Wadebridge School Admission Arrangements 2023/24 

The Academy Trust of Wadebridge School are the admitting authority for the School. Wadebridge School is an 11-16 Academy serving the needs of the young people of Wadebridge, Padstow and the surrounding villages. The School works very closely with its nine main primary school partners and aims to provide a seamless education from the age of 3 to 16. Therefore, in order to support the continued development of these strong links, applications from students attending any of our partner primary schools will be considered as high priority in our oversubscription criteria. We are an inclusive school and welcome all applications. 

This policy is written with full adherence to and in accordance with the School Admission Code (2021). All statutory obligations defined within this code apply, including the operation of an equal preference scheme. 

Students will be admitted to Year 7 without reference to ability or aptitude using the procedures detailed in this document, which includes arrangements and criteria that will be applied in the event of oversubscription. 

The school will participate fully in Cornwall Council’s Fair Access Protocol and Cornwall Council’s Co-ordinated Admission Schemes for secondary transfer and in-year admissions. Details of these schemes are available on the Council’s website (www.cornwall.gov.uk/admissions) or on request from Cornwall Council. Closing dates, and other details about the application process will be as stated in those schemes. 

Applying for a place 

All applications for places in Year 7 or during the school year must be direct to the applicant’s home local authority on the appropriate application form. The application form and supporting information will be available on Cornwall Council’s website. There is no supplementary information required by the Academy Trust of Wadebridge School. 

However, if your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan you do not need to complete an application form, as a school place will be identified through a separate process. 

Allocation of places 

Children with an Education, Health and Care Plan that names the school will be admitted regardless of the number on roll in the year group. 

Children in Care who are directed to the school by Cornwall Council (or Secretary of State in the case of academies) will be admitted to the school regardless of the number on roll in the year group. 

The published admission number (PAN) for Year 7 in 2023/24 will be 210. Places will be allocated up to this number. In the event that more applications are received than places available, the oversubscription criteria listed later in this document will be used to decide on allocations. If the school is not oversubscribed, all applicants will be admitted. 

Admission of children outside their normal age group 

Parents may seek a place for their child outside their normal age group, for example, if the child is gifted and talented or has experienced problems such as ill health. Those wishing to request placement outside the normal age group should contact the Headteacher. Such requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis and in the best interests of the child concerned. Guidance can also be found at www.cornwall.gov.uk/admissions or on request from the School Admissions Team. Parents who are refused a place at a school for which they have applied have the right of appeal to an independent admission appeal panel. However, they do not have a right of appeal if they have been offered a place and it is not in the year group they would like. 

Appeals 

Applicants refused a place at the school have the right of appeal. Appeals are heard by an independent appeals panel arranged by Cornwall Council on behalf of the Academy Trust. Further details and a timeline can be found in Cornwall Council’s Co-ordinated Admissions Scheme. Applicants can only appeal again for a place in the same school within the same academic year if the admission authority for that school has accepted a further application because there has been a significant and material change in the circumstances of the parent or carer, child or school (e.g. a change of address into a school’s designated area), but has determined that the new application must also be refused. 

Waiting lists 

If the school is oversubscribed, a waiting list will be held for the whole of the academic year for all year groups and parents/carers can request that their child is added to this list if they are refused a place. The waiting list will be based on the school’s oversubscription criteria and a child’s place on a waiting list is subject to change according to additional information received about applications or children being added to the list – so their place on the list might move up or down. No priority is given to the length of time that a child has been on the list. Children with an Education, Health and Care Plan and children in care or children that were previously in care will take precedence over those on the waiting list. Children admitted under the Fair Access Protocol will also be given priority over children on the waiting list. 

Oversubscription Criteria 

In the event of there being more than 210 applications for places in Year 7 for the 2023/24 academic year or more applications than places for any year group during the school year, the following oversubscription criteria will be used to prioritise applications, after the admission of children whose Education, Health and Care Plan that names the school:

1.  Children in care and children who were previously in care but immediately after being in care became subject to an Adoption, Child Arrangement, or Special Guardianship Order including those who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in care as a result of being adopted. 
2. Children with an unequivocal professional recommendation from school medical officers or educational psychologists that non-placement would result in medical or psychological harm. Parents must complete the relevant section on the application form and attach medical reports from either the School’s Medical Officer or an Educational Psychologist backed up by a second health opinion by the student’s GP. These reports must set out in particular the reasons why Wadebridge School is the most suitable school and what difficulties would occur if the child had to go elsewhere. These reports must be received with the application form by the published date. These applications will be considered by the Admissions Team. Information received after the published date for receipt of applications under the Local Authority’s coordinated scheme will not be considered. 
3. Children who have a sibling attending the School at the time of application and who will still have a sibling attending the School at the proposed date of admission. A sibling is defined as a full, half, step, adopted or long-term fostered child living at the same address. In the case of siblings living at a different address the siblings must be blood relatives, in other words share at least one parent. We do not include ‘cousins’ within our definition of siblings 
4. Children who attend a primary school whose designated area is contained within or forms part of the designated area of Wadebridge School. 
5. Children who live in the designated area of Wadebridge School, or whose parents can provide evidence that they will be living in the designated area of Wadebridge School by the by the beginning of the autumn term of the 2023/2024 school year. 
6. Children of all Wadebridge School staff in either or both of the following circumstances: a) where the member of staff has been employed at the school for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made, and/or b) the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage. 
7. Distance from school with those living closer having greater priority. For specific details see ‘Tie Breaker’ below.