Access Protocol will take precedence over those on the waiting list.

Late Applications

Preferences received after the closing date will be considered alongside those applicants who applied on time wherever possible. Where it is not practicable because places have already been allocated, or are shortly to be allocated, then late preferences will be considered only after those that were made before this point.

A late application does not affect the right of appeal or the right to be placed on a school’s waiting list.

Repeat Applications

Parents do not have the right to a second appeal in respect of the same school for the same academic year unless, in exceptional circumstances, the local authority has accepted a second application from the appellant because of a significant and material change in the circumstances of the parent, child or school but still refused admission.

“In-Year Transfer” Arrangements

Parents or carers seeking to transfer to a particular Academy may make an application using the appropriate application form, which can be obtained from the Academy. This application will be processed in line with the procedure outlined in the determined admission arrangements alongside consideration of the year group class size and contextual needs. Parents and carers need to be aware that any date set for joining the new school may be after the next term or half term holiday and those parents/carers are responsible for ensuring that their child continues to receive appropriate education in the interim.

Admission Arrangements for Secondary Schools in Staffordshire University Academies Trust

Although parents have the right to express a preference for the school that they wish their child to attend, there is no guarantee of a place being offered at their preferred school.

It is the Trust’s policy to try and meet parents’ wishes where possible, however in some cases there may be more applications for a particular school than there are places available.

Admission to oversubscribed SUAT Academies is determined by the oversubscription criteria given below.

Oversubscription Criteria

If the total number of preferences for admission to a SUAT Academy exceeds the Academy’s Published Admission Number (PAN), the following order of priority is used to allocate the available places.

  1. Children in State Care and children who ceased to be in state care because they were adopted or became subject to a residence order or special guardianship order. This applies to children in these categories in England and also to children in these categories previously from outside England. 

    SUAT complies with the 2021 School Admissions Code, which requires children who appear to have been in state care outside England, and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted, to be given equal first priority in admission arrangements, alongside looked after children (LAC) and children who were previously looked after by English local authorities (PLAC). This advice refers to these children as internationally adopted previously looked after children – “IAPLAC”. 

    Responsibility for determining whether a child is eligible for IAPLAC priority rests with SUAT who delegate this task to the Local Governing Body. Non-statutory guidance assists and supports SUAT in assessing evidence provided by parents who want their child to be considered under the IAPLAC criterion. The guidance recommends that SUAT Academies should request advice from their Virtual School Head (VSH), if they are in any doubt about the acceptability of evidence provided by the parent of an IAPLAC. 

    Provisions in the Code which apply to PLAC in relation to the admission arrangements of SUAT Academies with a religious character apply to IAPLAC in exactly the same way as they do to PLAC.

  2. Children who satisfy both of the following tests:

    Test 1: the child is distinguished from the great majority of applicants either on their own medical grounds or by other exceptional circumstances.

    Medical grounds must be supported by a medical report (obtained by the applicant and provided at the point of application). This report must clearly justify, for health reasons only, why it is better for the child’s health to attend the preferred school rather than any other school.

    Exceptional circumstances must relate to the choice of school and the individual child, i.e. the circumstances of the child, not the economic or social circumstances of the parent/carer. It should be supported by a professional report (obtained by the applicant and provided at the point of application), e.g. social worker. This report must clearly justify why it is better for the child to attend the preferred school rather than any other school.

    and

    Test 2: the child would suffer hardship if they were unable to attend the preferred Academy.

    Hardship means severe suffering of any kind, not merely difficulty or inconvenience, which is likely to be experienced as a result of the child attending a different school. Applicants must provide detailed information about both the type and severity of any likely hardship at the time of application.
  1. Children who have an elder sibling in attendance at the preferred Academy and who will still be attending the Academy at the proposed admission date; (For admission purposes, a brother or sister is a child who lives at the same address and either: have one or both natural parents in common; are related by a parents marriage; are adopted or fostered by a common parent or are unrelated children who live at the same address, whose parents live as partners.)
      
  2. Children living within the catchment area of the preferred Academy
      
  3. Other children arranged in order of priority according to how near their home addresses are to the main gate of the school. SUAT Academies that have purchased a SLA with the Local Authority use the Local Authority Geographical Information System (GIS) to calculate home to school distances in miles. The measurement is calculated using Ordnance Survey (OS) data from an applicant's home address to the main front gate of the Academy. The coordinates of an applicant's home address is determined and provided by the Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) and OS Address Point data. Those Academies that have not purchased the SLA with the Local Authority use Google maps.

Where it is not possible to accommodate all children applying for places within a particular category then the Local Authority will allocate the available places in accordance with the remaining criteria. If for instance, all the catchment area children cannot be accommodated at a school, children who are resident within the catchment area will be arranged in order of priority according to distance i.e. category (6).

Additional Notes

Copies of school catchment area maps are available from the Local Authority or individual SUAT Academies.

There is no charge or cost related to the admission of a child to a SUAT Academy.

Admissions are administered through a coordinated admission scheme and preferences for community, controlled, aided and foundation schools will be processed centrally by the School Admissions and Transport Service. Each pupil will receive one offer of a place at a maintained school.

In accordance with legislation, children who have a statutory statement of special educational need or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) that names a particular school as being the most appropriate to meet the child’s needs must be admitted to that school. This will reduce the amount of places available to other applicants.

