Blessed William Howard Catholic High School

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

Blessed William Howard Catholic High School is part of the Painsley Catholic Academy MAC. The admissions authority for the school is the Board of Directors of The Painsley Catholic Academy MAC who has responsibility for admissions to this school. The Board of Directors has delegated responsibility for the administration of the admissions process to the Local Governing Body of Blessed William Howard Catholic High School. 

The admissions process for Blessed William Howard is part of the Staffordshire Local Authority co-ordinated admissions scheme. To apply for a place at Blessed William Howard in the normal admissions round, an application must be made using the school admission application process of the local authority in which you live naming Blessed William Howard on the application form. Applications need to be made by 31^st October. A Supplementary Information Form (SIF) must also be completed and returned directly to the school by the same date (see Note 2).

All applications which are submitted on time will be considered at the same time, after the closing date.

You will be advised of the outcome of your application on 1^st March, or the next working day, by the local authority on behalf of the school.

Please note that throughout this policy, the term parent means all natural parents, any person who is not a parent but has parental responsibility for a child and any person who has care of a child.

The ethos of this school is Catholic. The school was founded by the Catholic Church to provide education for children of Catholic families. Wherever there are more applications than places available, priority will be given to Catholic children in accordance with the oversubscription criteria listed below. The school is conducted by its Board of Directors as part of the Catholic Church in accordance with its Articles of Association and seeks at all times to be a witness to Our Lord Jesus Christ. 

As a Catholic school, we aim to provide a Catholic education for all our pupils. At a Catholic school, Catholic doctrine and practice permeate every aspect of the school’s activity. It is essential that the Catholic character of the school’s education be fully supported by all families in the school. We therefore hope that all parents will give their full, unreserved and positive support for the aims and ethos of the school. This does not affect the right of an applicant who is not Catholic to apply for and be admitted to a place at the school in accordance with the admission arrangements.

The Local Governing Body is the admissions authority and has responsibility for admissions to this school. The Local Governing Body has set its admission number at 186 pupils to be admitted to Year 7 in the school year which begins in September. (See Note 1 below)

For the purposes of this policy, parish boundaries are as shown on the Archdiocese of Birmingham parish boundary map which can be accessed at http://www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk/parish-map/ and will be applied to the admission arrangements for the academic year. A link to this map is also available on the school website on the Admissions page.

Oversubscription Criteria for Years 7 - 11

If the number of applications exceeds the admission number, the Local Governing Body will give priority to applications in accordance with the criteria listed, provided that the Local Governing Body are made aware of that application before decisions on admissions are made (see Note 1 below). In all categories, priority will be given firstly to those who have a brother or sister (see Note 4 below) attending Blessed William Howard Catholic High School at the time of admission and then secondly to children of staff who have been employed at Blessed William Howard Catholic High School for at least 2 years or less than 2 years where they were employed to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage (this applies to teaching and non-teaching staff) and then thirdly by distance from the home address to the college (see Note 6 below).

1. Baptised Catholic children (see Note 2 below) who are looked after or previously looked after (See Note 3 below)
2. Baptised Catholic children (see Note 2 below) currently attending a Catholic feeder school (see Note 5 below)
3. Baptised Catholic children who live in a feeder parish area (See Note 5 below)
4. Other Baptised Catholic children (see note 2 below)
5. Non-Catholic children who are looked after or previously looked after (See Note 3 below)
6. Non-Catholic children currently attending a Catholic feeder school (see note 5 below)
7. Other Non-Catholic children.

Note 1

The admission of pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan is dealt with by a completely separate procedure. Children with an Education, Health and Care Plan that names the school must be admitted. Where this takes place before the allocation of places under these arrangements this will reduce the number of places available to other children. 

An Education, Health and Care Plan is a plan made by the local authority under section 37 of the Children and Families Act 2014, specifying the special educational provision required for a child

Note 2

In all categories, for a child to be considered as Catholic, evidence of Catholic Baptism or Reception into the Church will be required. For a definition of a Baptised Catholic, see the Appendix. Those who face difficulties in producing written evidence of Catholic Baptism or Reception into the Church should contact their Parish Priest.

Parents making an application for a Catholic child should also complete a Supplementary Information Form (SIF) which should be returned directly to the school. If you do not provide the information required in the Supplementary Information Form and return it by the closing date, together with all supporting documentation, this is likely to affect the criteria that your child is placed into, which is likely to affect your child’s chance of being offered a place at this school.

