The Admissions Team process school place applications throughout the school year.
All places are allocated in line with the school admissions arrangements and admission policy and are allocated to the highest preference school with places available.
Occasionally, a school or admission authority may not be able to offer a child a place at their school.
Reasons for refusal
It's a very difficult decision to refuse a school place application for a child. School places are refused, by the Admission Authority, where:
- a school is oversubscribed, meaning more applications have been received than there are places available, the school or admission authority feel that they are unable to admit an additional child, as it would prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources
- the existing year group is already full and there are no places available, the school or admission authority feel that they are unable to admit an additional child, as it would prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources
- Challenging behaviour - If the child has challenging behaviour (as per definition below)
- Challenging behaviour - If the school/admission authority school have a particularly high proportion of children with challenging behaviour (as per definition below).
When a school place is refused, the decision letter will stipulate the reason for the refusal.
Standard refusal
Standard refusal is where the year group for which you are applying for a school place is already full or the needs of the cohort mean that school cannot accept another pupil into the class. In this case the school/admission authority feel that they are unable to admit an additional child, as it would prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources.
For applications to Reception, Junior and Year 7 places, as part of the annual national transition, also called an ‘Admissions Round’, standard refusal means that the school was oversubscribed. This is when more applications are received than there are places available.
Places are allocated in line with the school admission arrangements and the oversubscription criteria of your application.
Sibling refusal
Sibling refusal is where applications are made for more than one child. Most parents/carers prefer siblings to be allocated to the same school but on occasion a place may not be available for all siblings.
If your decision letter states sibling refusal as the reason to refuse a school place, this means that a place is available in school for this child, but a place was not available for one or more siblings.
Infant class size refusal
Reception, Year 1 or Year 2 places are restricted by infant class size legislation where a class size cannot exceed 30 pupils.
If your decision letter states infant class size refusal as the reason to refuse a school place, this means that the school has reached the legal class size limit of 30 pupils.
Challenging Behaviour
The School Admission Code 2021 defines challenging behaviour as “behaviour can be described as challenging where it would be unlikely to be responsive to the usual range of interventions to help prevent and address pupil misbehaviour or it is of such severity, frequency, or duration that it is beyond the normal range that schools can tolerate. We would expect this behaviour to significantly interfere with the pupil’s/other pupils’ education or jeopardise the right of staff and pupils to a safe and orderly environment.”
A school/admission authority can refuse an application if they feel that the behaviour of a child meets the challenging behaviour definition. The application will then be considered by the Fair Access Partnership at the next Fair Access Meeting. The application will not be added to the waiting list for any preference schools, but the parent/carer doe shave the right to appeal the decision.
A school/ admission authority can also refuse if they feel that they have a particularly high proportion of children with challenging behaviour (as per definition above) or previously permanently excluded pupils on roll and that admitting another child with challenging behaviour would prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources.
Waiting lists and appeals
Where an application is refused because school is full, the application is added to the waiting list for that year group, and should a place become available, the school will instruct the Admissions Team to allocate a school place from the waiting list. The application will only remain on the waiting list for the remainder of the academic year while applications are being accepted (usually mid-June). If you would like to remain on the waiting list for the following academic year you must reapply. If an application is refused on the grounds of challenging behaviour, the application will not be added to the waiting list for the preference schools, the parent/carer do still have the right to appeal the refusal.
In Year applications will remain on the waiting list until the end of the academic year while applications are being accepted, usually mid-June. If you wish to continue on the waiting list for the next academic year you must reapply.
You may only reapply for the same school year if there is a significant change in your circumstances.
Parents or carers have the right to appeal against any school applications refusals.