Ryecroft Middle School
Admission arrangements 2025/2026, 2024/2025, 2023/2024
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 Ryecroft C.E. Middle School.
It is the governing body’s policy to try and meet parents’ wishes where possible, however in some cases there may be more applications for Ryecroft C.E. Middle School than there are places available.
Oversubscription criteria
If the total number of preferences for admission to a school exceeds the school’s published admission number (60), the following order of priority is used to allocate the available places.
- 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 England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted (see additional note below *).
- Pupils with exceptional circumstances either on medical or social grounds. Applications must be supported by a professional report stating exactly what circumstances provide the grounds for medical or social inclusion and why the child must attend Ryecroft and no other school.
- Children who have an elder sibling in attendance at Ryecroft C.E. Middle School and who will still be attending the school 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.)
- Children living within the catchment area of Ryecroft C.E. Middle School (see additional note below**).
- Pupils from recognised feeder schools:
- Dove C.E. Academy, Rocester
- All Saints CE Academy, Denstone
- St Peter’s CE Academy, Alton
- Pupils who attend a school within The Uttoxeter Learning Multi-Academy Trust:
- Hutchinson Memorial C.E. First School, Checkley
- All Saints C.E. First School, Church Leigh
- Picknalls First School, Uttoxeter
- Richard Clarke First School, Abbots Bromley
- Children of members of staff at Ryecroft C.E. Middle School in either or both of the following circumstances:
- Where the member of staff has been employed at the school for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made, and/or
- The member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage.
- Pupils whose parents express a wish for a Church of England education for their child, based on:
- Applicants being able to provide a copy of a certificate of Baptism or certificate of Thanksgiving or Dedication for the Gift of a Child.
- Involvement in the past two years by the pupil or parents in the work and worship of a Christian Church. Applicants will be asked to identify themselves as being either:
- known to the church
- attached to the church
- at the heart of the church
- Guidance on these categories will be available on a Church Support Form which should be signed by a recognised representative of the Christian Church of which the pupil or parent is a part. The Church Support Form is a separate form which is attached to this policy or available from the School office. It is essential that those applying on the grounds of religious preference request and complete this form. The form needs to be submitted at the time of application
- 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 by the local authority’s geographical information system (see additional note *** below).
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
*Children in care means children who are looked after by a local authority in accordance with section 22 (1) of the Children Act 1989 and who is (a) in care of a Local Authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a Local Authority in the exercise of their social services functions (see definition in Section 22 (1) of the Children Act 1989) at the time of making an application to a school. This includes children who were adopted under the Adoption Act 1976 (see section 12 adoption orders) and children who were adopted under Adoption and Children Act 2002 (see section 46 adoption orders).
Child arrangement orders are defined in s.8 of the Children Act 1989, as amended by s.12 of the Children and Families Act 2014. Child arrangements orders replace residence orders and any residence order in force prior to 22 April 2014 is deemed to be a child arrangements order.
Section 14A of the Children Act 1989 defines a special guardianship order as an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian (or special guardians).
**Copies of school catchment area maps are available from the local authority.
*** Ryecroft C.E. Middle School 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 is determined and provided by the local land and property gazetteer (LLPG) and OS address point data.
In accordance with legislation, children who have an Education Health Care plan (EHCP) that names Ryecroft C.E. Middle School as being the most appropriate to meet the child’s needs must be admitted to that school. This will reduce the number of places available to other applicants.
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 school will not seek to obtain this information on behalf of the applicant.
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 school 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 immediately. Where there is a proposed house move taking place during the admissions process the local authority will only accept the revised address for purposes of allocation where parents/carers can provide documentary evidence of the move by 11 March 2022. 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.
Any Staffordshire child not obtaining a place at any of their 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.
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 31 December of the year 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 Ryecroft C.E. Middle 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 listed above.
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 (FAP) 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 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 Governing Body who will take into account the circumstances of the case and views of the headteacher. Parents do not have the right to insist that their child is admitted to a particular year group.
In Year Admission arrangements
You will need to complete an in year application form.
- All sections of the application form must be completed.
- The form should be returned directly to the school office at Ryecroft C.E. Middle School.
- We will then notify you of the outcome
This application will be processed in line with the procedure outlined in the determined admission arrangements and 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.
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 Ryecroft C.E. Middle School.
It is the governing body’s policy to try and meet parents’ wishes where possible, however in some cases there may be more applications for Ryecroft C.E. Middle School than there are places available.
Oversubscription criteria
If the total number of preferences for admission to a school exceeds the school’s published admission number (60), the following order of priority is used to allocate the available places.
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).
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 Ryecroft C.E. Middle 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 Ryecroft C.E. Middle School rather than any other school.
Test 2: the child would suffer hardship if they were unable to attend Ryecroft C.E. Middle 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.
3) Children who have an elder sibling in attendance at Ryecroft C.E. Middle School and who will still be attending the school 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.)
4) Children living within the catchment area of Ryecroft C.E. Middle School.
5) Children who attend certain primary schools defined as major contributory schools. (See additional notes below).
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 by the local authority’s geographical information system.
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.
In accordance with legislation, children who have an Education Health Care plan (EHCP) that names Ryecroft C.E. Middle School as being the most appropriate to meet the child’s needs must be admitted to that school. This will reduce the number of places available to other applicants.
Children in care means children who are looked after by a local authority in accordance with section 22 (1) of the Children Act 1989 and who is (a) in care of a Local Authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a Local Authority in the exercise of their social services functions (see definition in Section 22 (1) of the Children Act 1989) at the time of making an application to a school. This includes children who were adopted under the Adoption Act 1976 (see section 12 adoption orders) and children who were adopted under Adoption and Children Act 2002 (see section 46 adoption orders).
Child arrangement orders are defined in s.8 of the Children Act 1989, as amended by s.12 of the Children and Families Act 2014. Child arrangements orders replace residence orders and any residence order in force prior to 22 April 2014 is deemed to be a child arrangements order.
Section 14A of the Children Act 1989 defines a special guardianship order as an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian (or special guardians).
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 school will not seek to obtain this information on behalf of the applicant.
Ryecroft C.E. Middle School 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 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 school 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 immediately. Where there is a proposed house move taking place during the admissions process the local authority will only accept the revised address for purposes of allocation where parents/carers can provide documentary evidence of the move by 24 January 2020. 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.
Any Staffordshire child not obtaining a place at any of their 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.
Category (5), major contributory schools for Ryecroft C.E. Middle School
- Dove C.E. (VC) First School
- All Saints CE Academy, Denstone
- St Peter’s CE Academy, Alton
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 Ryecroft C.E. Middle 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 listed above.
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 (FAP) 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 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 Governing Body who will take into account the circumstances of the case and views of the headteacher. Parents do not have the right to insist that their child is admitted to a particular year group.