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.

This policy complies with our funding agreement and articles of association.

3. Definitions

The normal admissions round is the period during which parents can apply for state-funded school places at the school’s normal point of entry, using the common application form provided by their home local authority.

Looked after children are children who, at the time of making an application to a school, are:

In the care of a local authority, or
Being provided with accommodation by a local authority in exercise of its social services functions

Previously looked after children are children who were looked after, but ceased to be so because they:

Were adopted under the Adoption Act 1976 or the Adoption and Children Act 2002, or
Became subject to a child arrangements order, or
Became subject to a special guardianship order

A child reaches compulsory school age on the prescribed day following his or her fifth birthday (or on his or her fifth birthday if it falls on a prescribed day). The prescribed days are 31 December, 31 March and 31 August.

4. How to apply

Our academy is a secondary school for ages 11-16. Admissions follow the Salford City Council admissions code: the academy is able to admit up to 300 pupils per year group, inclusive of our Hive Enhanced Resource Base, which has space for up to 7 students per year group with an EHCP for Moderate Learning Difficulties.

Secondary School Admission Policy from Salford Council 2022-24

For applications in the normal admissions round, parents/carers should use the Salford local authority application form. You can use this form to apply for a place at Co-op Academy Walkden and at least 2 other state-funded schools, in rank order of preference. There is no need to fill out any supplementary form.

admissions application form online

You will receive an offer for a school place directly from Salford local authority.

If you are thinking about our academy as your child’s secondary school, we suggest you visit the academy. We hold an Open Evening in the autumn in which you will be able to see our facilities and meet our staff and students.

For further information about admissions to the academy please contact the academy reception on 0161 8501625 or via email on walkden.info@coopacademies.co.uk.

5. Requests for admission outside the normal age group

Parents are entitled to request a place for their child outside of their normal age group. For Year 6 to Year 7 applications where a child is already taught outside of their usual age, parents should contact the Local Authority admissions team in advance of making an application to discuss the process. For in-year applications, or where the child is already attending the academy, parents should contact the Principal in the first instance.

Decisions on requests for admission outside the normal age group will be made on the basis of the circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the child concerned. In accordance with the School Admissions Code, this will include taking account of:

Parents’ 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
Whether they may naturally have fallen into a lower age group if it were not for being born prematurely
The Principal’s views

Wherever possible, requests for admission outside a child’s normal age group will be processed as part of the main admissions round. They will be considered on the basis of the admission arrangements laid out in this policy, including the oversubscription criteria listed in section 6. Applications will not be treated as a lower priority if parents have made a request for a child to be admitted outside the normal age group.

Parents will always be informed of the reasons for any decision on the year group a child should be admitted to. Parents do not have a right to appeal if they are offered a place at the school but it is not in their preferred age group.

6. Allocation of places

6.1 Admission number

The school has an agreed admission number of 300 pupils for entry in Year 7.

6.2 Selection and banding

We are a comprehensive school. We accept applications from all young people who live in our local community, regardless of their prior attainment or religion.

6.3 Oversubscription criteria

All children whose statement of special educational needs (SEN) or education, health and care (EHC) plan names the school will be admitted before any other places are allocated.

If the school is not oversubscribed, all applicants will be offered a place.

In the event that the school receives more applications than the number of places it has available, places will be given to those children who meet any of the criteria set out below, in order until all places are filled.

Looked after children and all previously looked after children. This includes children who have ceased to be looked after because they were adopted or became subject to a child arrangements order or special guardianship order. (Parent/carers of previously looked after children will need to provide a photocopy of the relevant order with the application form)
Children adopted from outside of England. Children who appear to the local authority to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. A child is regarded as having been in state care in a place outside of England if they were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation or any other provider of care whose sole purpose is to benefit society. Parents/carers of children adopted from outside of England will need to provide a photocopy of the relevant order or proof of the child’s adoption from care directly to the local authority with the application form.
Children in need as defined by the Children Act (1989), those who are unlikely to achieve or maintain or to have the opportunity of achieving or maintaining a reasonable standard of health or development or a child/children whose health or development would be further impaired without the provision of services by the Local Authority. Confirmation of the child’s needs will be required from their social worker. Children who would be eligible for this criterion are those who are at level three and have ongoing social worker involvement, and all at level four on the ‘Thresholds of needs and response in Salford’ (www. salford.gov.uk/thresholds.htm). For children resident in other local authorities, contact will be made with the child’s social worker to confirm that the child’s level of need falls within these boundaries of the Salford thresholds. Salford LA must have confirmation of an applicant’s level of need from an appropriate professional before they will be considered under this criterion.
Brother or sister in attendance at the school (Year 7 – 10 only: Year 11 are considered for in year applications only) at the date when the pupil is to be admitted. This includes stepchildren and foster children living with the same family at the same address. Other children may be considered under the sibling criterion provided proof is available to demonstrate that the children are permanently resident at the same address and part of the same family unit. (The academy accepts that in some family units the children may not be natural brothers and/or sisters).
Children living nearest to the school. The distance will be measured in a straight line using LLPG (Local Land and Property Gazetteer) information to measure the distance between the address point (including flats) of the child’s home address and the centre of the school in miles. Those children whose home address is closest to the school will be those who get priority for places. The child’s home address is considered to be the child’s parent/carer(s) place of residence, that is to say, where they are normally and regularly living. If parents are separated and the child spends time at each parents’ address, the address which will be used for admission to schools is that of the main carer. The main carer is determined as the parent who is in receipt of child benefit.

6.4 Tie break

In the case of 2 or more applications that cannot be separated by the oversubscription criteria outlined above, random allocation will be used. This will be carried out by an independent person. Eligible names will be placed in a hat. One name will be drawn from the hat and the remaining place will be offered to that person. This process for random allocation also applies to the waiting list where two or more pupils are eligible for one vacancy because they live the same distance from the preferred school.

7. In-year admissions

You can apply for a place for your child at any time outside the normal admissions round. As is the case in the normal admissions round, all children whose EHC plan names the school will be admitted.

Likewise, if there are spaces available in the year group you are applying for, your child will always be offered a place.

If there are no spaces available at the time of your application, your application will be declined, unless your child meets one of the first 3 of the above oversubscription criteria in section 6.3 of this policy, in which place the application will be considered, though a place is not guaranteed. There is no waiting list and so, if your application is unsuccessful, you are able to reapply at a later date. Applications for in-year admissions should be sent to the following address:

School.Admissions@salford.gov.uk

Where the Local Authority is able to allocate a place, we will follow this process:

Parents complete an online application form: this is a Google form that is emailed to the parent/carer.
Prospective students complete baseline assessments in English and Maths, which are returned to school. This is solely to benchmark their academic profile to allow the building of an appropriate timetable. There is no requirement to achieve a particular score.
Once the above 2 items have been received, the student and their parent/carer will be invited to an admissions meeting. The student will usually start the following week. NB, this is dependent on the student’s previous school supplying all records in a timely manner.
We aim to process admissions and start students within 10 working days of a place being allocated by the Local Authority.

8. Appeals

If we receive more applications than we have places, we will look at each application against the criteria in our admissions policy.

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 within 20 school days and send it to the local authority.

Please find full information on how to appeal here.

You can find details of the school’s appeals timetable on the following webpage:

https://www.walkden.coopacademies.co.uk/page/?title=Admissions&pid=44

9. Monitoring arrangements

This policy will be reviewed and approved by the local governing body every year.

Whenever changes to admission arrangements are proposed (except where the change is an increase to the agreed admission number), the governing board will publicly consult on these changes.

Where there are no changes to admission arrangements, the governing board will publicly consult on the existing policy every 7 years.