Introductory Statement

Edgar Wood Academy is an 11-16, non-denominational and co-educational school with 6 forms of entry to meet the local need for new school places and support the local authority to meet its statutory duty to provide a school place for every child. This policy reflects the aim of the Altus Education Partnership (AEP) to build a sense of pride in the Academy, in the community and in Britain. This aim is reflected in the Academy’s admissions policy which ensures that the Academy is fully representative of the local community.

Admission Number(s)

The school has an admission number of 180 for entry in year 7.

Admissions for September 2024 was via Rochdale Borough Council at Apply for a secondary school place (rochdale.gov.uk)

The closing date for all applications was Tuesday 31 October 2023 

National offer day is Friday 1 March 2024

For further information about our admissions arrangement for year 7 entry in September 2024/25 please see the full Admissions Policy:

Admissions Policy 2024 25

Admissions Policy 2025 26

The admissions policy for the previous year (2023/24) can be found here:

Admissions Policy 2023-24

Oversubscription Criteria

When the Academy is oversubscribed, after the admission of pupils with an Education, Health and Care plan naming the Academy, priority for admission will be given to those children who meet the criteria set out below, in priority order:

1. Looked after children and children who were previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to adoption, a child arrangements order, or special guardianship order.[1] 
2. Priority will next be given to children based on their exceptional medical or social needs. Each application must include evidence, from a medical specialist or social worker of the child’s need and why they must attend this Academy rather than any other, based on those needs. If evidence is not submitted to the Academy with the application, a child’s medical or social needs cannot be considered.[2]
3. Priority will next be given to the siblings of pupils attending the Academy at the time the application is received where an older sibling is in year 11 siblings will not be prioritised under this criterion.[3]
4. Priority will next be given to children eligible for the service premium.[4]
5. Priority will next be given to the children of staff who have been recruited to fill a skill-shortage area.
6. Priority will then be given to other children living nearest the Academy. Distance will be measured using the shortest suitable walking route from the front door of the child’s home address (including flats) to the front gates of the permanent Academy, using GPS coordinates of the property from the Ordnance Survey AddressBase database.[5]

Tie-Break

If in categories 2-6 above a tie-break is necessary to determine which child is admitted, the child living closest to the Academy will be given priority for admission. Distance is measured using the AddressBase system stated in the criteria section above.

Random allocation will be used as a tie-break to decide who has highest priority for admission if the distance between a child’s home and the Academy is equidistant in any individual case. Random allocation will not be applied to multiple birth siblings (twins and triplets etc.) from the same family tied for the final place. We will admit them all and exceed our PAN.

Late Applications

All applications received by the Academy after the deadline will be considered to be late applications. Late applications will be considered after those received on time. If, following consideration of all applicants the Academy is oversubscribed, parents may request that their child is placed on the Academy’s waiting list.

Admission of Children Outside Their Normal Age Group

Parents may request that their child is admitted outside their normal age group. To do so parents should include a request with their application, specifying why admission out of normal year group is being requested.

When such a request is made, the Academy Trust will make a decision on the basis of the circumstances of the case and in the best interests of the child concerned, taking into account the views of the headteacher and any supporting evidence provided by the parent.

Waiting Lists

The Academy will operate a waiting list for each year group. Where the Academy receives more applications for places than there are places available, a waiting list will operate until 31 December. This will be maintained by the Academy Trust and it will be open to any parent to ask for his or her child’s name to be placed on the waiting list, following an unsuccessful application.

Children’s position on the waiting list will be determined solely in accordance with the oversubscription criteria. Where places become vacant, they will be allocated to children on the waiting list in accordance with the oversubscription criteria. The waiting list will be reordered in accordance with the oversubscription criteria whenever anyone is added to or leaves the waiting list.

Appeals

All applicants refused a place have a right of appeal to an independent appeal panel constituted and operated in accordance with the School Admission Appeals Code.

Timetable to follow

Appellants should contact RMBC School Admissions Team at the following address:

RMBC School Admissions Team
Number One Riverside
Smith Street
Rochdale
OL16 1XU

Tel: 0300 303 0340
Email: school.admissions@rochdale.gov.uk
Website: http://www.rochdale.gov.uk

RMBC Legal Services Team
School Admissions Appeals
Number One Riverside
Floor 2
Smith Street
Rochdale
OL16 1XU

Tel: 01706 921 356

This appeal must be made in writing to Rochdale Local Authority Legal Services Team within 20 school days of notification of refusal. The date of notification of the appeal date will be shared with you and a decision following the appeal should be advised within two working days after posting by first class post.

The decision of the appeals panel is binding on all parties.

Notes:

1. A looked after child is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (see the definition in Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989).

2. ‘Social need’ does not include a parent’s wish that a child attends the Academy because of a child’s aptitude or ability or because their friends attend the school. ‘Medical need’ does not include mild medical conditions.

3. ‘Sibling’ means a natural brother or sister, a half brother or sister, a legally adopted brother or sister or half-brother or sister, a stepbrother or sister or other child living in the same household as part of the same family who, in any of these cases, will be living at the same address at the date of their application for a place. No sibling priority is given to cousins, regardless of their address.

4. Children are eligible if:

• one of their parents is serving in the regular armed forces (including pupils with a parent who is on full commitment as part of the full-time reserve service)

• they have been registered as a ‘service child’ on the January school census at any point since 2016

• one of their parents died whilst serving in the armed forces and the pupil receives a pension under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme or the War Pensions Scheme. Children have to be flagged as service children ahead of the January school census deadline. Service parents need to make the Academy aware of their status by talking to the Headteacher or Academy admin staff.

5.  Shortest suitable walking distances are calculated using the address supplied on your Local Authority admission form which must be the child’s permanent place of residence. No other address will be used in this calculation. From the provided address we obtain the GPS coordinates of the property from the Ordnance Survey AddressBase database. Using these coordinates, we obtain the distance of the shortest suitable walking route to the front gates of the Academy to 3 decimal places using Google Maps APL. If for any reason, there is a significant difference in the distance between your property’s GPS coordinates and the Google Maps start point, then the Academy will check the reason for this discrepancy and deal with it accordingly and fairly. The Academy does not recognise any cut-through or shortcut not mapped by Google Maps.

The home address is where a child normally lives. Where a child lives with parents with shared parental responsibility, each for part of a week, the address where the child lives is determined using a joint declaration from the parents stating the pattern of residence. If a child’s residence is split equally between both parents, then parents will be asked to determine which residential address should be used for the purpose of admission to Academy. If no joint declaration is received where the residence is split equally by the closing date for applications, the home address will be taken as the address where the child is registered with the doctor. If the residence is not split equally between both parents, then the address used will be the address where the child spends the majority of the Academy week.