Windsor Academy Trust

Consultation 2026/2027

Clayton
Hall
2025/2026Newcastle Academy 2025/2026Sir Thomas Boughey 2025/20262024/2025 

Consultation on admission arrangements 2026/2027

As part of our commitment to ensuring transparency and fairness in admissions across all Windsor Academy Trust schools, we are reviewing the admissions policies for the 2026/27 academic year.

Schools are required to review their admissions policies with families and other key groups every seven years. By carrying out this review for all schools at the same time, we can ensure that all members of our school communities have the opportunity to share their views.

Proposed Changes

For some of our schools, there are proposed changes to the admissions policies:

Goldsmith Primary Academy: A change to the oversubscription criteria to remove the rule that gives priority to children attending Goldsmith Primary Nursery. This change aims to ensure all families in the community have fair access to school places.

Great Wyrley Academy: An increase in the number of children allowed to enrol in Year 7each year (the published admission number) from 120 to 150, starting from the 2026/27academic year.

Clayton Hall Academy: A reduction in the published admission number from 200 to 180,starting from the 2026/27 academic year.

Newcastle Academy: A reduction in the published admission number from 140 to 120,starting from the 2026/27 academic year.

Sir Thomas Boughey Academy: A reduction in the published admission number from 162to 120, starting from the 2026/27 academic year.

Schools with No Proposed Changes

Some schools are not suggesting any changes, but we are still consulting as part of this process: 

• Manor Way Primary Academy
• Tenterfields Primary Academy
• Colley Lane Primary Academy
• Milton Primary Academy
• Greenways Primary Academy
• Rivers Primary Academy
• Kingswinford Academy
• Windsor High School and Sixth Form
• Cheslyn Hay Academy
• Windsor Olympus Academy

Share Your Views

We want to hear from parents, carers, and other important people in the community about our admissions policy. You can read all the details of the changes on the Windsor Academy Trust website and share your feedback on our online Google form.

The consultation runs from 12:00 pm on Tuesday 17th December 2024 to 12:00 pm on Tuesday 28th January 2025.

Thank you for taking the time to support this important process. Your views are valued and will help shape our admissions policies to ensure they are fair and inclusive for all.

Kind regards,

Mr A Middleton

Chair of the Board of Directors

On behalf of Windsor Academy Trust 

Proposed admission arrangements 2026/2027

1. Aims

Our admissions policy aims to:

● Explain how to apply for a place at any of the schools in our Trust

● Set out the arrangements at each school for allocating places to the pupils who apply

● Explain how to appeal against a decision not to offer your child a place

2. Legislation and statutory requirements

Our admissions policies are based on the following advice from the Department for Education (DfE):

● School Admissions Code 2021

● School Admission Appeals Code

We are required by our funding agreements to comply with these codes, and with the law relating to admissions as set out in the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.

This policy complies with our funding agreements and articles of association.

3. Definitions

The normal admissions round is the period during which parents can apply for state-funded school places at the school’s normal point of entry, using the common application form provided by their home local authority.

Looked after children are children who, at the time of making an application to a school, are:

● In the care of a local authority, or

● Being provided with accommodation by a local authority in exercise of its social services  functions

Previously looked after children are children who were looked after, but ceased to be so because they:

● Were adopted under the Adoption Act 1976 or the Adoption and Children Act 2002, or

● Became subject to a child arrangements order, or

● Became subject to a special guardianship order

This includes children who appear to have been in state care outside of England and have ceased to be in state care due to being adopted.

A child reaches compulsory school age on the prescribed day following his or her fifth birthday (or on his or her fifth birthday if it falls on a prescribed day). The prescribed days are 31 December, 31March and 31 August.

4. How to apply

4.1 Applications process for normal admissions round - Reception and Year 7

For applications to Reception and Year 7 in the normal admissions round you should use the application form provided by your home local authority (regardless of which local authority the schools are in). You can use this form to express your preference for schools in rank order.

