DETERMINED ADMISSIONS ARRANGEMENTS FOR ENTRY IN 2024 FOR MASCALLS ACADEMY
Please note that within these criteria the term parent is used to refer to parents or legal guardians.
Arrangements for admission to 11-16 Provision
The admission arrangements for Mascalls Academy for the academic year 2024-2025 and, subject to any changes approved or required by the Secretary of State, for subsequent years are:
- Mascalls Academy has an agreed admission number of 240 students. The Academy will accordingly admit up to 240 students in the relevant age group each year if sufficient applications are received.
- Mascalls Academy may set a higher admission number as its Published Admission Number for any specific year. Students will not be admitted above the Published Admission Number unless exceptional circumstances apply and such circumstances shall be reported to the Secretary of State.
Process of application
Applications for places at the Academy will be made in accordance with Kent County Council’s co-ordinated admission arrangements and will be made on the Secondary Common Application Form (SCAF) provided and administered by the Kent County Council. Mascalls Academy will use the timetable for applications each year to fit in with the common timetable agreed by Kent County Council or its Admissions Forum. The closing date for applications is 31st October 2023.
Consideration of applications
Mascalls Academy will consider all applications for places. Where fewer than the published admission number of 240 for the relevant year groups are received, Mascalls Academy will offer places to all those who have applied.
Applications for Children to be Taught Outside their Expected Year Group
Requests for admission outside of the normal age group should be made to the Principal as early as possible in the admissions round associated with the child’s date of birth. This allows the Academy and admissions authority sufficient time to make a decision before the closing date. Parents are not expected to provide evidence to support their request, however where provided it must be specific to the child in question and may include medical or Educational Psychologist reports. There is no legal requirement for this medical or educational evidence to be secured from an appropriate professional, however, failure to provide this may impede the Academy’s ability to agree to a request for admission outside of the normal age group. Parents are required to complete an application for the normal point of entry at the same time, in case their request is declined. Deferred applications must be made via paper SCAF to the Local Authority, with written confirmation from the Academy Principal attached. Deferred applications will be processed in the same way as all applications for the cohort in the following admissions round, and offers will be made in accordance with the Academy’s oversubscription criteria.
Oversubscription Criteria
Where the number of applications for admission of 240 is greater than the published admission number, applications will be considered against the criteria set out below. After the admission of students with statements of Education, Health and Care Plans (ECHPs) where the Mascalls Academy is named on the statement, the criteria will be applied in the order in which they are set out below:
As a result of admissions for students with Education, Health and Care Plans (ECHPs), the published admissions number will be reduced accordingly.
Where applications for admission exceed the number of places available, the oversubscription criteria will be applied in the following priority order:
- Children in Local Authority Care – a child under the age of 18 years for whom the Local Authority provides accommodation by agreement with their parents/carers (Section 22 of the Children Act 1989) or who is the subject of a care order under Part VI of the Act. This applies equally to children who immediately after being looked after by the Local Authority became subject to an adoption, residence or special guardianship order. (As defined by Section 46 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 or Section 8 or 14A of the Children Act 1989).
- Students who will have a brother or sister at the Academy on the date of entry. For this criterion brother or sister means children who live as brother and sister in the same house, including natural brothers or sisters, adopted siblings, step brothers or sisters, foster brothers or sisters. Children residing in the same households as part of an extended family, such as cousins, will not be treated as siblings. If siblings from multiple births (twins, triplets, etc.) apply for the academy and the academy would reach its Published Admission Number (PAN) after admitting one or more, but before admitting all of those siblings, the academy will offer a place to each of the siblings, even if doing so takes the academy above its PAN.
- Health and Special Access Reasons – Medical, health, social and special access reasons will be applied in accordance with the academy’s legal obligations, in particular those under the Equality Act 2010. Priority will be given to those children whose mental or physical impairment means they have a demonstrable and significant need to attend a particular school. Equally this priority will apply to children whose parents’/guardians’ physical or mental or social needs mean that they have a demonstrable and significant need to attend the academy. Such claims will need to be supported by written evidence from a suitably qualified medical or other practitioner, at the point of application, who can demonstrate a special connection between these needs and the school.
