Qualifying Co-ordinated Admissions Scheme for Secondary Schools in the Area of Tameside Local Education Authority 2009/10

Introduction

This scheme applies to arrangements in Tameside whereby children are to be admitted to secondary schools in the normal admissions round for the academic year 2009/10. Tameside will operate an equal preference scheme.

Interpretation

In this scheme:

“admission arrangements” means the arrangements for a particular school or schools which govern the procedures and decision making for the purposes of admitting pupils to the school;

“admission authority” in relation to a community school means the LA and, in relation to a foundation or VA school means the governing body of that school;

“eligible for a place” means that a child has been placed on a school’s ranked list at such a point which falls within the school’s published admission number.

“foundation schools” means such of the schools as are foundation schools;

“nearest appropriate school” is defined by distance measured as a straight line from the child’s home address to the main gate to the school property using the LA’s school admissions data mapping software, which uses a Geographical Information System based on Ordnance Survey. The address from which distances are measured will be the permanent residential address, at the time of application, of the parent.

“school” means a community, foundation, voluntary aided school or academy (but not a special school) which is maintained by the LA;

“secondary education” has the same meaning as in section 2(2)(a) of the Education Act 1996

“secondary school” means a school for providing secondary education, whether or not it also provides further education.

“the LA” means Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council acting in their capacity as local education authority;

“the LA area” means the area in respect of which the LA are the local education authority;

“the specified year” means the school year beginning at or about the beginning of September 2009;

“VA schools” means such of the schools as are voluntary-aided schools;

The Scheme

The main purpose of the co-ordinated scheme is to ensure that every parent/carer of a child living in Tameside who has completed an application form receives only one offer of a secondary school place in the normal admission round for pupils transferring from primary to secondary school.

The scheme applies to arrangements in Tameside whereby children are to be admitted to secondary schools in the normal admissions round for the academic year 2009/10 (i.e. children who will be commencing secondary education in Year 7 September 2009).

The following admission authorities are covered by the scheme:

There will be a standard form known as the Common Application Form (CAF). The CAF will be used for the purpose of admitting pupils into Year 7 of secondary education at schools in the specified year.

The CAF must be used as a means of expressing up to three preferences for the purposes of section 86 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 (as amended), by parents wishing to express a preference for their child to be admitted to any secondary school excluding independent schools.

The CAF will –

• invite the parent to express preferences for up to 3 schools;
• invite the parent to rank the schools applied for in order of preference;
• invite parents to give their reasons for each preference;
• specify that all forms should be submitted to their child’s primary school, or for Tameside residents not attending a Tameside primary school, directly to the LA Admissions Section, by Friday 17 October 2008, the closing date.
• Invite all Tameside residents to apply for a school place regardless of the primary school attended.

All preferences expressed on the CAF are valid applications.

The LA will make appropriate arrangements to ensure:

• that the CAF is available on request from the LA
• that parents can apply online
• that the CAF is accompanied by a written explanation of the co-ordinated admissions scheme
• that parents are clearly informed that the form should also be used to apply for schools outside the LA area.

The Tameside school admissions booklet ‘Moving On’ will be distributed to parents/carers at the beginning of September 2008 [and at least 6 weeks before parents must express a preference] In order to identify all pupils resident in Tameside, the LA will request neighbouring authorities to provide details of year 6 pupils resident in Tameside and attending their schools. Tameside will in turn provide information to other LAs about pupils resident in Tameside attending schools in their areas. Copies of the ‘Moving On’ booklet will also be available on Tameside’s web site, and parents will be able to complete applications online for September 2009 admissions.

Parents applying for a place at a foundation or VA school or academy, or a school in another LA, may be required to provide additional information on a supplementary form and/or complete supplementary application details only where the additional information is required for the governing body to apply their oversubscription criteria to the application. Where a supplementary form is required it must be submitted in accordance with school guidelines.

Where a school receives a supplementary form it will not be regarded as a valid application unless the parent has also completed a CAF and the school is listed as a preference.

Parents of children resident in other authorities, but attending Tameside primary schools must submit an application to the home authority on the form provided by that authority.

Schools in the co-ordinated scheme should not receive direct applications for places. Any application received in error by a school should be forwarded immediately to the LA Admissions Team.

The closing date for applications is 17 October 2008. Forms must be returned by primary schools to the LA Admissions Team as soon as possible after the closing date.

Processing of Common Application Forms

All schools should forward copies of all completed CAFs to the LA Admissions Team. If any parent approaches a foundation or voluntary aided school or academy direct about admissions, the governing body must ensure that the parent completes and submits a CAF.

The LA will forward the CAF, together with any additional information provided by the parent, to all foundation and voluntary aided schools and academies where the school is a parental preference. This will enable all admission authorities to be informed of parental preferences. All applications will be dealt with on an equal preference basis.

The allocation procedure is administered centrally by the LA. The LA will only make a decision with respect to the offer or refusal of a place in response to any preference expressed on the CAF where:

• it is acting in its separate capacity as an admission authority, or
• an applicant is eligible for a place at more than one school, or
• an applicant is not eligible for a place at any school that the parent has nominated.

By 12th November 2008 Tameside LA will forward copies of common application forms to other Local Authorities if Tameside residents have expressed a preference for a maintained school within another authority’s area.

