Admissions Arrangements

Procedures where The Sutton Academy is oversubscribed 

Oversubscription Criteria

Where the number of applications for admission is greater than the published admission number, applications will be considered against the oversubscription criteria set out below. After the admission of pupils with Education, Health and Care Plans, where The Sutton Academy is named on the Plan, the criteria will be applied in the following order:

1. looked after children and children who were previously looked after but then became subject to adoption, a child arrangements order, or special guardianship order.¹ This includes children who appear to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted;²

2.  children from the following associated primary schools;   

    Eaves Primary
    Robins Lane Community Primary
    Sherdley Primary
    Sutton Manor Community Primary
    Sutton Oak CE Primary
    Thatto Heath Community Primary
    Willow Tree Primary       

3.  children who have a brother or sister at the school at the time of likely admission. The brother or sister must be on the school roll in Years 7 – 11. This includes full, half or stepbrothers and sisters, adopted and foster brothers and sisters or a child of the parent/carer’s partner, and in every case, who is living at the same address and is part of the same family unit;

4.   other children.

¹ A looked after child is a child who is in the care of a local authority in England, or is being provided with accommodation by a local authority in England in the exercise of their social services functions.

² A child is regarded as having been in state care in a place outside of England if they were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation or any other provider of care whose sole purpose is to benefit society.

Tie Break

In the event of any over-subscription in the number of applications made under any of the categories above the Trust Board will offer places first to children whose family home is nearest the school. The measurement shall be done by the Local Authority in a straight line using a Geographical Information System (GIS) based on Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) data and the National Grid co-ordinates for the family home and the school.

Where the tie break does not distinguish between applicants e.g children living in the same block of flats random allocation will be used. This will be done by drawing lots and supervised by someone independent of the school.

Special Conditions for Twins (etc.)

Where the final place in a year group is offered to one of twins (or triplets etc) the Local Authority will not apply the tie break as it will admit the other twin etc too, even if that means going above the admission number.

Appeals

Parents may exercise their right to appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel if their application for a place at The Sutton Academy has been refused. St Helens Local Authority administers appeals on behalf of the Trust Body of The Sutton Academy, more information can be found here.

Definition of Home Address

This is the confirmed address (before allocation procedures begin) where the child and parent, or person with parental responsibility, normally live.  The Trust Board will use the address of the parent who is in receipt of Child Benefit for this. If parents are separated and the child spends time at each parent’s address, the address which receives Child Benefit will normally be used, but the Trust Board reserves the right to request other proofs as fit the individual circumstances. It may be necessary to carry out checks to confirm that addresses given are genuine.  Parents may, therefore, be asked to produce documentary evidence of their child’s home address e.g. Council Tax or utility bills.

Any subsequent change to a child’s home address must be notified to the Admissions Section of the Local Authority.

False Information

Where the Trust Board discovers that a child has been awarded a place as a result of any false information, it will withdraw the offer and the child will lose the place.

Waiting List

During the normal admissions round, if a place is refused because the Academy is oversubscribed the child’s name will automatically be placed on the waiting list. The waiting list will be kept in priority order according to the oversubscription criteria and not on the date on which applications were received. If a place becomes available within the admission number, the child whose name is at the top of the list will be offered a place.

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 Authority’s Fair Access Protocol will take precedence over those on the waiting list.

The waiting list will close at the end of the autumn term for the September 2024 year 7 intake.

In-Year Fair Access Protocol

The Trust Board has a duty to comply with the Local Authority’s In -Year Fair Access Protocol and therefore admit up to +2 managed transfers per year group, even if the year group concerned is full.

All schools and academies should participate in their Local Authority’s protocol. For that reason, admission appeal panels will not view the fact that The Sutton Academy is obliged to admit over its admission number as an indication that it can do so for all in year transfers without causing prejudice to the efficient provision of education or efficient use of resources.

In Year Transfers

Applications for a place in Year 7 after the waiting list has closed or Years 8 – 11 should be made on the Local Authority’s in year common application form. The application will then be processed in accordance with St Helens in year co-ordinated admissions scheme.

Parents will normally receive a written response to their application within ten school days.

Appeal Procedure

Where parents are unsuccessful in applying for a place at The Sutton Academy, the decision letter will give reasons why the application was refused and notification of the right of appeal, including details of how, and to whom, to make an appeal and where to obtain further information.

Admission of children outside their normal age group

Parents may seek a place for their child outside of their normal age group, for example, if the child is gifted and talented or has experienced problems such as ill health.

A decision is made on the basis of the circumstances of each case.

The process is as follows:

Stage 1 – request

Parents make a formal request to the Local Authority’s School Admissions Team in writing with any supporting evidence they wish to be considered.

A request for early entry into Year 7 should be made before 31 October in the previous academic year in order to give sufficient time for the case to be considered prior to the offer of school places on 1 March.

A request for in year admission outside of the normal age group should be made on the Local Authority’s In Year Transfer Application Form.

Stage 2 – decision

Requests will be referred to the school to be considered and a decision made.

Stage 3 – outcome

Request agreed:

If the request is agreed the application will be considered for the relevant year group and ranked alongside any other applications. There is no guarantee that a place will be offered. Parents have a statutory right to appeal against the refusal of a place at a school for which they have applied. This right does not apply if they are offered a place at the school but it is not in their preferred age group.

Request refused:

There is no statutory right of appeal against the refusal of a request for admission outside the normal age group. However, if the parents are dissatisfied they have the right to complain under the school’s complaints procedure.

Currently, our admission number in Year 7 is 270 students, and will be 270 moving forward.