Admission to Secondary School (2025)
Whickham School - Admission policy 2025/26
Introduction
We, at Whickham School, allocate places at our school using Gateshead LA's Community Secondary Schools Admissions Policy. We consult the Governing Body each year about this policy and we arrange the admissions to the school using the co-ordinated admission scheme. We also use this policy and scheme when deciding the allocation of places for In Year transfer/casual admissions to the school.
The admission policy is as follows:
- Whickham School will admit pupils between the ages of 11 and 19
- We will accept pupils up to the school's agreed planned admission number for the year 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 the school we will then allocate places by using the following order of priority:
Priority rank | Criteria |
|---|---|
1 | Children in Public Care (as defined under Section 22 of the Children Act 1989) including a child who was previously "looked after" but ceased to be so because they were adopted (or became subject to a child arrangements order 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. |
2 | Children who live in the school's catchment area. |
3 | Children who will have a brother or sister at the secondary school during the coming academic year. |
4 | Other children who have exceptional medical and social grounds (see point 1 below). |
5 | Children of a member of school staff who has been employed at the school for two or more years at the time at which application for admission to the school is made; and/or the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post at the school for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage. (see point 2 below). |
6 | All other children. |
*see definitions of our criteria in priority 1 and 3 on our website
Point 1 - We can consider individual applications in cases involving exceptional medical or social needs. This kind of application must be supported in writing from relevant registered health professionals i.e. 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. No assumption should be made that submission of the relevant evidence will in itself be sufficient to allocate a place.
Point 2 - School staff refers to all staff employed by Whickham School.
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 Whickham School 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 or managed moves between schools 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 by 31 October 2024 to:
School Admissions Team
Civic Centre, Floor 2
Gateshead
NE8 1HH
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
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.
In-year applications
An application can be made for a place for a child at any time outside the admission round please view the information on our website.
General information and definitions
For information on our admission arrangements and definitions of the terms used in this policy please refer to the "Admission to Secondary School" booklet for 2024 www.gateshead.gov.uk
Gateshead's co-ordinated admission scheme and catchment areas referred to in this policy can also be viewed online or at The Civic Centre.