Admission to Secondary School (2025)
Gateshead Council Secondary Schools Admission Policy 2025/26
This policy applies to the following schools:
- Heworth Grange
- Kingsmeadow
- Lord Lawson
- Thorp Academy
We allocate places at Gateshead secondary schools using this policy and co-ordinate the admissions to Gateshead schools using the co-ordinated admission scheme.
The admission policy is as follows:
- secondary schools will normally admit pupils between the ages of 11 and 16, or 11 and 19, depending upon the school
- we will accept pupils up to the school's agreed planned admission number for the year group unless we feel there are lawful grounds not to do so
Oversubscription Criteria
We will consider applications from parents who have named the school as any ranked preference on their application form, this is called the equal preference system. If there are more applications for the number of places available at a school, we will than allocate places using the following order of priority:
Order of Priority | Oversubscription Criteria |
|---|---|
Criteria 1 | Children in Public Care (and as deemed under Section 22 of the Children Act 1989) including a child who was previously "looked after" but immediately after being "looked after" became subject to an adoption, residence, or special guardianship order (see definition*) Children who appear to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted |
Criteria 2 | Children who live in the school's catchment area |
Criteria 3 | Children who will have a brother or sister at the secondary school during the coming academic year |
Criteria 4 | Other children who have exceptional medical and social grounds see point 1 below |
Criteria 5 | All other children |
(*see definitions of our criteria in priority 1 and 3 above in our parent's information booklet and at www.gateshead.gov.uk)
Point 1
We can consider individual applications in cases involving exceptional medical or social needs. Such applications must be supported in writing from relevant registered health professionals, such as a doctor or social worker. The evidence must demonstrate why the chosen school is the most suitable and what difficulties would be caused if the child were to attend another school. We will not consider such applications if the relevant evidence is not provided. Each case will be considered individually, and no assumption should be made that the submission of the relevant evidence will be sufficient to allocate a place.
Tie breaker
If within any of the above criteria there are more applicants than places available, priority will be given to those children based on the distance they live from the school, measured 'as the crow flies' in a straight line from the centre of the home residence to the school's main entrance. Children living nearest to the school will have priority. Distance is measured using a geographical information system (GIS). Where two or more applicants share the same distance, a random allocation process will be used to determine the ranked order of the applications in question.
Sibling link
For your child to receive priority because of an older brother or sister in the sixth form at the school, the brother or sister must have been at the school at the start of Year 11.
Address
For the purposes of deciding whether a child lives in the catchment area of a school we will use the parent or guardians address or the address of a relevant adult who has parental responsibility, as defined under the 1989 Children Act, for the child.
Waiting list
If places become available, we will consider all relevant applications using a waiting list. The waiting list will be maintained by the council from the start of the academic year and be kept for the rest of the academic year. All applicants on the waiting list are placed according to the admission criteria and priorities set out above. However, children who are the subject of a direction to admit by the LA or who have been referred for admission and have been allocated a place through the Fair Access Protocol will take precedence over any child on the waiting list.
Application dates
From 9 September 2024 Gateshead residents can apply on-line at www.gateshead.gov.uk
On-line applications must be submitted by 31 October 2024. Alternatively, parents can request a paper application from The School Admissions Team on 0191 433 2757. Paper applications must be returned to The School Admissions Team, Floor 2, Civic Centre, Gateshead, NE8 1HH by 31 October 2024.
If you live outside Gateshead and want to apply to a Gateshead school, you must obtain an application form from your home Council and return it to them by their closing date, even if the schools you want to apply to are in Gateshead. However, you must still consider the information in Gateshead Council's 'Admission to Secondary School' booklet so that you know what the admission arrangements are to Gateshead schools. This information is available at www.gateshead.gov.uk. Your own Council will send us notification of your application and they will let you know the final allocation of a school place for your child.
Offer Date - 3 March 2025
A letter will be sent to parent's resident in Gateshead on or around 3 March 2025 informing them of the school they have been offered for their child. Gateshead residents who apply on-line are also informed by email on 3 March 2025.
Gateshead's co-ordinated admission scheme and catchment areas referred to in this policy can be viewed online.