Admission Arrangements

Choosing a school for your child / children can be an anxious time. Many of us experience the weight of the decision-making and worry whether we are making the right choices. You may feel you have too many choices or too few choices depending on factors like where you live, where you work, family support network and your child’s needs. No doubt, there are many areas that you will be considering:

• where siblings (if any) attend
• the school’s performance
• the school’s reputation / your previous experience of the school
• travel arrangements
• where your child’s friends are going
• before and after school care availability
• the curriculum and extra activities offered outside the curriculum
• Special Educational Needs provision

Schools’ websites can be a window into what goes on in the school, and they will contain the school’s admission policy plus other important information. It is a good idea to visit the school(s) you favour and get a feel for whether it would suit your child. This will give you the opportunity to ask specific questions. Schools expect that most parents will want to visit before making their decisions. Some schools, particularly secondary schools, offer open evenings for parents and pupils to visit together before making their application.

Each of our schools has their own admission arrangements. Please use the Our Schools quick link button top right of the page to visit the school’s website or visit the Our Schools page for a map of our academies.

In-Year Admissions

If you need to apply for a place at one of our schools during the school year or for a year group that is not Reception or Year 7 (schools’ normal year of entry) for reasons such as moving house, job relocation etc, you will need to contact the school directly. This is because the Trust is its own admissions authority, but it uses the local authority to manage entry-year admissions into Reception and Year 7. As many of our schools are full in many year groups, it is advisable to check that a place is available (there are rules on class sizes). We highly recommend that you arrange a visit.  The school will advise you of the appropriate paper work to complete, which the Trust processes.  Our Schools

Support & Advice

There is a lot of information online to help guide you through the process. ParentKind is a charity that aims to bring schools, parents, local authorities, PTAs and governing bodies together to work in the best interests of children’s education. Their website offers information and guidance on the admissions process.

Here are links to the local authorities’ admissions page for each of the LAs that we work alongside. They contain admission deadlines, advice, travel to school information and other topics pertinent to starting or moving school:

• Essex
• Suffolk
• Cambridgeshire
• London Borough of Havering