If applicants are required to fill in a supplementary information form for any of our schools, this will be specified. Supplementary information forms can be found within this policy.

You will receive an offer for a school place directly from your home local authority.

4.2 Applications process for normal admissions round - Year 12

For applications to Year 12 in the normal admissions round you should use the application form provided by the school directly.

You will receive an offer for a school place directly from the school.

5. Requests for admission outside of the normal age group

Parents are entitled to request a place for their child outside of their normal age group. Any such request should be made in writing to the school.

Decisions on requests for admission outside the normal age group will be made on the basis of the circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the child concerned. In accordance with the School Admissions Code, this will include taking account of:

● Parents’ views

● Information about the child’s academic, social and emotional development

● Where relevant, their medical history and the views of a medical professional

● Whether they have previously been educated out of their normal age group

● Whether they may naturally have fallen into a lower age group if it were not for being born prematurely

● The headteacher’s views

Wherever possible, requests for admission outside a child’s normal age group will be processed as part of the main admissions round. They will be considered on the basis of the admission arrangements laid out in this policy, including the oversubscription criteria. Applications will not be treated as a lower priority if parents have made a request for a child to be admitted outside the normal age group.

Parents will always be informed of the reasons for any decision on the year group a child should be admitted to. Parents do not have a right to appeal if they are offered a place at the school but it is not in their preferred age group.

6. Allocation of places

6.1 Admission number

Our schools have the following published admission numbers (PAN):

For primary entry into Reception

● Manor Way Primary Academy: 30

● Tenterfields Primary Academy: 30

● Colley Lane Primary Academy: 60

● Milton Primary Academy: 60

● Greenways Primary Academy: 30

● Goldsmith Primary Academy: 60

● Rivers Primary Academy: 60

For secondary entry into Year 7:

● Kingswinford Academy: 180

● Windsor High School and Sixth Form: 280

● Cheslyn Hay Academy: 224

● Great Wyrley Academy: 150

● Clayton Hall Academy: 180

● Newcastle Academy: 120

● Sir Thomas Boughey Academy: 120

● Windsor Olympus Academy: 180

For Sixth Form entry into Year 12:

● Windsor High School and Sixth Form: 180

● Aspire Sixth Form (Joint Sixth Form of Cheslyn Hay Academy & Great Wyrley Academy): 150

6.2 Selective places

If the school offers selective places for aptitude, the admission requirements for these places and the application process will be specified in the individual admission arrangements found from pages 6 to 47.

6.3 Oversubscription criteria

The following criteria apply to all of the schools in our Trust:

All children whose Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) names one of our schools will be admitted to that school before any other places are allocated.

If the school is not oversubscribed, all applicants will be offered a place.

In the event that the school receives more applications than the number of places it has available,places will be allocated to those children who meet any of the specified oversubscription criteria, in order, until all places have been allocated. Each school's oversubscription criteria is specified in the individual admission arrangements found from pages 6 to 47.

6.4 Challenging behaviour

We will not refuse to admit a child to any of our schools on behavioural grounds in the normal admissions round or at any point in the normal year of entry. We may refuse admission in certain cases where the specific criteria listed in the School Admissions Code (paragraph 3.8) apply, i.e. where section 87 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 is engaged.

We may refuse admission for an in-year applicant for a year group that isn’t the normal point of entry, only in such a case that we have good reason to believe that the child may display challenging behaviour that may adversely affect the provision we can offer. In this case, we will refer these pupils to the Fair Access Protocol. We will not refuse admission on these grounds to looked after children, previously looked after children and children whose Education, Health and Care Plans names the school.

6.5 Fair Access Protocol

Each school within the Trust participates in the relevant local authority Fair Access Protocol. This helps make sure that all children, including those who are unplaced and vulnerable, or having difficulty in securing a school place in-year, get access to a school place as quickly as possible.

