School admission arrangements 2024/2025

We are the admissions authority for community and controlled primary and secondary schools in South Gloucestershire.

Oversubscription

The oversubscription criteria for all community and controlled schools is determined by the cabinet member for schools, skills and employment.

These remain largely the same as previous years and follow the requirements of the school admissions code.

Changes

Following a period of consultation, the published admission number Christ Church CE Primary in Hanham will decrease from 60 to 30 will change from 1 September 2024.

The admission number will apply to new applications received for first admission in September 2024 and age through these schools over a period of 7 years.

Coordinated admissions scheme

We are required to have a scheme in place each year for coordinating admission arrangements for maintained schools in our area.

Coordination schemes make sure, as far as is reasonably practicable, that every parent of a child receives one offer of a school place. It is for us to decide the scheme that best suits our residents and schools.

This scheme was determined in February 2023 by the Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Employment and includes the timetable of the admissions process.

Find our:

• coordinated admissions scheme for primary
• coordinated admissions scheme for secondary

In-year admissions scheme

Most school place applications happen at the usual start times:

• reception for primary schools
• year 7 for secondary schools

However sometimes it is necessary for a child to move schools at a different stage of their school career. This is called in-year admissions.

Our in-year admissions scheme applies to all applications from parents or carers for in-year admission to community and controlled schools in South Gloucestershire.

Parents and carers are advised to read the scheme to make sure that their application is submitted to the relevant admission authority.

Admissions to voluntary aided, foundation schools, free schools and academies

Voluntary aided schools, foundation schools, free schools and academies have their own admission authorities.

The admission arrangements for these schools must be determined by the individual governing body or trust and are available to view on individual school or academy websites.

Details of these arrangements will also be included in our prospectus.

You can find types of schools and their admission authority below:

• academies: academy trust
• community schools: local authority
• foundation schools: governing body
• voluntary aided schools: governing body
• voluntary controlled schools: local authority

Relevant area for school admission

We are required to define a relevant area. A relevant area describes the geographical area where consultation on individual school admissions takes place.

The relevant area for South Gloucestershire is defined by our administrative boundaries.

Objections

Objections to admission arrangements for any school can be made to the school’s adjudicator. The annual deadline for objections to the arrangements to apply in the academic year 2024/2025 is 15 May 2023.

Parents or carers may make an objection to the Office for Schools Adjudicator.

Annual report

We produce an annual report on admissions for all schools in our area.

This report must contain information about:

• how local admission arrangements serve the interests of looked after children and previously looked after children, children with disabilities and children with special educational needs
• the effectiveness of fair access protocols and coordination in our area
• the number and percentage of lodged and upheld parental appeals
• any other issues we may wish to include

Reports are submitted to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator by 31 October each year. The reporting period and date of submission have changed since the Covid-19 pandemic.

They then produce their own report setting out their findings from the admissions cases received within the reporting year.

Reports are published on the Office of the Schools Adjudicator website.