First we offer places to children with a Statement of Special Educational Needs naming the school.
If there are more places at a school than there are applications, every child who wants a place at the school will be offered a place.
What happens if there are more applications to a school than there are places available?
What are the oversubscription criteria?
Rule 1 - Children in the Care of the Local Authority (looked after children)
Rule 2 – Where the child attends a designated ‘feeder’ school (the feeder link)
Rule 3 - Children with an older sibling who will be attending the school at the time of admission (the sibling link)
Rule 4 - Children with a specific medical reason to go to the school
Rule 5 - Children living nearest to the school
We need a fair way to decide which children get places at oversubscribed schools. The law says that we must use oversubscription criteria, or rules, to ensure that school places are allocated fairly. These are applied in the order shown. We apply these equally to all applications for a school. Our aim is to meet the highest preference possible for every applicant.
The following criteria are applied for Newcastle community schools, All Saints Church of England College Trust, Excelsior Academy, Gosforth Academy, Gosforth Junior High Academy when there are more applications than places available:
This means a child who is looked after by a local authority in accordance with section 22 of the Children Act 1989 at the time the application for admission to a school is made, and who the local authority has confirmed will still be looked after at the date of admission.
Each first, primary and middle school in Newcastle has a feeder link with a particular school to which the pupils usually transfer. Click here to see feeder link schools, or visit the individual schools pages or contact us for this information.
Sibling means a brother or sister, half brother or sister, adopted brother or sister, step brother or sister, or the child of the parent or carer’s partner. The children are expected to live at the same address. Parents who share responsibility for the care of their child are expected to agree school preferences between themselves. In the event of a dispute the Local Authority will accept the preferences of the parent to whom child benefit is paid. The sibling link does not apply to attendance at a sixth form
An example of medical need is families where one or both parents or the child has a disability that means they can only go to one school. Note that all of our schools have experience in dealing with a range of medical needs
Supporting evidence from a doctor or other professional involved with the family must be provided. The evidence must relate specifically to the school for which the application is made and clearly demonstrate why this is the only school that can meet the needs of the child. It should also explain the difficulties that would arise if the child had to attend an alternative school. Apply online for a school place and then send us the proof by the closing date. Include your child’s full name and date of birth in any correspondence. If you do not provide evidence of medical need, we are unable to give your child higher priority.
The distance to your child’s nearest school is calculated electronically using an electronic map measurement system. The system measures a direct line from a single fixed point at your child’s home address to the school.
This is an objective measurement which does not take into account factors such as the safety of routes or the needs for some families to take other children to a different school or schools.