7. Appeals

7.1 Appeal process for normal admissions round - Reception and Year 7

If your child’s application for a Reception or Year 7 place at one of our schools is unsuccessful, you will be informed by your home local authority to whom you applied why admission was refused and given information about the process for hearing appeals. The letter you will receive will advise how to appeal against the decision.

Further information on how to appeal and the appeals timetable will be published by 28 February 2026 on the Trust’s and each school's website.

7.2 Appeal process for normal admissions round - Year 12

If your child’s application for a Year 12 place at one of our schools is unsuccessful, you will be entitled to appeal to an Independent Appeals Panel. Further information about the appeals process will be provided by the school directly.

8. In-year admissions

Parents can apply for a place for their child at any time outside the normal admissions round. As is the case in the normal admissions round, all children whose Education, Health and Care Plan names one of our schools will be admitted. Likewise, if there are spaces available in the year group you are applying for, your child will be offered a place.

If there are no spaces available at the time of your application, your child’s name will be added to a waiting list for the relevant year group. When a space becomes available, it will be filled by one of the pupils on the waiting list in accordance with the school’s oversubscription criteria. Priority will not be given to children on the basis that they have been on the waiting list the longest.

To find out more about applying for an in-year admission please visit the relevant local authority website where you will find information on the application process:

● Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council

For Manor Way Primary Academy, Tenterfields Primary Academy, Colley Lane Primary Academy, Kingswinford Academy and Windsor High School and Sixth Form

● Staffordshire County Council

For Cheslyn Hay Academy and Great Wyrley Academy

● Stoke-on-Trent City Council

For Milton Primary Academy, Greenways Primary Academy, Clayton Hall Academy, Newcastle Academy and Sir Thomas Boughey Academy

● Walsall Council

For Goldsmith Primary Academy and Rivers Primary Academy

● Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

For Windsor Olympus Academy

9. Monitoring arrangements

This policy and each school’s admission arrangements will be reviewed and approved (‘determined’) by the Windsor Academy Trust Board of Directors every year.

Whenever changes to admission arrangements are proposed (except where the change is an increase to the agreed admission number or to give effect to a mandatory change), the Board of Directors will publicly consult on these changes.

The Board of Directors will consult on the admission arrangements at least once every seven years, even if there have been no changes during that period.

CLAYTON HALL ACADEMY

Clayton Lane, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, ST5 3DN

Local Authority: Staffordshire County Council

https://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Education/Admissions-secondary/home.aspx

Admission Number

The published admission number (PAN) for Year 7 at Clayton Hall Academy is 180.

All children whose Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) names Clayton Hall Academy will be admitted to the school before any other places are allocated.

Oversubscription Criteria

The following criteria will be used to allocate Year 7 places at Clayton Hall Academy when oversubscribed, i.e. we receive more applications than spaces available:

● First priority for admission shall be given to 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 have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.

● Second priority for admission shall be given to children whose current exceptional circumstances 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 which requires regular and sustained medical treatment or by other extreme 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 and be relevant to the preferred school and the individual child, i.e. the exceptional circumstances of the child, not the economic or social circumstances of the parent/carer. They should be supported by a recent professional’s report (obtained by the applicant and provided when the application is submitted), e.g. social worker. This report must clearly explain why the child’s circumstances are exceptional and why it is considered best that they attend the preferred school rather than any other school.

Test 2: the child will suffer hardship if they were unable to attend the preferred school rather than any other school.

Hardship means severe suffering of any kind, not merely difficulty, inconvenience or mild to moderate emotional distress, which is likely to be experienced as a result of the child attending a different school. Applicants must provide detailed information (which may be included within the professional’s report) detailing both the type and severity of any likely hardship at the time of application.

● Third priority for admission shall be given to children who have an elder sibling in attendance at the Academy and who will still be attending the school at the proposed admission date. (For the application to be prioritised under this criteria the children must be living at the same home address for the majority of the school week 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.)

● Fourth priority for admission shall be given to children living within the catchment area.

● Fifth priority for admission shall be given to 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 Staffordshire County Council 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 i.e. fifth and sixth priority.

