Over-subscription criteria for admission to South Gloucestershire secondary schools in September 2008
Should a Community or Voluntary Controlled school be over-subscribed (i.e. if there are more applications than places available), initial allocations will be made according to the following criteria, these are listed in order of priority and will be applied to all applications received by the published closing date for applications, which is 4.30pm on Friday 19 October 2007.
1 Children in Public Care.
2 Special Educational Needs:
Where the child has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities and this requires admission to the school applied for.
3 Local siblings
(those living within a school’s Area of Prime Responsibility and who have named the school as a preference).
4a Geographical considerations
(those living within a school’s Area of Prime Responsibility).
4b Geographical considerations
(those living outside a school’s Area of Prime Responsibility).
Notes:
1 Children in Public Care are those looked after by a Local Authority within the meaning of Section 22 of the Children Act 1989.
2 Children with Statements of Special Educational Needs (SEN) are placed in schools through the arrangements set out in the SEN Code of Practice and not through these admission criteria. All governing bodies are required by Section 324 of the Education Act 1996 to admit to the school a child with a Statement of SEN that names the school. Schools must admit such children whether they have places or not. Any appeal concerning the Statement or the admission is to the independent Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal. Parents of children with Statements of SEN should contact their child’s case officer for any further information.
Where a pupil does not have a Statement of SEN, written supporting evidence will be required to be submitted at the time of application and should set out why the preferred school is the most suitable school and because of the pupil’s condition the difficulties that may be caused if he or she is placed at another school.
Examples of physical or mental impairment include:
- mobility or co-ordination problems; or
- speech, hearing or eyesight impairment; or
- progressive conditions e.g. cancer, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy; or
- mental illness that is recognised by a professional body of medical opinion.
This evidence must include a supporting letter from a relevant professional, for example a doctor or other specialist. Parents/ Carers will be responsible for submitting this evidence. If the required documents have not been supplied at the time of application, South Gloucestershire Council will not be able to consider admission under this criterion. On receipt of the written evidence South Gloucestershire Council will seek comments from independent professional advisers when considering applications under this criterion.
3. Local Siblings: children are defined as local siblings if:
- they are half or full brother or sister; or
- they are adoptive brother or sister; or
- they are children of the same household; and
- they live within the school’s defined Area of Responsibility; and
- they have indicated that school as a preference; and
- the older sibling is already in attendance at the preferred school and will be in attendance in September 2008 (statutory school age only).
4. Geographical considerations (for those living within a school’s Area of Prime Responsibility): Priority will be given to those children who live within the Area of Prime Responsibility for the school. Where a school also has an area of First Responsibility, children living in this area will be given the highest priority.
If in any year there are more children living within the Area of Prime Responsibility than the number of places available at the school, priority will be given to those children who live closest to the school as measured by the nearest available walking route from home address to the school, parental preferences being met wherever possible. (Distances from home to the nearest school gate are measured using the South Gloucestershire Council Routes to School Gazetteer adopted by 1 September 2007). All applications will be considered at the same time and the published over¬subscription criteria applied.
Geographical considerations (for those living outside a school’s Area of Prime Responsibility): After places have been allocated from within the Area of Prime Responsibility, any remaining places will be allocated to those children who live closest to the school as measured by the nearest available walking route from the home address to the school. All applications will be considered at the same time and the published over-subscription criteria applied.
Documentary Evidence
In fairness to all parents/carers, South Gloucestershire Council reserves the right to require documentary evidence in support of the application. For example, evidence of a child’s date of birth, parent/carer responsibility, the validity of a family address and, if this is not produced, South Gloucestershire Council reserves the right to make its own enquiries. Examples of evidence which may be requested include a birth certificate, a copy of a court order, a solicitor’s letter confirming exchange of contracts (and completion date on a new property), a rental agreement, a letter from an employer, a solicitor’s letter confirming residency, a letter from a bank or building society, a child benefit book or evidence of the child’s residency.
Withdrawing Offers
Once the offer of a place has been made, South Gloucestershire Council may withdraw this but only in very limited circumstances, for example:
- where the application was fraudulent or intentionally misleading; or
- where a parent/carer has not responded to the offer within a reasonable time.
