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Our admissions criteria

Oversubscription Criteria:

Children who have an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) that names the school will be admitted.

NB. Those children with an EHCP that does not name the school will be referred to the Statutory Assessment Team (SAT) to determine an appropriate place.

  1. Children in Care (CIC) and children who were previously in care but ceased to be so by reason of adoption, a residence order (now known as a child arrangement order) or special guardianship order;
  2. Children living in the catchment area with a sibling at the school at the time of admission;
  3. Children living in the catchment area;
  4. Children living outside the catchment area who have a sibling at the school at the time of admission;
  5. Children who live outside the catchment area, but nearest the school as measured by a straight line.

 

Please note:  a catchment area is a geographical area, from which children may be afforded priority for admission to a particular school.  A catchment area is part of a school's admission arrangements and must therefore be consulted upon, determined, and published in the same way as other admission arrangements.  Catchment area maps are available in the First Steps Booklet or by visiting https://maps.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/

 

Definition of sibling:  Children, usually brothers or sisters, aged between four and sixteen, who live together in the same family unit.  Unless otherwise stated, children who are in attached nursery or sixth form provision are not included.  Please note that siblings can only be considered where the child is actually attending the school by the relevant cut-off date.

In cases of equal merit in each set of criteria, priority will go to children living nearest the school as measured by a straight line.  Please refer to the Glossary of Terms on pages 18 - 19 of the Local Authority First Steps booklet for further information under the section Distance Between Home and School.

Withdrawing the offer of a place

Please ensure that only one joint application is submitted by 15 January 2026. If multiple applications are received, you risk your child not being considered for a school place or an offered place being withdrawn.

Any school place obtained using incorrect or fraudulent details will be withdrawn.

In some cases, the Admissions Team will initially be unable to offer a place at your preferred school, but a place may become available that we can offer to you at a later date. You must confirm your decision, in writing, within ten working days of the offer being made; you can confirm by letter or by emailing AdmissionsApplications@cambridgeshire.gov.uk  If you do not respond within ten working days, a reminder will be sent; if you do not respond within five working days of the reminder, it will be assumed you wish to retain your original offer, the new offer will be withdrawn, and you child’s name will be removed from the school’s waiting list. Please note, exceptions cannot be made for letters you do not receive due to providing insufficient details for written communication.

Parents must inform the Admissions Team of any change of address between the time of application and when the child is due to start at the new school. Failure to do this may result in the offer of a place being withdrawn.

 

Waiting lists

Children are placed on the list according to the school’s over-subscription criteria rather than by the date the application was made. Your child will remain on a waiting list until 31 December, unless one of the following occurs:

• you are offered a place at by an independent appeal panel;

• a place becomes available;

• you are offered a place at a school you have ranked as a higher preference but were previously refused due to oversubscription; or

• you submit a new application that does not name the school as a preference or ranks it as a lower preference than a school we are able to offer you a place at.

 

 

Admission in circumstances where the infant class size limit might be exceeded

  • Infant classes (those where the majority of children will reach the age of 5, 6 or 7 during the school year) must not contain more than 30 pupils with a single school teacher.  
  • Additional children may be admitted under limited exceptional circumstances. These children will remain an ‘excepted pupil’ for the time they are in an infant class or until the class numbers fall back to the current infant class size limit.

 

The excepted children are:

a) children admitted outside the normal admissions round with Education, Health and Care Plans specifying the school;

b) looked after children and previously looked after children admitted outside the normal admissions round;

c) children admitted after initial allocation of places, because of a procedural error made by the admission authority or local authority in the original application process;

d) children admitted after an independent appeals panel upholds an appeal;

e) children who move into the area outside the normal admissions round for whom there is no other available school within reasonable distance;

f) children of UK service personnel admitted outside the normal admissions round;

g) children whose twin or sibling from a multiple birth is admitted otherwise than as an excepted pupil;

h) children with special educational needs who are normally taught in a special educational needs unit attached to the school, or registered at a special school, who attend some infant classes within the mainstream school.

 

Admission of children below compulsory school age and deferred entry to school

Your child is eligible to start school the September following their 4th birthday but legally must be accessing full time education from the term following their 5th birthday. On receipt of your child’s school offer you may choose to take up this place:

  • Immediately (from September 2026); or
  • On a part-time basis until the beginning of the term after their 5th birthday; or
  • Defer your child’s admission until the beginning of the term after their 5th birthday but not beyond the beginning of the final term of the school year for which it was made.

 

This means, if your child is summer born, they will need to start school in April 2027 to keep the place at the school offered. If your child does not start school in April 2027 you will need to apply in June 2027 for a Year 1 place with no guarantee of the same school being offered.

 

Admission of children outside of their normal age group

This will be considered on a case by case basis and at the discretion of the headteacher taking a range of relevant factors into account.  Supporting evidence may be required.

In year admissions

 

Please visit Cambridgeshire County Council’s website here for more information - https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/children-and-families/schools-learning/apply-for-a-school-place/in-year-admissions

 

The right to appeal

To appeal a decision, please visit Cambridgeshire County Council’s website here for more information - https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/children-and-families/schools-learning/apply-for-a-school-place/admission-appeals

As a Federation, the catchment area is determined by the Governing Body.  All admissions matters have been delegated to the Local Authority as part of a service level agreement with them.  The process can be further explained through the First Steps booklet: https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/children-and-families/schools-learning/apply-for-a-school-place/primary-reception-junior-or-middle-school

 

 

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