Children in Care means children who are in the care of, or provided with accommodation by a local authority in accordance with section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989 at the time of making the application.

It is the applicant’s responsibility to provide any supportive information required in order for the application to be assessed against the published admissions criteria, the Local Governing Body will not seek to obtain this information on behalf of the applicant.

The Local Governing Body uses the Local Authority’s Geographical Information System (GIS) to calculate home to school distances in miles. The measurement is calculated using Ordnance Survey (OS) data from an applicant's home address to the main front gate of the school. The coordinates of an applicant's home address is determined and provided by the Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) and OS Address Point data.

The home address is considered to be the child’s along with their parent’s main and genuine principal place of residence at the time of the allocation of places i.e. where they are normally and regularly living. If a child is resident with friends or relatives (for reasons other than legal guardianship) the friends or relatives address will not be considered for allocation purposes.

Where parents have shared responsibility for a child, and the child lives with both parents for part of the school week, parents will be required to provide documentary evidence to support the address they wish to be considered for allocation purposes.

It is expected that parents will agree on school places before an application is made, and it may be necessary to request evidence from you to confirm that this is the case. The Local Governing Body is not in a position to intervene in disputes between parents over school applications and will request that these are resolved privately.

If a child’s home address changes during the admissions process it is the responsibility of the parent/carer to inform the Local Authority and/or local Governing Body immediately. Where there is a proposed house move taking place during the admissions process the Local Authority / Local Governing Body will only accept the revised address for purposes of allocation where parents/carers can provide documentary evidence of the move by 24 January. It will be necessary for sufficient evidence of a permanent move to be provided by the applicant by this date before it will be taken into account for allocation purposes at the national offer date.

If a place is offered on the basis of an address that is subsequently found to be different from the child’s normal and permanent home address at the time of allocation of places then that place is likely to be withdrawn.

If there are a limited number of spaces available and we cannot distinguish between applicants using the criteria listed, such as in the case of children who live in the same block of flats, then the child or children who will be offered the available spaces will be randomly selected. This process will be independently verified.

Waiting lists

Unsuccessful applicants will be placed on a waiting list in accordance with the oversubscription criteria stated above and not based on the date their application was received. There will be a period of two weeks after the national offer date whereby available places will not be reallocated. If places become available after this date they will be offered according to the child at the top of the waiting list.

Waiting lists will be kept until the end of the autumn term of admission. No other waiting lists will be maintained.

Inclusion on a school’s waiting list does not mean that a place will eventually become available at the preferred school.

A child’s position on a waiting list is not fixed and is subject to change during the year i.e. they can go up or down the list since each added child will require the list to be ranked again in line with the oversubscription criteria.

Children who are subject of a direction by a local authority to admit or who are allocated to a school in accordance with the Fair Access Protocol will take precedence over those on the waiting list.

Late Applications

Preferences received after the closing date will be considered alongside those applicants who applied on time wherever possible. Where it is not practicable because places have already been allocated, or are shortly to be allocated, then late preferences will be considered only after those that were made before this point.

A late application does not affect the right of appeal or the right to be placed on a school’s waiting list.

Repeat Applications

Parents do not have the right to a second appeal in respect of the same school for the same academic year unless, in exceptional circumstances, the local authority has accepted a second application from the appellant because of a significant and material change in the circumstances of the parent, child or school but still refused admission.

Admission outside the Normal Age Group

Parents may seek to apply for their child’s admission to school outside their normal age group, for example if the child is exceptionally gifted and talented or has experienced problems such as ill health.

These parents will need to make an application alongside children applying at the normal age which should explain why it is in the child’s best interest to be admitted outside their normal age which may include information such as professional evidence as to why this is the case and why an exception should be made in the case of the child. A decision as to whether this is an appropriate course of action will be made by the Local Authority / Local Governing Body who will take into account the circumstances of the case and views of the Principal of that Academy. Parents do not have the right to insist that their child is admitted to a particular year group.

Sixth Form Admission Arrangements

Applications for admission to the Sixth Form will be dealt with by the Academy in accordance with the Trust’s published admission arrangements. Individual Academies will provide detailed information on the admission policy including minimum entry requirements for particular courses on request.

Children already in the Academy will not be required to apply formally for places in Year 12 but should have reached the minimum entry qualifications for admission into the sixth form, details of which are included in the published admission arrangements.

External applicants will not be refused the opportunity to make an application, or told that they can only be placed on a waiting list rather than make a formal application.

Any applicant refused a place in year 12 is entitled to make an appeal to an independent appeal panel whether the child is already attending the Academy or is an external candidate. Minimum entry requirements are the same for internal and external applicants.

Schools must not interview children or their families for entry to Year 12, although meetings can be held to provide advice on options and entry requirements for particular courses. Entry must not be dependent on attendance, behaviour record or perceptions of attitude or motivation.

“In-Year Admissions” Arrangements

Parents or carers seeking to be admitted to a SUAT Academy may make an application directly to the preferred Academy using the appropriate application form. This application will be processed in line with the procedure outlined in the determined admission arrangements alongside consideration of the year group class size contextual needs.  Parents and carers need to be aware that in the case of transfers between local schools, any date set for joining the new school may be after the next term or half term holiday and those parents/carers are responsible for ensuring that their child continues to receive appropriate education in the interim.

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