Admission Policy for Community and Voluntary Controlled Secondary Schools for 2025/26

Introduction

Southampton City Council is the admission authority for all Community and Voluntary Controlled Secondary Schools in the city. These schools are:

Each school has a Published Admissions Number (PAN), which is the number of children the school will admit in September 2025.

On-time applications

For an application to be on-time, it must be made by 23:59 on the 31 October 2024.

If a school has fewer applications than its PAN, all children will be offered a place.

If a school under this policy has more applications by the 31 October 2024 than its PAN (called ‘oversubscription’), applications will be ranked by the oversubscription criteria and places offered from this ranking.

Children with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)

Children with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) that name a school must be admitted to that school, even if it is full. This process sits outside of the normal admissions arrangements and this policy. Children with EHCPs will still count towards the PAN of the school.

Late applications

Applications received after 31 October 2024 will be late applications. They will be dealt with after all on-time applicants have been offered school places. Places can’t be ‘held back’ for late applicants. You may not get a place at your preference school if you apply late and the school has already been filled by on-time applications.

Criteria

The first 60 places at St Mark’s CE All-Through School will be retained by pupils already on the roll of the school in the Year 6 cohort. The remaining vacancies will be allocated to the following criteria:

1. Looked After/Previously Looked After Children
2. Children subject to a Child Protection Plan, or who the Local Authority considers to be vulnerable due to safeguarding concerns
3. Children who have a sibling on roll at the school, who will continue to attend that school the following year
4. Children who have evidence that they must attend the school for medical/psychological reasons
5. Children who qualify for the Service Premium, as the child of a member of the Armed Forces
6. Children whose parents are applying for their child to attend a Church of England school on denominational grounds
7. Children whose parents are employed at the school they are applying for, as defined below
8. Children who live closest to the school

If a school oversubscribes within any of the eight categories, distance will be used to prioritise the applications in that category.

Distances are measured based on the shortest, safest, walking distance using public roads and footpaths. They measure from the home address to the mid-point of the nearest pedestrian gate of the school that would be open during school hours, using a computerised mapping system with data supplied by the Ordnance Survey.

Waiting lists

If a place cannot be offered to an applicant at a preference school, they will automatically be added to that school’s waiting list.

Waiting lists are kept in the order of the school’s oversubscription categories, and not how long a child has been on the waiting list for. This means that each new application will cause the list to be re-ranked, and children could move down as well as up the list.

Places will be offered from the waiting list if a vacancy arises at the school.

Waiting lists will be held until 31 July 2026. Any parent wishing to remain on the waiting lists after this date will need to make a new in-year application to the school.

Unplaced children

If a child cannot be offered any of their preference schools, they will be offered either their catchment school (if this has spaces available), or the nearest school to their home that has spaces available.

In-year admission

In-Year admissions for any year group in the 2025/26 academic year will be processed according to the oversubscription criteria in this policy.

Looked After/Previously Looked After Children

Looked After Children are those who are in the care of a Local Authority. A Previously Looked After Child is one who was in the care of a Local Authority until they were adopted or became subject to a Child Arrangements or Special Guardianship Order. This also applies to children who were in state care outside of England before being adopted.

Sibling

A sibling is defined as a brother or sister living in the same family unit for most of the school week. This included half, step, foster or adopted brothers and sisters. This criterion cannot be applied to cousins.

Medical/Psychological

A child will be able to apply under this category if they have a medical or psychological condition that means only the preference school can meet their needs. This must be evidenced by the relevant consultation/psychologist. It will not apply simply if a child has a diagnosis of an illness, allergy or Special Educational Need, as all schools are expected to manage the needs of all pupils.

Service Premium

A child will qualify for the Service Premium if:

• One of their parents is serving in the regular armed forces (including if a parent is on full commitment as part of the full-time reserve)
• One of their parents died whilst serving in the armed forces and the pupil receives a pension under the Armed Forces Compensation or the War Pensions schemes

Proof of this criteria should be provided by a letter Service parent’s commanding officer confirming employment, or evidence of the receipt of a Service pension.

Denominational grounds

To apply under this category, parents must evidence regular attendance to worship at a Church of England, or other Christian fellowship, by having the vicar or leader in their church confirm this using the Southampton City Council’s Supplementary Information Form (SIF).

‘Regular’ is defined as attending worship services at a Church of England church or local ecumenical partnership at least twice a month for the previous two years.

‘Christian fellowship’ is defined as ‘a worshipping fellowship who confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour according to the Bible and therefore seek to fulfil together their common calling to the glory of the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit; who are members or participant observers of the World Council of Churches of the World Evangelical Alliance.’’

Admission outside of the normal age group

The offers made for Year 7 classes are full-time places for the start of term in September 2025.

Parents may request that their child is admitted outside of their normal age group, for example, if they have previously been educated outside of their normal age group in primary school.

Parents whose child was previously educated outside of their normal age group in primary school will need to make a new request for entry to secondary school outside of their normal age group. This should be made when the child would ordinarily be in Year 6 (e.g. a child who has been decelerated from Year 6 to Year 5 should apply when they are being educated in Year 5).

Requests for a child to be educated outside of their normal age group can be made online via the Southampton City Council website.

Requests for education outside of the normal age group must be considered by the admissions authority for the school and other admission authorities do not have to honour this decision.

Requests for education outside of the normal age group must be made at each transition, and there is no guarantee that any agreement will continue through the child’s whole school life.

Reception classes

The offers made for Reception classes are full-time places for the start of term in September 2025.

If you feel your child is not ready to start school the September after they turn 4, it is possible for them to access:

• Part-time admission to the offered school from September following their child’s 4th birthday. This should be discussed with the Headteacher of the school
• Defer their child’s entry until later in the school year. They must be attending by the term after their 5th birthday, or the final term of the school year, whichever is first. This should be discussed with the Headteacher of the school

Parents of children who are born between 1 April and 31 August (‘summerborn’ children), may choose to send their child to school the September after they turn 5 instead. They can either:

• Apply in-year for a place for their child to start Year 1 in the September after they turn 5
• Request for their child to be admitted outside of their normal age group into Reception the September after they turn 5

Requests for a child to be educated outside of their normal age group can be made online via the Southampton City Council website.

Requests for education outside of the normal age group must be considered by the admissions authority for the school and other admission authorities do not have to honour this decision.

Requests for education outside of the normal age group must be made at each transition, and there is no guarantee that any agreement will continue through the child’s whole school life.