For the purposes of this policy, a looked after child living with a family where at least one of the carers is Catholic will be considered as Catholic. The carer must forward a copy of their own Catholic Baptismal or Reception certificate directly to the school in order for this priority to be given to the child as failure to do so will result in the looked after child being ranked as a non-Catholic

Note 3

A “looked after child” has the same meaning as in section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989, and means any child who is (a) in the care of the local authority or (b) being provided with accommodation by them in the exercise of their social services functions (eg children with foster parents) at the time of making the application to the school.  A “previously looked after child” is a child was looked after, but ceased to be so because he or she was adopted or became subject to a child arrangements order or special guardianship order and includes those children who appear (to the Board of Directors) to have been in state care outside England and ceased to be in state case as a result of being adopted.

For the purposes of this policy, a looked after child living with a family where at least one of the carers is Catholic will be considered as Catholic.  The carer must forward a copy of their own Catholic Baptismal or Reception certificate directly to the school in order for this priority to be given to the child as failure to do so will result in the looked after child being ranked as a non-Catholic.

Note 4

For all applicants the definition of a brother or sister is:

• A brother or sister sharing the same parents
• A half-brother or half-sister, where two children share one common parent
• A step-brother or step-sister, where two children are related by a parent's marriage or where they are unrelated but their parents are living as partners.
• Adopted or fostered children

Note 5

The named feeder schools for Blessed William Howard are:

Blessed Mother Teresa’s Primary School St Austin’s Parish

St Anne’s Catholic Primary School St Anne’s Parish

St Austin’s Catholic Primary School St Austin’s Parish

St Dominic’s Catholic Primary School (Stone) St Dominic’s Parish (Stone)

St John’s Catholic Primary School St John’s Parish (Great Haywood)

St Mary’s Catholic Primary School (Brewood) St Mary’s Parish (Brewood)

St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School St Patrick’s Parish

Note 6

Distances are measured by the Local Authority on behalf of the school. 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 is determined and provided by the local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) and OS address point data.

In a very small number of cases, where the school is oversubscribed, it may not be possible to decide between the applications of those pupils who are the final qualifiers for a place when applying the published admission criteria.

For example, this may occur when children in the same year group live at the same address, or if the distance between the home and the school is exactly the same, for example, blocks of flats. If there is no other way of separating the application according to the admissions criteria and to admit both, or all, of the children would cause the Published Admission Number for the child’s year group to be exceeded, the Local Authority, on behalf of the Board of Directors, will use a computerised system to randomly select the child to be offered the final place.

The Local Governing Body will, where possible, admit twins and all siblings from multiple births where one of the children is the last child ranked within the school’s published admission number.

A child’s home address refers to the address where the child usually lives with a parent or carer and will be the address provided in the Local Authority’s Common Application Form.

Where parents have shared responsibility for a child, and the child lives for part of the week with each parent, the home address will be the address provided in the Local Authority’s Common Application Form, provided that the child resides at that address for any part of the school week.

Parents may be requested to supply documentary evidence to satisfy the Local Governing Body that the child lives at the address put forward by the parents

The Local Governing Body reserves the right to withdraw the offer of a place or, where a child is already attending the school the place itself, where it is satisfied that the offer or place was obtained by deception.

Applications for children to be admitted into a class outside their normal age group

Parents have the right to request, but not insist, that their child be considered for admission to a class outside their normal age group. This could be the case, for example, if a child is gifted and talented, has experienced problems such as ill health, or is already being educated in a class outside their normal age group at their current Primary school. Parents who wish for their child to be considered for admission to a class outside their normal age group must make an application for the normal age group in the first instance. Parents must then submit a formal request to the Local Governing Body for the child to be considered for a different age group class instead. This request should be in the form of a written letter of application outlining the reasons why they wish for their child to be considered to be admitted into a class outside their normal age group and enclosing any supportive evidence and documentation that they wish to be taken into account as part of that request.

The Local Governing Body will consider requests submitted for a child to be admitted into a class outside their normal age group and advise parents of the outcome of that request before national offer day, having taken into account the information provided by the parents, the child’s best interests and the views of the Head Teacher.

If the request is refused, the original application for the normal age group class will progress through the Local Authority co-ordinated admissions scheme, be considered by the Local Governing Body and the parents advised of the outcome.

If the request is agreed and the year group for which the parents have requested a place is a current year group in the school, then the application will be considered by the Local Governing Body and the parents advised of the outcome.