Tie Break

If Staffordshire County Council cannot distinguish between applicants using the criteria listed, e.g 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

● It is the applicant’s responsibility to provide any supportive information required in order for the application to be assessed against the above published admissions criteria, we will not seek to obtain any supportive information on behalf of an applicant in support of a school application.

● In accordance with legislation, children who have a statutory statement of special educational need or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) that names the Academy as being the most appropriate to meet the child’s needs must be admitted. This will reduce the amount 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 arrangements orders are defined in Section 8 of the Children Act 1989, as amended by Section 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 or individual schools. www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Education/Admissions-secondary/Catchment-areas.aspx

● 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 and provided by the Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) and OS address point data.

● 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 authority and.or school is not in a position to intervene in disputes between parents over school applications and will request that these are resolved privately.

● 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.

● 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 23 January 2026. 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.

● Any Staffordshire child not obtaining a place at any of their parent’s preferred schools will be allocated an alternative school place 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 31st December 2026. No other waiting lists will be maintained Staffordshire County Council will operate this waiting list on behalf of the school.

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 to 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.

For late applications made after the time that is practicable because places have already been allocated, are shortly to be allocated, 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.

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, Staffordshire County Council 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.

NEWCASTLE ACADEMY

Gallowstree Lane, newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, ST5 2QS

Local Authority: Staffordshire County Council

https://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Education/Admissions-secondary/home.aspx

Admission Number

The published admission number (PAN) for Year 7 at Newcastle Academy is 120.

All children whose Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) names Newcastle Academy will be admitted to the school before any other places are allocated.

Oversubscription Criteria

The following criteria will be used to allocate Year 7 places at Newcastle Academy when oversubscribed, i.e. we receive more applications than spaces available:

● First priority for admission shall be given to 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 have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.

● Second priority for admission shall be given to children whose current exceptional circumstances 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 which requires regular and sustained medical treatment or by other extreme 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 and be relevant to the preferred school and the individual child, i.e. the exceptional circumstances of the child, not the economic or social circumstances of the parent/carer. They should be supported by a recent professional’s report (obtained by the applicant and provided when the application is submitted), e.g. social worker. This report must clearly explain why the child’s circumstances are exceptional and why it is considered best that they attend the preferred school rather than any other school.

Test 2: the child will suffer hardship if they were unable to attend the preferred school rather than any other school.

Hardship means severe suffering of any kind, not merely difficulty, inconvenience or mild to moderate emotional distress, which is likely to be experienced as a result of the child attending a different school. Applicants must provide detailed information (which may be included within the professional’s report) detailing both the type and severity of any likely hardship at the time of application.

● Third priority for admission shall be given to children who have an elder sibling in attendance at the Academy and who will still be attending the school at the proposed admission date. (For the application to be prioritised under this criteria the children must be living at the same home address for the majority of the school week 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.)

● Fourth priority for admission shall be given to children living within the catchment area.

● Fifth priority for admission shall be given to 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 Staffordshire County Council 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 i.e. fifth and sixth priority.

Tie Break

If Staffordshire County Council cannot distinguish between applicants using the criteria listed, e.g 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

● It is the applicant’s responsibility to provide any supportive information required in order for the application to be assessed against the above published admissions criteria, we will not seek to obtain any supportive information on behalf of an applicant in support of a school application.

● In accordance with legislation, children who have a statutory statement of special educational need or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) that names the Academy as being the most appropriate to meet the child’s needs must be admitted. This will reduce the amount 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 arrangements orders are defined in Section 8 of the Children Act 1989, as amended by Section 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 or individual schools. www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Education/Admissions-secondary/Catchment-areas.aspx

● 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 and provided by the Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) and OS address point data.

● 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 authority and.or school is not in a position to intervene in disputes between parents over school applications and will request that these are resolved privately.

● 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.

● 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 23 January 2026. 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.