By 21st November 2008 the LA will notify the admission authority for foundation and voluntary aided schools and academies of every preference that has been made for that school, including all relevant details and any supplementary form received by this date, which schools require in order to apply their oversubscription criteria.

By 12th December 2008 all admission authorities will have considered all applications for their schools regardless of the preference order, apply the school’s oversubscription criteria and provide the LA with a list of applicants ranked according to the school’s oversubscription criteria.

The LA will collate all information and allocate places. If only one of the schools named can offer a place, that school will be offered. If more than one school can offer a place, the offer will be for whichever school has been ranked highest on the application form. This may not be the first preference school. Where a school is oversubscribed and the LA is not able to offer any of the parental preferences, the LA will allocate a place at the nearest appropriate school to the child’s home with a place available.

Where the application of the admissions process results in Tameside being able to provide a place at one of its schools for a pupil resident in another area, Tameside Admissions Team will inform other local authorities of offers to be made to pupils resident within their boundaries. Where the application of the admissions process results in Tameside not being able to provide a place for a pupil resident in another area, Tameside Admissions Team will inform the home local authority. In each of these cases, this will be by 19th January 2009.

Where Tameside LA has forwarded an application to another LA, that authority will advise the Admissions Team whether or not a place could be offered at a school within its area by 19th January 2009. As a co-ordinated admission scheme Tameside LA has agreed with other local education authorities to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that a parent receives only one offer of a school place. Tameside LA will therefore have regard to the proposed determination of other LAs when making its determination on whether a place can be offered.

The Admissions Team will notify all Tameside schools of the names of children allocated places in their school by 20th February 2009. In any case where the LA determines that a child is to be refused admission to a secondary school in their area for which they are not the admission authority, the LA will notify the school’s governing body of their determination by 20th February 2009.

Change of Preference

Admission authorities will not allow preferences, ranking order or pupil details, to be changed after the closing date of 17th October 2008 except in exceptional circumstances for example, if the family has recently moved address. Evidence must be provided to support the request. No changes can be considered after 21st November 2008, when the allocations process has started.

Notification of Decision to Parents/Carers

Tameside LA will inform all parents/carers of pupils resident in Tameside of the school place allocated, including the offer of places on behalf of Tameside VA and foundation high schools and academies, and other local authorities, by letter, which will be posted first class on 2nd March 2009.

Where parents are not offered their highest ranked school, they will be informed of the reasons for this decision in the offer letter, which will also inform them about their statutory right of appeal for any schools, who to contact to make an appeal, and about the operation of waiting lists.

Parents/carers of pupils resident in other LA areas who are allocated a place at a Tameside school will be informed of the offer by their home authority in a letter posted on the same day.

Schools must not contact parents about the outcome of their application until after these offers have been received. Only the LA can make an official offer.

Late Applications

The closing date for applications in the normal admissions round is 17th October 2008. Applications received after this date will be considered after all applications received on time have been processed.

Applications received by schools after the closing date must be forwarded to the LA immediately. Where only the supplementary form is received the school must inform the LA immediately so it can verify whether a CAF has been received from the parent and, if not, contact the parent and ask them to complete a CAF. The LA will enter the details onto its central database and, after consultation with the relevant admission authority, offer a place at the highest ranked school with a place available or, if this is not possible, at the nearest appropriate school with a place available.

Waiting Lists

Parents should check with individual admission authorities in order to determine whether or not they operate waiting lists.

Applications Received After 1 September (Casual Admissions)

Applications received after 1st September, and applications for places in a year group other than the normal year of entry to secondary school, will be treated as casual admissions. These applications should be made on the Transfer Request Form and sent to the LA, which will:

• Determine any application for a community school for which it is the admission authority and inform the parent; and / or
• If the application is for a foundation or voluntary aided school or academy, refer the application to the governing body of the school, which will make a determination within 15 days and notify both the parent and the LA.
• In either case the admission authority must advise parents who are refused admission of their right of appeal.

If any parents approach foundation or voluntary aided schools or academies directly about a casual admission, the governing body must ensure that the parent completes the Transfer Request Form. The Transfer Request Form should be sent to the LA within 5 days.

The LA will keep track of all applications for casual admission, and ensure that children are placed in a school without undue delay.

Timetable of co-ordinated scheme

• 17th October 2008: Closing date for the Common Application forms and supplementary forms to be returned to the Local Authority.
• 12th November 2008: Details of applications and any relevant supplementary forms to be sent to other Local Authorities, if a preference for one of their schools has been expressed.
• 21st November 2008: Details of applications and any relevant supplementary forms to be sent to foundation and VA schools and academies.
• 12th December 2008: Foundation and VA schools and academies provide the Local Authority with ranked lists of applicants.
• 19th January 2009: The Local Authority will inform neighbouring Local Authorities of the outcome of applications from residents in their areas (first cycle).
• 20th February 2009: On this date the Local Authority will notify schools which pupils have been allocated places at their schools.
• 2nd March 2009: Notification of offers sent to parents.
• 31st March 2009: Closing date for receipt of appeals.
• 1st April 2009: Any places that have become available from this date are allocated and notification sent to parents.

21st November would also be the last date by which, exceptionally, changes of preference or details could be considered.