Admissions Policy 25_26
Admissions
Arrangements
Academy: Co-op Academy Grange
Approved by: Academy Governing Council
Approved date:
Effective Date: Sept 2025 - Aug 2026
Next Review Date: Autumn term 2027
Next Consultation Date: No later than 2030
Contents
Educations, Health Care Plan 3
Admission of Children Outside Their Normal Age Group 8
Introduction
Co-op Academy Grange (the academy) is part of The Co-op Academies Trust (the Trust). The Trust is the admissions authority for the Academy, and is therefore responsible for ensuring that these arrangements are compliant with the Admissions Code 2021.
This document aims to provide information on how to apply for a place at the academy, how places are allocated, and how to appeal against a decision not to offer your child a place.
This document is based on the following documents from the Department for Education:
→ School Admissions Code 2021
→ School Admission Appeals Code
As an academy, the school is required by its funding agreement to comply with these codes, and with the law relating to admissions as set out in the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.
Consultation
These arrangements were consulted on between 6th December 2023 and 31st January 2024. During this consultation, we asked for feedback from governors, parents, staff, the local authority, neighbouring local authorities and other key stakeholders.
In-line with the requirements set out in the Admissions Code, unless any changes are made in the interim, these arrangements will next be consulted on in December 2030.
Educations, Health Care Plan
All children whose Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) names the school must be admitted. These children will be admitted ahead of any oversubscription criteria being applied.
How to Apply for a Place
This section of the document is separated into the following sections:
- Year 7 Admissions
- In-year Admissions
Year 7 Admissions
General Information
Our Published Admissions Number (PAN) will be 240. This means that we will admit 240 students into year 7 each year.
Application Forms
Our academy is part of Bradford City Council coordinated admissions process, and as such, allocation of places for reception is completed by them according to the criteria set out below.
All parents/carers are required to apply to their home Local Authority (LA) regardless of where the academy they are applying for is situated.
For example Bradford residents will apply to Bradford City Council, whilst Leeds residents will apply to Leeds City Council. The local authority will liaise with other Admissions Authorities and other LAs where required. Bradford City Council will inform parents/carers in writing of the outcome of their application on 1st March.
Information on how to apply can be found here:
If you live in another area find your local council here
All children with an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) that names our academy will automatically be given a place before any other applications are considered.
Oversubscription
If we receive more applications than the PAN, places will be allocated according to the following criteria:
1. A Child Looked After or a child who was previously looked after and became subject to an adoption, child arrangements, 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 state care as a result of being adopted (see note 1).
2. Children who have exceptional social or medical needs, supported by a written recommendation from the child’s paediatrician/consultant or professional from Children’s Services. The letter must explain why the school is the only suitable school to meet the child’s needs and why no other school could provide the appropriate support.
3. Children who have a brother or sister, attending from the same address, who are at present in years 7 – 10 and who will still be attending the school at the time of admission. (See note 2).
4. All other children.
NOTES
1. A ‘looked after child’ is a child who is in the care of the local authority, or being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions. A previously ‘looked after child’ who is no longer looked after, in England and Wales, because he/she immediately became the subject of an adoption, special guardianship or child arrangements order. A ‘previously looked after child’ who has been in ‘state care’ outside of England and Wales, accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation or any other organisation the sole or main purpose of which is to benefit society and legally adopted
2. The term ‘sisters’ and ‘brothers’ refers to children who live with the same family at the same address. Children living with the same family e.g. foster, adopted children and step-sisters and brothers are also included, cousins are not siblings.
3. ‘Home address’ refers to the child’s permanent home at the date of admission. Where the child lives with split parents who have shared responsibility, it is for the parents to determine which address to use when applying for a secondary school. Proof of residency may be required at any time during or after the allocation process.
Within each of these categories, children will be prioritised according to the distance between the child’s permanent home address and the school. Distance will be measured by a straight line between the two properties, with those living closer being given a higher priority for allocation of places.
Tie Breaker
In the case of 2 or more applications that cannot be separated by the oversubscription criteria outlined above, the school will use the distance between the school and a child’s home as a tie breaker to decide between applicants. Priority will be given to children who live closest to the school. Distance will be measured in a straight line from the child’s home address to the school’s front gates on Haycliffe Lane. A child’s home address will be considered to be where he/she is resident for the majority of nights in a normal school week.
Where the distance between 2 children’s homes and the school is the same, random allocation will be used to decide between them. This process will be independently verified.
