Frequently asked questions
Background
Q Who is responsible for admissions to school?
A All schools have an admission authority that is legally responsible for their admissions. Hampshire County Council is the admission authority for all community and voluntary controlled primary, infant, junior and secondary schools in its administrative area. Some schools are responsible for their own admissions: these are either voluntary (aided) schools (in Hampshire all of these are church schools) or foundation schools. Of the 501 mainstream schools in Hampshire, 423 are community or voluntary (controlled), 56 are voluntary (aided), and 20 are foundation schools. For the majority, therefore, Hampshire County Council is the admission authority.
Q Can I delay my child’s admission to Year R?
A A place in Year R can be held open until the beginning of the spring term in January 2010, but not beyond that time. You must discuss this with the headteacher to ensure the school is aware of your request.
Q What is a school admission policy?
A An admission policy lays down the method by which school places will be allocated. Admission authorities have a legal responsibility to publish a clear admission policy and to carry it out strictly when considering applications. This is to ensure that the process is fair and transparent. The admission policy for community and voluntary controlled schools can be viewed using the following links: primary policy and secondary policy. Voluntary aided and foundation schools’ admission policies are summarised in the Hampshire Schools Directory, but it is important that you get the full version from the school itself before making any decisions.
Q Do I have a right to a place at the school of my choice for my child?
A No. Parents do not have an absolute right to choose the school they want for their child. Parents have a right to state a preference for a school and the County Council and other admission authorities have a duty to comply with that preference except where it would prejudice what the 1998 School Standards and Framework Act calls ‘efficient education or the efficient use of resources’.
If the County Council or governors of an admission authority school are unable to meet a parental preference, parents have the right to appeal to an independent appeal panel. Every effort is made to arrange appeals as soon as possible, but the aim is to hear an appeal within 6 weeks of receiving it.
Listen to Questions & Answers relating to the Application process
Gathering information
Q How do I find out the catchment area school for my address?
A Schools take most of their children from the surrounding area, called the catchment area. To find your catchment school, check with your local school or call the Admissions Team. Catchment area information is available online at http://whereilive.hants.gov.uk/schoolcatchments/ Please note that your child’s permanent address determines your catchment school. Only your permanent address can be used on the application form. t
Q How can I get information about individual schools?
A Each school must by law publish a prospectus that contains important and up-to-date information. You can request a prospectus directly from schools. School visits can also be very helpful in deciding which school you would like your child to attend. It is important to make an appointment first. Many schools, particularly secondary schools, arrange open days and evenings. These are publicised in the local press. You may also like to look at a school’s Ofsted report. You can get a copy from the school, local library or the internet at www.ofsted.gov.uk. A recent report is likely to be more helpful than one several years old.
Q What should I look for when I visit a school?
A Guidance about what to look for and questions to ask on a school visit is available at www.hants.gov.uk/visitingaschool.htm
Things to consider before completing the application form
Q My preferred school is very popular. How can I assess the likelihood of a place for my child?
A From the school’s admission policy – published in its prospectus – you will be able to work out how high up the list of admission criteria your child will be. You will then need to check the figure for the school in the Hampshire Schools Directory. This will tell you the number of children the school can admit in September as well as the number of children admitted within each category last year.
Schools will be able to give you an idea of the trend of applications and appeals. However, you must treat the figures with some caution because they can change from year to year. For example, if a new housing development opens in the catchment area of a small infant school, it may affect the number of out-catchment applicants the school can admit.
Q Will my child be guaranteed a place in the catchment area school?
A The County Council cannot guarantee places in any school. If you apply to your catchment school the chances are usually high that you will be offered a place, but this cannot be guaranteed. Changes in the pattern of parents’ preferences and changes in local population may mean that a few schools will be oversubscribed from within their catchment area.
Q How will my child get to school? Does Hampshire County Council help pay transport costs?
A Guidance on help with transport costs can be found in the useful information section.
Q How important is it for me to ensure that my application is received by the deadline?
A Very important! If your application is late, it will only be considered after all on-time applications and this may mean you have less chance of a place in your preferred school.
Residence
Q My child lives at different addresses during the week. Which address should I put on the application form?
A You may put only one address on the form as your child’s permanent residence for the purpose of determining your child's catchment area. Your child is expected to live at this home address at weekends and during school holidays as well as during the week. Children who spend part of their week with one parent and part with the other, at different addresses, must use the address at which they spend most of their time (see ‘warnings’)
Q What if I move house after the deadline?
A If you move after the closing date but before the notification date, we may be able to consider your application on the basis of your new address. When you have moved, contact the admissions team. Evidence will be required for any such change.
Q I live near the county boundary. Are procedures and deadlines the same in other local authorities?
A No. Hampshire is surrounded by nine other local authorities. If you intend to apply to a school in another authority, you must get that authority’s admission brochure.
Hampshire residents applying to a secondary school in another authority must follow the guidance notes on the Hampshire application form and submit the form by the Hampshire closing date.
Residents in neighbouring authorities applying to a Hampshire secondary school must use their own authority’s form and follow the advice given by their own authority
Hampshire residents applying to a primary, infant or junior school in another authority must contact that authority. The timescale for application in that authority may be different from Hampshire’s.