● Any Staffordshire child not obtaining a place at any of their parent’s preferred schools will be allocated an alternative school place 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 31st December 2026. No other waiting lists will be maintained Staffordshire County Council will operate this waiting list on behalf of the school.

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 to 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.

For late applications made after the time that is practicable because places have already been allocated, are shortly to be allocated, 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.

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, Staffordshire County Council 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.

SIR THOMAS BOUGHEY ACADEMY

Station Road, Halmer End, Stoke-on-Trent, ST7 8AP

Local Authority: Staffordshire County Council

https://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Education/Admissions-secondary/home.aspx

Admission Number

The published admission number (PAN) for Year 7 at Sir Thomas Boughey Academy is 120.

All children whose Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) names Sir Thomas Boughey Academy will be admitted to the school before any other places are allocated.

Oversubscription Criteria

The following criteria will be used to allocate Year 7 places at Sir Thomas Boughey Academy when oversubscribed, i.e. we receive more applications than spaces available:

● First priority for admission shall be given to 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 have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.

● Second priority for admission shall be given to children whose current exceptional circumstances 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 which requires regular and sustained medical treatment or by other extreme 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 and be relevant to the preferred school and the individual child, i.e. the exceptional circumstances of the child, not the economic or social circumstances of the parent/carer. They should be supported by a recent professional’s report (obtained by the applicant and provided when the application is submitted), e.g. social worker. This report must clearly explain why the child’s circumstances are exceptional and why it is considered best that they attend the preferred school rather than any other school.

Test 2: the child will suffer hardship if they were unable to attend the preferred school rather than any other school.

Hardship means severe suffering of any kind, not merely difficulty, inconvenience or mild to moderate emotional distress, which is likely to be experienced as a result of the child attending a different school. Applicants must provide detailed information (which may be included within the professional’s report) detailing both the type and severity of any likely hardship at the time of application.

● Third priority for admission shall be given to children who have an elder sibling in attendance at the Academy and who will still be attending the school at the proposed admission date. (For the application to be prioritised under this criteria the children must be living at the same home address for the majority of the school week 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.)

● Fourth priority for admission shall be given to children living within the catchment area.

● Fifth priority for admission shall be given to 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 Staffordshire County Council 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 i.e. fifth and sixth priority.

Tie Break

If Staffordshire County Council cannot distinguish between applicants using the criteria listed, e.g 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

● It is the applicant’s responsibility to provide any supportive information required in order for the application to be assessed against the above published admissions criteria, we will not seek to obtain any supportive information on behalf of an applicant in support of a school application.

● In accordance with legislation, children who have a statutory statement of special educational need or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) that names the Academy as being the most appropriate to meet the child’s needs must be admitted. This will reduce the amount 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 arrangements orders are defined in Section 8 of the Children Act 1989, as amended by Section 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 or individual schools. www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Education/Admissions-secondary/Catchment-areas.aspx

● 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 and provided by the Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) and OS address point data.

● 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 authority and.or school is not in a position to intervene in disputes between parents over school applications and will request that these are resolved privately.

● 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.

● 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 23 January 2026. 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.

● Any Staffordshire child not obtaining a place at any of their parent’s preferred schools will be allocated an alternative school place 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 31st December 2026. No other waiting lists will be maintained Staffordshire County Council will operate this waiting list on behalf of the school.

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 to 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.

For late applications made after the time that is practicable because places have already been allocated, are shortly to be allocated, 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.

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, Staffordshire County Council 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.

Clayton Hall Academy - Admission arrangements 2025/2026

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.

In accordance with legislation, children who have an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names a 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 Clayton Hall Academy’s policy to try and meet parents’ wishes where possible, however in some cases there may be more applications than there are places available.

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

Oversubscription Criteria 

If the total number of preferences for admission to a school exceeds the school’s Published Admission Number (PAN) of 200, 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.) 

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 England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. See additional note * below. 

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.

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. 

3)         Children who have an elder sibling in attendance at Clayton Hall Academy 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 the preferred school (see additional note * below) 

5)         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 Governing Body/Admitting 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 (5). 