Waiting List
If your child was not offered a place in year 7 at our academy, your child’s name will be added to our waiting list. We will maintain a clear, fair, and objective waiting list until the 31st December each admissions year. The waiting list will be ordered in line with the published oversubscription criteria. Priority will not be given to children based on the date their application was received. Looked after children or previously looked after children allocated a place at the school in accordance with a Fair Access Protocol will take precedence over those on a waiting list.
After the 31st December, you may re-apply for an in-year admission place - please see below. If no spaces are available at the time of application, you will be added to the in-year admissions waiting list for the appropriate year group.]
A waiting list for year 7 children is maintained by Bradford local authority as part of their co-ordinated admissions process. If your child is not offered a place in year 7 at our academy, your child’s name will automatically be added to our waiting list. Your child’s name will remain on the waiting list until a) you are offered a place at a higher preference school, b) you are offered a place at our academy, c) the waiting list closes (usually on 31st December).]
In-Year Admissions
You can apply for a place in any year group at any time (including the sixth form). This might happen because you are moving to the area and your child has already started school elsewhere, or because you feel our academy would be a better fit for your child.
You can contact us to find out if we have spaces in specific year groups before you apply. If we don’t have space in the requested year group, you can still apply. If you apply for a place and there are currently no places available, your child’s name will be added to the waiting list. Your child’s name will be kept on the waiting list until the end of the academic year.
To make an ‘in-year’ application for years 7 -11, you should complete an ‘in-year’ application form online via your home local authority.
Information on how to apply can be found here:
If you live in another area find your local council here
The local authority will contact us directly regarding your application, and we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know the outcome of your application.
Children with an EHCP that names our academy will be given a place regardless of whether the year group has spaces or whether there is a waiting list.
Further Information
Which address to use
When you apply you must use the child's permanent address, where they usually live with their parent(s) or carer(s). You must not use any other address on your application.
Using the address of a childminder, a relative or renting a property for a short period of time in order to secure a school place is considered as a fraudulent application. We will investigate all queries about addresses and we could change the school place offer.
If we find out that an intentionally misleading or false address has been given to get a school place, the school place may be withdrawn even if the child has already started at the school.
Only one address can be used on your application for a school place, and this should be the address where the child lives for the majority of the week. In cases of equal shared care, both parents must agree which address will be used on the application.
Admission of Children Outside Their Normal Age Group
Parents may seek a place for their child outside of their normal age group, for example, if the child is gifted and talented or has experienced problems such as ill health.
We will make decisions on the basis of the circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the child concerned. This will include taking account of the parent’s views; information about the child’s academic, social, and emotional development; where relevant, their medical history and the views of a medical professional; whether they have previously been educated out of their normal age group; and whether they may naturally have fallen into a lower age group if it were not for being born prematurely. Our headteacher’s views will also be considered in this decision making process.
If you wish to make an application for your child in these circumstances, please contact the school and arrange a meeting with the headteacher to discuss this further. Following this meeting we will encourage you to apply for a place via the normal application process (via your home local authority) and we will work closely with them to carefully consider your application. Your application, regardless of whether your child is offered a place in their chronological year group or another year group, will be offered based on the criteria used for all applications (e.g. our oversubscription criteria).
Parents/Carers have a statutory right to appeal against the refusal of a place at a school for which they have applied. This right does not apply if they are offered a place at the school, but it is not in their preferred age group.
Making an Appeal
If your child’s application for a place at the school is unsuccessful, you will be informed why admission was refused and given information about the process for hearing appeals. If you wish to appeal, you must set out the grounds for your appeal in writing and send it to the following address:
Co-op Academy Grange
Haycliffe Lane
Bradford
BD5 9ET
You can find details of the school’s appeals timetable on the school’s website.
Challenging behaviour
We will not refuse to admit a child on behavioural grounds in the normal admissions round or at any point in the normal year of entry. We may refuse admission in certain cases where the specific criteria listed in the School Admissions Code (paragraph 3.8) apply, i.e. where section 87 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 is engaged.
We may refuse admission for an in-year applicant for a year group that isn’t the normal point of entry, only in such a case that we have good reason to believe that the child may display challenging behaviour that may adversely affect the provision we can offer. In this case, we will refer these pupils to the Fair Access Protocol. We will not refuse admission on these grounds to looked after children, previously looked after children and children with EHC plans listing the school.
Fair Access Protocol
All schools have an active role in admitting pupils under the Fair Access Protocol. The protocol operates outside the boundaries of the Admissions policy. It is a statutory requirement. The aim is to make sure the most vulnerable children are offered a place at a suitable school as quickly as possible, and that no school, including those with places, is asked to take a disproportionate number of vulnerable children.
The fair access process is co-ordinated by Bradford City Council.