If the request is agreed and the year group for which the parents have requested a place is for a future year group, i.e. Year 7 in September, then the original application is withdrawn and the parents must submit a fresh application for Year 7 when applications open in the autumn term. Please note that parents only have the right to re-apply for a place. Where the Local Governing Body agrees to consider an application for Year 7 the following year, that application is considered alongside all other applications received and parents will be advised of the outcome of that application on national offer day. No place is reserved or held for the child in advance.

If parents are considering submitting an application for their child to be admitted into a class outside their normal age group, it is strongly recommended that they also read the DFE guidance which can be found on the government website.

Appeals

Parents who wish to appeal against the decision of the Local Governing Body to refuse their child a place in the school should make that appeal request in writing to the Chair of the Local Governing Body at the school address. Appeals will be heard by an independent panel.

Please note that parents do not have the right to appeal if their request for their children to be admitted to a class outside their normal year group has been refused, but the Local Governing Body have offered a place in the normal age group instead.

Repeat Applications

Any parent can apply for a place for their child at any time outside the normal admissions round. 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 Governing Body has accepted a second application from the parent because of a significant and material change in the circumstances of the parent, child or school, but have still refused admission.

Late Applications

Late applications will be dealt with in accordance with the Local Authority’s co-ordinated admissions scheme. This states that applications 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 that were made before this point.

You are encouraged to ensure that your application is received on time.

Change In Preference

Once parents have submitted their preference, they will not be allowed to change them without an exceptional change in their circumstances, for example, if the family has recently moved address or an older sibling has changed schools. All requests to change preferences should be made in writing to the Local Authority to whom the parents submitted the original application. Where a change of preference is submitted for an oversubscribed school, without an exceptional change in circumstances, then the application will be refused.

Waiting List

In addition to their right to appeal, children who have not been offered a place at Blessed William Howard Catholic High School but were offered a school that was ranked as a lower preference on their application form will be added to a waiting list.  The waiting list will be maintained until the last day of the summer term 2026 and will then be discarded.  

A child’s position on a waiting list is not fixed.  When a new child joins the waiting list, all applicants on that waiting list will be re-ranked to ensure that the list is always maintained in oversubscription criteria order.  This means that a child’s position on the waiting list could go up or down during the time that it is on the list.  Any late applications accepted will be added to the waiting list in accordance with the oversubscription criteria. 

Inclusion on the waiting list does not mean that a place will eventually become available.  It may be that those already offered places may accept them, thereby filling all available places. 

Children on the waiting list who attend a named feeder school (see Note 5 above) who have not been offered a place in the school by the beginning of the Autumn term 2025 will be re-ranked to take into account that they will no longer be attending that feeder school from 1^st September 2025.  This will affect the oversubscription criteria that your child is placed into on the waiting list from 1^st September 2025. 

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

In Year Fair Access Protocol

The Local Governing Body of Blessed William Howard is committed to taking its fair share of children who are vulnerable and/or hard to place, as set out in locally agreed protocols. Accordingly, outside the normal admission round the Local Governing Body is empowered to give absolute priority to a child where admission is requested under any locally agreed protocol. The Local Governing Body has this power, even when admitting the child would mean exceeding the published admission number subject to the infant class size exceptions.

Applications Other Than The Normal Intake To Year 7 (In-Year Admissions)

An application can be made for a place for a child at any time outside the normal admission round and the child will be admitted where there are places available. Further information regarding instructions on how to apply for a place in the school at any other time other than the normal intake is available on the school’s website at https://www.bwh.staffs.sch.uk/Our-School/Admissions/

To apply for a place at Blessed William Howard Catholic High School in-year, parents will be required to complete Staffordshire Local Authority’s In-Year Application Form and return it directly to the school, ensuring that any required supplementary information is also attached.

If there are no places available, the child will be added to the waiting list (see above).

Parents will be advised of the outcome of their application in writing and, where the Local Governing Body’s decision is to refuse their child a place, have the right to appeal to an independent appeal panel.

There is no charge or cost related to the admission of a child to this school

Admission To The Sixth Form

The school operates a sixth form for a total of 240 pupils. 120 places overall will be available in Year 12. Whilst the admission number is 20 if fewer than 100 of the school’s existing pupils transfer into Year 12, additional external pupils will be admitted until Year 12 meets its capacity of 120.