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. 

Additional Notes 

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 Academy will not seek to obtain this information on behalf of the applicant. 

* 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 arrangements 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 or individual schools. 

**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. 

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. 

Home address 

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 to confirm that this is the case. The local authority is not in a position to intervene in disputes between parents over school applications and will request that these are resolved privately. 

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 a child’s home address changes during the admissions process it is the responsibility of the parent/carer to inform the Academy/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 25 January 2025. 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. 

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 31 December 2025 (the autumn term of admission). No other waiting lists will be maintained.  Staffordshire County Council will operate this waiting list on behalf of the Academy. 

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 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 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 a school’s waiting list. 

For late applications made after the time that is practicable because places have already been allocated, are shortly to be allocated, 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. 

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.  

They will take into account the circumstances of the case including the parent’s views and information provided; information about the child’s academic, social, and emotional development; where relevant, their medical history and the views of any medical professionals; whether they have previously been educated out of their normal age group; and whether they may naturally have fallen into a lower age group if it were not for being born prematurely as well as views of the headteacher of the community or voluntary controlled school concerned. Parents do not have the right to insist that their child is admitted to a particular year group.

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 Clayton Hall Academy may make an application using the appropriate Staffordshire County Council application form, sent directly to the school. 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 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.

Newcastle Academy - Admission arrangements 2025/2026

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 Newcastle Academy’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 schools is determined by the oversubscription criteria given below.

Oversubscription Criteria

If the total number of preferences for admission to a school exceeds the school’s Published Admission Number (PAN), 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.)

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 instate care outside England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.

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.

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.

3) Children who have an elder sibling in attendance at the preferred 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 the preferred school

5) 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 Governing Body/Admitting 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 (5).

Additional Notes

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

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 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 Authority will not seek to obtain this information of 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 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 to confirm that this is the case. The local authority is not in a position to intervene in disputes between parents over school applications and will request that these are resolved privately.

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 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. If places become available after the offer 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 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 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 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 Newcastle Academy may make an application using the appropriate application form sent directly to the school. 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 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.

Sir Thomas Boughey Academy - Admission arrangements 2025/2026

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 Sir Thomas Boughey Academy’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 schools is determined by the oversubscription criteria given below.

Oversubscription Criteria

If the total number of preferences for admission to a school exceeds the school’s Published Admission Number (PAN), 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.)

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 instate care outside England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.

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.

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.

3) Children who have an elder sibling in attendance at the preferred 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 the preferred school

5) 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 Governing Body/Admitting 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 (5).

Additional Notes

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

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 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 Authority will not seek to obtain this information of 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 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 to confirm that this is the case. The local authority is not in a position to intervene in disputes between parents over school applications and will request that these are resolved privately.

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 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. If places become available after the offer 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 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 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 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 Sir Thomas Boughey Academy may make an application using the appropriate application form sent directly to the school. 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 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 2024/2025, 2023/2024 & 2022/2023

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 United Endeavour 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 schools is determined by the oversubscription criteria given below.

Oversubscription Criteria

If the total number of preferences for admission to a school exceeds the school’s Published Admission Number (PAN), 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.)

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 England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.

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.

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.

3) Children who have an elder sibling in attendance at the preferred 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 the preferred school

5) 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 Governing Body/Admitting 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 (5).

Additional Notes

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

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 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 Authority will not seek to obtain this information of 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 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 to confirm that this is the case. The local authority is not in a position to intervene in disputes between parents over school applications and will request that these are resolved privately.

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 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. If places become available after the offer 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 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 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 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 Governing Body taking 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 Transfer” Arrangements

Parents or carers seeking to transfer to The United Endeavour Trust may make an application using the appropriate application form sent directly to the school. 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 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 The United Endeavour Trust Published Admission Numbers 

A school’s Published Admission Number (PAN) reflects the number of children to be admitted at the normal age of entry and should only be exceeded in exceptional circumstances and with prior agreement from the Local Authority