St. Giles & St. George's CE Academy

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

Full time places in reception classes will be available in September of the academic year within which the child becomes five years old.

The Academy’s Admission number is 45.

If the number of applications exceeds the admission number, the Directors of the Academy will give priority to applications in accordance with the criteria listed, provided that the directors are made aware of that application before decisions on admissions are made.

Oversubscription Criteria

1. Children in care and children who ceased to be in care because they were adopted (or become subject to a residence order or special guardianship order), including those children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted
2. Children who have an elder brother or sister in attendance at the Academy and who will still be attending the academy at the time of 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 of fostered by a common parent or are unrelated children who live at the same address, whose parents live as partners).
3. Children living within the defined catchment area of the Academy.
4. Children who satisfy both of the following tests:Test 1: the child is distinguished from the great majority of other applicants either on their own individual 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 St. Giles’ & St. George’s Church of England Academy rather than any other school.Test 2: the child would suffer hardship if they were unable to attend the Academy.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 bothy the type and severity of any likely hardship at the time of the application.
5. Other children arranged in order of priority according to how near their home addresses are to the main gate of the academy, determined by a straight-line measurement as calculated using 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 Directors of the Academy will allocate the available places in accordance with the remaining criteria. If for instance, all the catchment area children cannot be accommodated at the academy, children who are catchment area children and satisfy category 3 will receive offers of a place, followed by children who live in the catchment area and satisfy category 4, etc.

Additional Notes

Copies of the Academy catchment area map are available from the Local Authority or the Academy.

There is no charge or cost related to the admission of a child to the Academy.

Admissions are administered through a coordinated admission scheme and preferences for maintained schools will be processed centrally by the School Admissions and Transport Service. Each child will receive only one offer of a place at a Staffordshire 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 the academy as being the most appropriate to meet the child’s needs will be admitted. 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 Academy will not seek to obtain this information on behalf of the applicant.

The Local Authority uses a Geographical Information System (GIS) to calculate home to academy distances in miles. The measurement is calculated using Ordnance Survey (OS) data from the applicant’s home address to the main front gate of the academy. The coordinates of an applicant’s home address are determined using the Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) and OS Address Point data.

The requirement for the Academy to meet the infant class size legislation may result in the refusal of catchment area or sibling applications where a class has already reached its limit of 30 pupils. As an exception, the Academy may give consideration to offering places above the Admission Number to applications from children whose twin or sibling from a multiple birth is admitted even when there are no other vacant places.

The home address is considered to be the child’s along with their parent/carer’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 relative’s 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 admission process it is the responsibility of the parent/carer to inform the Academy immediately.

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 it 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 or are the result of a multiple birth, then the child or children who will be offered the available spaces will be randomly selected. This process will be independently verified.

Deferred Entry to Reception Class

The Directors will consider requests from parents to retain a place in the Academy where the parents wish to defer their child’s entry to a Reception Class until later in the same academic year and there is no oversubscription. The effect is that the place will be held for the child and is not available to be offered to any other child. Where it is possible to offer a place, deferral will be supported if the request is made at the normal time of application. A parent may not defer entry beyond the beginning of the term after the child’s fifth birthday, nor beyond the academic year for which the application was accepted.

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 to the child at the top of the waiting list. Waiting lists will be kept until the end of the autumn term of admission. For cases where the infant class size regulations apply, the waiting list will operate until the cohort concerned leaves Year 2.

Inclusion on the Academy’s waiting list does not mean that a place will eventually become available.

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 an academy 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 the waiting list.

Repeat Applications

It is not the Director’s policy to consider repeat applications in the same academic year unless there have been significant and material changes in the circumstances of the applicant.

Applications other than normal intake to Reception

An application should be made direct to the Academy on the appropriate application form. The Academy will be responsible for advising the outcome of the application to both the parent/carer and the Local Authority.

Appeals

Parents who wish to appeal against the decision of the Directors to refuse their child a place in the academy may apply in writing to the Academy’s Trust members. Appeals will be heard by an independent appeal panel.

Admission Outside of the Normal Age Group

Parents may seek to apply for their child’s admission to school outside of their normal age group, for example if the child is exceptionally gifted and talented or has experienced problems such as ill health. In addition, the parents of summer born children may choose not to send their child to school until the September following their fifth birthday and may request that they are admitted outside of their normal age group to Reception rather than Year 1.

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 of 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 Directors who will take into account the circumstances of the case and views of the headteacher. Parents do not have the right to insist that their child is admitted to a particular year group.