- Child of a Staff Member – The son or daughter of a member of staff who has been recruited to fill a vacant post at the academy for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage. For this criteria son or daughter means a child who lives in the same house as the member of staff, including a natural son or daughter, an adopted child, stepson or daughter, or foster child. Children residing in the same households as part of an extended family, such as cousins, will not be eligible under this criterion. The Academy reserves the right to ask for proof of relationship.
- Trust primaries – 40 places will be available to children attending a Leigh Academies Trust primary academy. Applications will only be given priority in this category if the Leigh Academies Trust secondary academy to which they are applying is the closest to their home. If oversubscribed in this category it will be the 40 closest to the academy that will be admitted.
- Nearness of children’s homes to school – We use the distance between the child’s permanent home address and the Academy, measured as the distance between the child’s permanent home address and the school, measured in a straight line using the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) address point data. Distances are measured from a point defined as within the child’s home to a point defined as within the school as specified by NLPG. The same address point on the school site is used for everybody. These straight line measurements are used to determine how close each applicant’s address is to the Academy with those living closest being given priority. If more than one applicant lives in a multi-occupancy building (e.g. flats) priority will be given to the applicant whose door number is the lowest numerically and/or alphabetically. Where parents live at separate addresses, and have joint custody, the address used will be the one where the child spends the main part of the academy week (i.e. Sunday night to Thursday night inclusive).
Applications eligible under 2 – 5 are each ranked in the proximity of the child’s home to the Academy, using the method given in criterion 6.
- A student’s home address is considered to be a residential property that is the child’s only or main permanent residence and not an address at which your child might stay sometimes or sleep due to your own domestic or special arrangements. The address must be the pupil’s home address on the day you completed your application form and which is either owned by the child’s parent, parents or guardian OR leased to or rented by the child’s parent, parents or guardians under a lease or written rental agreement. If you live separately from your partner but share responsibility for your child, and the child lives at two different addresses during the week, we will regard the home address as the one at which the child sleeps for the majority of weekdays.
Tiebreaker
In the unlikely event that two or more children living the same distance away from the Academy and in all other ways have equal eligibility for the last available place at the Academy, the names will be issued a number and drawn randomly to decide which child should be given a place.
Late Applications
All applications received by Kent County Council after the deadline will be considered to be late applications. Late applications will be considered after those received on time.
Operations of Waiting Lists
Mascalls Academy will operate a waiting list for each year group, where in any year the academy receives more applications for places than there are places available. This will be maintained by Mascalls Academy 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 set out above. 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 or leaves the waiting list.
Entry to Year 12
Mascalls Academy will publish specific criteria in relation to minimum entrance requirements for the Sixth Form and for the range of courses available based upon GCSE grades or other measures of prior attainment. These criteria are the same for internal and external transfers. The academic entry criteria will be published in the autumn immediately preceding the year of admissions (that is 2023) for 2024 admissions. The criteria will be included within the academy’s prospectus and details of these are also available on the academy website. Priority will be given to existing pupils transferring from Year 11 at Mascalls Academy. The PAN for external candidates will be 25 but this figure may be exceeded in the event that this and the number of internal pupils transferring into Year 12 from Year 11 is less than the overall figure for the year group that is 200. Oversubscription policy for Year 12 will be the same as for all applicants to all other year groups as stated above.
General Information
After a place has been offered the school reserves the right to withdraw the place in the following circumstances:
- when a parent has failed to respond to an offer within a reasonable time, or
- when a parent has failed to notify the school of important changes to the application information, or
- the admission authority offered the place on the basis of fraudulent or intentionally misleading application from the parent.
The school uses an Independent Appeals panel to consider appeals against non-admission. Details of the arrangements and appeals will be published each year. Parents have a right to appeal against refusal of a place in accordance with the School Admissions Appeals Code.
Requests for admission outside of the normal age group should be made to the Headteacher.
Late or Casual In Year Admissions to Years 7 – 11
The PAN for Years 7 to 11 is 240. Applications for places can be made directly to the Admissions Officer at the Academy.
In the event that places are not available, applicants will be placed on a waiting list held by the Academy for any year in which there is oversubscription. When places become available they will be allocated according to the oversubscription criteria set out above.