The Weston Road Academy
2024/2025 and 2025/2026
2022/2023 & 2023/2024
In the event that the total number of preferences for admission to school exceeds the Academy’s Published Admission Number (PAN) that is currently 182, the following order of priority will be used to allocate the available places.
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 of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted see additional note * below;
2. Children who have an elder sibling in attendance at the academy who will still be attending 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.)
3. Children of staff in either of the following circumstances: a) where the member of staff has been employed at the school for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made, or; b) the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage.
4. Children living within the catchment area of the academy see note ** below
5. 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 academy rather than any other school.Exceptional circumstances must relate to the choice of academy 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 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 both the type and severity of any likely hardship at the time of application.
6. 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 LocalAuthority’s Geographical Information System see note *** below
Where it is not possible to accommodate all children applying for places within a particular category then the Academy will allocate the available places in accordance with the remaining criteria. If for instance, all the sibling children cannot be accommodated at a school, children who are siblings of children already at the academy and satisfy category (5) will receive offers of a place, followed by children who are siblings and satisfy category (6). If it is not possible for the academy to allocate places to all children who live in catchment once all sibling children have been allocated places, then the academy will allocate places to other catchment children in accordance to category (5) and then (6).
Additional Notes
Copies of the academy catchment area map is available from the Academy or Local Authority. There is no charge or cost related to the admission of a child to the academy.
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 Governors will not seek to obtain this information on behalf of the applicant.
Admissions at the normal age of entry are administered through a coordinated admission scheme and preferences will be processed centrally by Staffordshire County Council’s School Admissions and Transport Service. Each pupil will receive one offer of a place by the Local Authority.
In accordance with legislation, children who have an Education and Health Care Plan 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 looked after by a local authority in accordance with section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989 and who are (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 ormore individuals to be a child’s special guardian (or special guardians).
**Copies of the school catchment area map is available from the local authority or on request at 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 are determined using the Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) and OS Address Point data.
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.
If a place is offered on the basis of an address that is subsequently found to be different from a child’snormal 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.
Waiting lists for Normal Point of Entry
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 2024. 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 as a result of in year applications, 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 on the first page.
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
Preferences received after the closing date will be considered alongside those applicants who applied on time wherever possible.
If the late application is received after the closing date but before the Local Authority has started the process of allocating places it will be accepted and included in the first round of place applications.
If the late application is received after places have been allocated then it will be added to the waiting list and ranked according to the oversubscription criteria listed on the first page.
A late application does not affect the right of appeal or the right to be placed on the waiting list.
Repeat applications
Parents do not have the right to a second appeal for the same academic year unless, in exceptional circumstances, the academy 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 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.
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 academy who will take into account the circumstances of the case. Parents do not have the right to insist that their child is admitted to a particular year group.
“In-year admission” arrangements
Parents or carers seeking to be admitted to the academy “in-year” may make an application directly to the academy using an application form or the academy directly. This application will be processed in line with the procedure outlined in the determined admission arrangements.
If the total number of preferences for admission to school exceeds the academy’s Published Admission Number (PAN) that is currently 182, the following order of priority will be used to allocate the available places.
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 of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted see additional note * below.
2) Children who have an elder sibling in attendance at the academy who will still be attending 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.)
3) Children of staff in either of the following circumstances: a) where the member of staff has been employed at the school for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made, or; b) the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage.
4) Children living within the catchment area of the Academy see note ** below.
5) 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 academy rather than any other school.
Exceptional circumstances must relate to the choice of academy 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 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 both the type and severity of any likely hardship at the time of application.
6) 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 note *** below
Where it is not possible to accommodate all children applying for places within a particular category then the Governors will allocate the available places in accordance with the remaining criteria. If for instance, all the sibling children cannot be accommodated at a school, children who are siblings of children already at the academy and satisfy category (5) will receive offers of a place, followed by children who are siblings and satisfy category (6). If the academy is not possible to allocate places to all children who live in catchment once all sibling children have been allocated places, then the academy will allocate places to other catchment children in accordance to category (5) and then (6).
Additional Notes
Copies of the Academy catchment area map is available from the Academy or Local Authority. 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 community, controlled, aided, trust and foundation schools and academies will be processed centrally by the School Admissions and Transport Service. Each pupil will receive one offer of a place by the Local Authority.
In accordance with legislation, children who have a statutory statement of special educational need 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 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 the school catchment area map is available from the local authority or on request at the school. www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Education/Admissions-primary/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 using the Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) and OS Address Point data.
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.
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.
Waiting lists for Normal Point of Entry
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. 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 as a result of in-year applications, 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 on the first page.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
Preferences received after the closing date will be considered alongside those applicants who applied on time wherever possible.
If the late application is received after the closing date but before the Local Authority has started the process of allocating places it will be accepted and included in the first round of place applications.
If the late application is received after places have been allocated then it will be added to the waiting list and ranked according to the oversubscription criteria listed on the first page.
A late application does not affect the right of appeal or the right to be placed on the waiting list.
Repeat applications
Parents do not have the right to a second appeal for the same academic year unless, in exceptional circumstances, the academy 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 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.
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 academy who will take into account the circumstances of the case. Parents do not have the right to insist that their child is admitted to a particular year group.
“In-year admission” arrangements
Parents or carers seeking to be admitted to the academy “in-year” may make an application directly to the academy using an application form available at www.staffordshire.gov.uk/admissions or the academy directly. This application will be processed in line with the procedure outlined in the determined admission arrangements.