Applications for the Sixth Form should be made directly to the school using the application form available from the school website. Completed application forms must be returned to the school by 28 February.

Both internal and external pupils wishing to enter the sixth form will be expected to have met the same minimum academic entry requirements for the sixth form. These are:

At least 5 GCSE full passes Grades 4 and above and Maths and English Language. In subjects to be studied students should have achieved a Grade 5 or above. Students who wish to study A Levels in Biology, Chemistry and Physics also require a Grade 6 in GCSE Science.

Additionally, it has become clear that for success in Foreign Languages, Music and Maths, high achievement at GCSE is crucial. Students wishing to study these subjects will therefore, normally be expected to have Grade 6. Students wishing to study Further Maths require at least a Grade 7 in GCSE Maths.

The appropriate number of A Levels taken by a student will be determined by the student’s base institution.

In addition to the sixth form’s minimum academic entry requirements pupils will need to satisfy minimum entrance requirements to the courses for which they are applying. If either internal or external applicants fail to meet the minimum course requirements they will be given the opportunity of pursuing any alternative courses for which they do meet the minimum academic requirements. Course requirements are published annually in the school’s prospectus and on its website.

When Year 12 is under subscribed all applicants meeting the minimum academic entry requirements will be admitted or permitted to progress.

When there are more external applicants that satisfy any academic entry requirements priority will be given in accordance with the oversubscription criteria set out below.

Where there is space in Year 13, when there is fewer than 120 pupils in the year group, the school will admit additional pupils up to this number using the oversubscription criteria set out below.

Where there are more applications for places than the number of places available, places will be offered according to the following order of priority. If there is oversubscription within a category, the Local Governing Body will give priority firstly to children who will have a brother or sister (see Note 4 above) attending Blessed William Howard Catholic High School at the time of admission and then secondly to children living closest to the school determined by the shortest distance (see Note 6 above)

Please note that Children with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan that names the academy MUST be admitted. This will reduce the number of places available to applicants. This is not an oversubscription criteria

Oversubscription Criteria For Sixth Form

1. Baptised Catholic children (see Note 2 above) who are looked after or previously looked after (see Note 3 above)
2. Baptised Catholic children who live a feeder school parish area (see Note 5 above)
3. Other Baptised Catholic children (see Note 2 above)
4. Non-Catholic children who are looked after or previously looked after (see Note 3 above)
5. Other Non-Catholic children.

Appendix Definition of a “baptised Catholic”

A “Baptised Catholic” is one who:

• Has been baptised into full communion (Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 837) with the Catholic Church by the Rites of Baptism of one of the various ritual Churches in communion with the See of Rome. Written evidence of this baptism can be obtained by recourse to the Baptismal Registers of the church in which the baptism took place (Cf. Code of Canon Law, 877 & 878).

Or

• Has been validly baptised in a separated ecclesial community and subsequently received into full communion with the Catholic Church by the Rite of Reception of Baptised Christians into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church. Written evidence of their baptism and reception into full communion with the Catholic Church can be obtained by recourse to the Register of Receptions, or in some cases, a sub-section of the Baptismal Registers of the church in which the Rite of Reception took place (Cf. Rite of Christian Initiation, 399).

Written Evidence Of Baptism

The Governing bodies of Catholic schools and Boards of Directors of Catholic Academies will require written evidence in the form of a Certificate of Baptism or Certificate of Reception before applications for school places can be considered for categories of “Baptised Catholics”. A Certificate of Baptism or Reception is to include: the full name, date of birth, date of Baptism or Reception, and parent(s) name(s). The certificate must also show that it is copied from the records kept by the place of Baptism or Reception.

Those who would have difficulty obtaining written evidence of Catholic Baptism/Reception for a good reason, may still be considered as Baptised Catholics but only after they have been referred to their parish priest who, after consulting the Vicar General, will decide how the question of Baptism/Reception is to be resolved and how written evidence is to be produced in accordance with the law of the Church.

Those who would be considered to have good reason for not obtaining written evidence would include those who cannot contact the place of Baptism/Reception due to persecution or fear, the destruction of the church and the original records, or where Baptism/Reception was administered validly but not in the Parish church where records are kept.

Governors and Boards of Directors may request extra supporting evidence when the written documents that are produced do not clarify the fact that a person was baptised or received into the Catholic Church, (i.e. where the name and address of the Church is not on the certificate or where the name of the Church does not state whether it is a Catholic Church or not.)