Residents in neighbouring authorities applying to a Hampshire primary, infant or junior school must use a Hampshire application form, which they can get from the school.
Q Is information sent to independent schools?
A Some independent schools in Hampshire are sent details of the transfer procedures from primary to secondary school. Hampshire parents of children in independent schools must get an application form from the admissions team and send the completed form to the admissions team by the deadline.
Listen to Questions & Answers relating to the Application Form
After receiving a decision
Listen to Questions & Answers relating to 'Being Offered a School Place'
Q What can I do if my child does not get a place in my preferred school?
A If your child has been refused admission to a school, you can put your child's name on the waiting list and you have the right to appeal against the decision to an independent appeal panel. You may appeal for more than one school. Your allocation letter will advise you what to do if you wish to appeal. Appeals for admission in September will be heard from March onwards and possibly into the summer holidays.
You will need to make a written appeal and most parents also attend the hearing to present their case in person. Your child may be refused admission on the grounds that it would prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources or because of requirements about limiting infant class size. In the latter case, your appeal can only succeed if:
- the child would have been offered a place if the admission arrangements had been properly implemented; and/or
- the decision to refuse admission was not one which a reasonable admission authority would have made in the circumstances of the case.
The decision of an independent appeal panel is binding upon the County Council and can only be overturned by the courts. If your appeal is unsuccessful, you cannot appeal again in the same academic year unless there is a significant and material change in your, or the school’s, circumstances. You may, of course, remain on the waiting list for any school.
Appeals for places at voluntary aided or foundation schools must be made directly to the schools concerned.
Listen to Questions & Answers relating to 'Not Getting Your First Preference School'
Q Can the offer of a place be withdrawn?
A The local authority reserves the right to withdraw places in certain circumstances. Examples include:
- where a parent has given fraudulent or intentionally misleading information, such as a false address
- where the offer was made as the result of an administrative error
- •where the authority can offer a place in a higher preference school.
Places will not normally be withdrawn if the child has started at the school, unless the place was obtained by deception.
School place secured
Q Does admission to a school depend on the parent signing the home-school agreement?
A No. The 1998 School Standards and Framework Act requires every maintained school to have in place a home-school agreement. The agreement sets out the school’s aims and ethos, its expectations on the standard of education, discipline and homework, and the information the school and parents will need to give one another.
By signing the agreement, parents are saying that they take note of the school’s aims, values and responsibilities and that they acknowledge and accept their parental responsibilities and the school’s expectations of its pupils. However, the school cannot refuse to admit a child if the parent is unwilling to sign the home-school agreement.
Q What are my responsibilities as a parent?
A It is your responsibility to ensure that your child receives a full-time education during the ‘compulsory years’ When the child is a registered pupil at a school, this means ensuring that the child attends punctually and regularly and doing everything possible to ensure that he/she behaves in an appropriate way while at school. You should not take your child(ren) out of school for family holidays or extended overseas trips unless you have first discussed this with the headteacher.
The Education Welfare Service works with schools to provide advice and help for pupils and families who have particular difficulties with attendance.
Q Can my child be moved up or down a year?
A Very occasionally, a parent may feel that their child should repeat a year or move to an older year group. Please raise this with the headteacher in the first instance. The final decision rests with the headteacher, not the County Council.
Q What happens if my child is permanently excluded?
A Following a permanent exclusion, your child will be referred to the Education Other Than at School (EOTAS) service who will then contact you and tell you about ongoing provision. You can apply directly to another school, although we recommend that you liaise closely with the EOTAS service. If your child has been permanently excluded from two different schools, then no school has to admit the child.
Q What happens if I have to move house?
A Moving house, perhaps because of a change of job, is the commonest reason why children change schools outside the normal times of transfer. But there can be problems if the transfer is not carefully thought through.
Schools cannot reserve places, even for people moving into their catchment area. So the catchment school for the new home may be full. You can still apply to the school, but until you have exchanged contracts or have a signed tenancy agreement, the school cannot use your new address to decide on your catchment area.
In deciding whether you live in its catchment area, the school will need to know the child’s permanent residential address. It will speed up the decision-making if you provide a solicitor’s letter confirming that the exchange has taken place, or a copy of the tenancy agreement.
Any school move during Years 10 or 11 is likely to be difficult. There may be problems matching the curriculum and difficulties with teaching groups in certain subjects – especially science and technology – which are full because of limits on the number of pupils that can safely be accommodated in laboratories and workshops. Make careful enquiries before embarking on a move, unless it really is unavoidable. Schools will do their best to help in these circumstances, but it is not always easy.
In certain circumstances the County Council will pay public transport costs to avoid a pupil having to change schools during Years 10 or 11 (see transport page).
Q Can I transfer my child from one school to another without moving house?
A If there are problems in the child’s current school, it is always best to try to sort them out first rather than simply to move away from them. If the school to which you want to transfer your child has places, the process should not be difficult. Even if the school is full, you still have the right of appeal. Whether or not such a transfer helps your child will depend on individual circumstances and why you want the transfer in the first place.
Q How do I apply for a school place from overseas?
A If you are coming from overseas, please contact the admissions team.