See section 17 of the admissions booklet for further details.
Appeals
If a place is not offered at the parents’/carers’ preferred school there is the right of appeal to an independent appeal panel.
When offers of places are made on 3 March 2008, if it has not been possible to offer your child your highest ranking preference you will automatically be sent details of how to appeal. Pending your appeal, your child will be offered a school place at the nearest school with a place available. If you live in South Gloucestershire and you have applied for a place at a non South Gloucestershire school the process is different and details of what to do are given at the end of this section.
If an appeal is unsuccessful there is no automatic right for a further appeal. However, if there are significant and material changes in the circumstances of the parent/carer, child or school since the time of the original application, this will be considered. A significant and material change of circumstances would include:
- Where a change of address has occurred which means the home address is significantly closer to the preferred school or is now in the Area of Prime Responsibility for the preferred school;
- Where a local sibling link has been created at the preferred school which was not there at the time of the original appeal;
- Where new evidence is introduced and is supported by a letter from a Doctor, psychologist, social worker or health visitor which could not have been introduced at the time of the original appeal hearing.
Any requests for a further appeal should be made in writing to the Student Access & Support Team, Riverside Court, Bowling Hill, Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire, BS37 6JX.
Late Applications
Applications received after the closing date are “late applications” and will not normally be considered for the initial allocation of places unless there are exceptional circumstances. The process for dealing with late applications is set out in section 7.
Change of Preference after the Closing Date
Guidance to Admission Authorities given in the School Admissions Code clearly states that once parents/carers have made their preferences, Local Authorities must not allow them to be changed without a genuine reason for doing so, for example, if the family has recently moved. For this reason parents/carers are strongly recommended to state three school preferences. There is no advantage in listing fewer than three schools or including the same school more than once.
Criteria for Admission to all Year Groups During the School Year 2008/2009
All other applications for places for South Gloucestershire schools during the year 2008/2009, including those to other year groups, will be considered in the order of priority shown in accordance with the over-subscription criteria stated above.
Kingsfield School
Following a review and consultation in Spring/ Summer 2003, younger siblings of older children already attending Kingsfield School will be treated as Local Siblings, if they live within the Consortium Area which will be served by The Grange School and Sports College, Hanham High School and The Sir Bernard Lovell School from September 2004 and:
- they are half or full brother or sister; or
- they are adoptive brother or sister; or
- they are children of the same household; and
- they have indicated that school as their highest ranking preference; and
- the older sibling is already in attendance at the preferred school and will be in attendance in September 2008 (statutory school age only).
This arrangement will apply to admissions to take place from September 2004 to July 2009 inclusive.
Notes:
Areas of Prime Responsibility indicate to parents/carers the school(s) at which they can normally expect a place to be available. These areas are reviewed from time to time following full consultation with schools and parents/carers. When geographical considerations are applied to over-subscribed schools, initial allocations to secondary schools are made by reference to the Areas of Prime Responsibility which the school or group of schools serves. Secondary schools have either a single Area of Prime Responsibility and/or form part of a Consortium area. If a school within a Consortium Area becomes over¬subscribed with all applications from those living in that area, the above criteria are applied. Where it is not possible to meet parental preference, the Department for Children and Young People will normally offer either a place at another area school or the next nearest school with a place available.
Parents/Carers can express a preference for a school in an Area of Prime Responsibility other than the one in which they live.
South Gloucestershire Council’s Department for Children and Young People does not operate a feeder primary school policy for admission to secondary school and attendance at a particular primary or junior school does not guarantee a place at a particular secondary school. Places are allocated strictly in accordance with the criteria.
If you live in South Gloucestershire and wish to express a preference for a secondary school in the area of another Local Authority including a Voluntary Aided school or an Academy, under the co-ordinated admission arrangements, you need to apply to South Gloucestershire Council.
If you live outside South Gloucestershire and wish to apply for a secondary school in South Gloucestershire, under the co-ordinated admission arrangements, you need to apply to the Local Authority in which you live.
Applications received after the closing date are late applications and will not be considered for the initial allocation of places. If places become available following the allocation of places for a school, the same criteria will be applied to late applications, formal appeals or applications for children whose parents/carers have indicated in writing that they still wish to be considered for a place.