Tamworth Enterprise College

Admission arrangements 2025/2026, 2024/2025, 2023/2024

Academies Enterprise Trust (AET) is the Admission Authority for Tamworth Enterprise College (the Academy).

Tamworth Enterprise College has a Published Admission Number (PAN) of 180 for entry into Year 7. The Academy will accordingly admit 180 pupils to Year 7 if sufficient applications are received.  All applicants will be admitted if 180 or fewer apply.

If there are more than 180 applications, and the Academy is oversubscribed, then after applicants with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan which names the academy have been admitted, priority for any remaining places will be given to those children who meet the oversubscription criteria set out in the priority order below.

Oversubscription Criteria

1. Looked after children and previously looked after children (please see definitions below). 
2. Children resident in the catchment area.
3. Children with a sibling (brother or sister) who will still be on roll at the Academy at the time of admission.
4. Children with exceptional medical or social needs.
5.  Distance - children resident closest to the Academy.

Tie-breaker: Where two or more applicants have equal priority for the last available place (except for twins and children from multiple births) the final tie-breaker will be random allocation, which will be independently verified. N.B. Should the PAN be reached in any criterion before the final oversubscription criterion, then distance will be used to prioritise applicants, with those resident closest to the school receiving the higher priority.

Twins and Multiple Births

Where the parent has made the same preferences of school and, through the normal operation of the admission arrangements, the last available place has been allocated to one twin or child from a multiple birth, the other twin or children from the multiple birth will be offered a place at the Academy. In such circumstances the PAN would be exceeded.

Waiting list

If the Academy receives more applications than there are places available, a waiting list will be maintained by the Academy until the last school day of the summer term. Places from the waiting list will be offered in the order set out in the oversubscription criteria and not in the order that the applications were received. After each added child, the list will be ranked again in line with the published oversubscription criteria.

The Academy works in accordance with the Fair Access Protocol held by the Local Authority (Staffordshire County Council); should a vulnerable child within the protocol require a place at the Academy, they will take precedence over any child 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 applications will be considered only after those applicants who applied by the published closing date.

In-Year Admissions

In-year admissions are applications made outside the normal round of admissions. The Academy will coordinate its own in-year admissions and an application for in-year admission should be made directly to the Academy. On receipt of an in-year application, the Academy will notify the Local Authority of both the application and its outcome, to allow the Local Authority to keep up to date with the availability of school places within the authority.

Admission outside the normal age group 

Parents may seek a place for their child outside their normal (chronological) age group, for example, if the child is exceptionally gifted and talented or has experienced problems such as ill health.

Parents do not have the right to insist that their child is admitted to a particular year group. The Academy will admit children outside their normal age group only in exceptional circumstances. If parents wish their child to be admitted outside their normal age group they must still make their application alongside children applying at the normal age and must make their request for admission outside the normal age group clear on their Application Form to the Local Authority for a school place.  At the same time, parents should also write to the Principal at the address below to request admission out of the normal age group. Parents 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. The decision made by AET will be based on the individual circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the child concerned. In making the decision, AET will consider the views of the Principal.

The Academy can be contacted at the following address:

The Principal

Tamworth Enterprise College

Birds Bush Road

Tamworth

Staffordshire B77 2NE

Tel:        01827 28559

reception@tamworthenterprisecollege.org

Appeals

Parents have a right to appeal the decision of the admission authority, AET, to refuse their child a place at the Academy. AET delegates the administration of appeals to the Academy. Parents who wish to appeal the decision of the admission authority to refuse their child a place at the Academy may apply in writing to the Academy at the address above. Parents have at least 20 school days from the date of their refusal letter to submit their written appeal and should explain clearly the reason(s) for their appeal. Appeals will be heard by an independent panel and will normally be held within 40 school days of the closing date for receiving the notice of appeal.

Some Definitions

Looked after children

The highest priority in the oversubscription criteria must be given to looked after children and previously looked after children. A looked after child is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (see the definition in Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989) at the time of making an application to a school.

A previously looked after child is a child who was looked after, but ceased to be so because they were adopted or became subject to a child arrangement order (formerly known as a residence order) or a special guardianship order immediately following having been looked after, including those who appear to the Academy to have been in state care outside England (i.e. in the care of or accommodated by a public authority, religious organisation or any other provider whose sole/main purpose is to benefit society) and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. The admission authority may request a copy of the adoption order, child arrangement order or special guardianship order and a letter from the local authority/care provider that last looked after the child confirming that he or she was looked after immediately prior to that order being made.

An adoption order is an order under Section 46 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002.  

A child arrangement order settles the arrangements as to the person with whom the child is to live under 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 arrangement order.

Section 14A of the Children Act 1989 defines a special guardianship order as an order which appoints one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian(s).

Resident

The normal family home is taken as the address where the child is resident and at which the person or persons with parental responsibility for the child resides. Where parents live at separate addresses and have joint custody, the address used will be the one where the child spends the main part of the school week (e.g. Sunday night to Thursday night inclusive). Where responsibility for a child is shared evenly, the academy will follow the process used by the Local Authority. Childcare arrangements involving relatives’ addresses do not qualify as normal family addresses for this purpose unless there is a Child Arrangement Order in place.

For children of UK service personnel and crown servants, the Academy will not refuse to process an application or refuse a place solely because the family do not yet have an intended address, or do not yet live in the area. The Academy will use the address at which the child will live when applying oversubscription criteria, as long as some evidence of their intended address is provided. The Academy will use a Unit or quartering address as the home address where requested.

Sibling (brother or sister)

Sibling is a brother or sister, half brother or sister, adopted brother or sister, step-brother or sister, foster brother or sister or the child of the parent/carer’s partner living in the same family unit in the same family household and address who attends the Academy in any year group. Children residing in the same household as part of an extended family, such as cousins, will not be treated as siblings.

Exceptional Medical or Social Needs

For an applicant to be considered under the exceptional medical or social needs criterion the parent must indicate strong reasons for the child needing to attend this particular Academy. Applications will only be considered under this category if they are supported by a written statement from an independent professional person such as a doctor, health visitor, social worker, or Education Welfare Officer who knows about the child and supports their application to the Academy

The information provided must show clearly why Tamworth Enterprise College is the only school that can meet the needs of the child and any difficulties if alternative schools were offered. The information must confirm the exceptional medical or social need and demonstrate how this particular academy is the only school that can meet the defined needs of the child. Evidence relating to the social or medical circumstances of the parent or other family member may be considered, but only if this impacts on the child and their need to attend this specific Academy. In addition to making it known on the Local Authority’s Common Application Form when requesting priority for a place under this category, parents must also submit all relevant information, including professional evidence, directly to the Academy at the address above by the published closing date for secondary school applications.

Distance

The distance measure between the applicant’s home and the Academy is provided by the Local Authority and is calculated on the basis of a straight-line measurement between the applicant’s home address and the academy. 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 Academy. 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.