Seabridge Primary
Admission arrangements 2026/2027, 2025/2026, 2024/2025
Full time places in reception classes will be available in September of the academic year within which the child becomes five years old.
Although parents have the right to express a preference for Seabridge Primary school, there is no guarantee of a place being offered.
It is Seabridge Primary School policy to try and meet parents’ wishes where possible, however in some cases there may be more applications than there are places available. Admission when oversubscribed is determined by the oversubscription criteria detailed below.
Oversubscription Criteria
If the total number of preferences for admission to Seabridge Primary School exceeds the school’s Published Admission Number (PAN) of 60, the following order of priority is used to allocate the available places. (N.B., after applying the oversubscription criteria, where an applicant can be offered a place at more than one preferred school then they will be offered a place at the school ranked highest on their application.)
In accordance with legislation, children who have a statutory statement of special educational need that names Seabridge Primary must be admitted. This will reduce the number of places available to other applicants.
1) Children in care and children who ceased to be in care because they were adopted (or became subject to a child arrangements order or special guardianship order), including those children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted
2) Children who satisfy 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 Seabridge Primary rather than any other school.
Exceptional circumstances must relate to Seabridge Primary 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 Seabridge Primary rather than any other school.
Test 2: The child would suffer hardship if they were unable to attend Seabridge Primary School setting
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.
3) Children who have an elder brother or sister in attendance at Seabridge Primary School and who will still be attending the school 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 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).
4) Children living within the defined catchment of Seabridge Primary.
5) Children of staff employed at Seabridge Primary School for two or more years, or who will meet a skills shortage.
6) Other children arranged in order of priority according to how near their home addresses are to the main gate of the school, determined by a straight-line measurement as calculated using the Local Authority Geographical Information System.
Where it is not possible to accommodate all children applying for places within a particular category then Seabridge Primary School will allocate the available places in accordance with the remaining criteria. If for instance, all the catchment area children cannot be accommodated, children who are catchment area children and satisfy category (3) will receive offers of a place, followed by children who are catchment area children and satisfy category (4), etc.
If 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.
Additional Notes
Copies of school catchment area maps are available from the school or the Local Authority. There is no charge or cost related to the admission of a child to a school.
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 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 Education, Health and Care Plan that names Seabridge Primary as being the most appropriate to meet the child’s needs must be admitted. This will reduce the number 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 supporting information required in order for the application to be assessed against the published admissions criteria. Seabridge Primary School will not seek to obtain this information on behalf of the applicant.
The Local Authority uses a 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 are determined using the Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) and OS Address Point data.
The requirement for Seabridge Primary School 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, there are permitted exceptions to this legislation which Seabridge Primary School will to observe when considering applications.
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.
If a place is offered on the basis of an address that is subsequently found to be different from a child’s normal and permanent home address 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.
Any Staffordshire child not obtaining a place at any of their 1 or 2 parents preferred schools will be allocated a place at their catchment area school (if places remain available) or the next nearest school with a space available and advised about the independent appeals process.
Deferred Entry to Reception Class
Seabridge Primary School will consider requests from parents to retain a place in the preferred school where the parents wish to defer their child’s entry to a Reception Class until later in the same academic year, or until the term in which the child reaches compulsory school age. The effect is that the place will be held for the child and is not available to be offered to any other child. Where it is possible to offer a place, deferral will be supported if the request is made at the normal time of application. A parent may not defer entry beyond the beginning of the term after the child’s fifth birthday, nor beyond the academic year for which the application was accepted.
Seabridge Primary School will also consider requests from parents who wish their child to attend Reception Class on a part-time basis until the child reaches compulsory school age.
Admissions 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. If places become available after the offer date, they will be offered 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.
Inclusion on Seabridge Primary School waiting list does not mean that a place will eventually become available.
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 listed above.
Children who are the subject of a direction by a local authority to admit or who are allocated to Seabridge Primary School in accordance with the Fair Access Protocol will take precedence over those on the waiting list.
Late Applications
Application forms 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 applicants will be considered only after those applicants who applied by the published closing date.
A late application does not affect the right of appeal or the right to be placed on Seabridge Primary School’s waiting list.
Repeat Applications
Parents do not have the right to a second appeal in respect of Seabridge Primary School for the same academic year unless, in exceptional circumstances, Seabridge Primary School 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 Seabridge Primary School may make an application using the appropriate application form. This application will be processed in the normal way but parents and carers need to be aware that any date set for joining 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.
This Policy is to be read in conjunction with:
- Human Rights Act
- Equal Opportunities Policy
- Disability Discrimination Policy