2019 Admissions Policy

Admissions Policy 2019

Date of Policy: September 2017

Member of staff with overall responsibility: Sharon Campbell

Governing Body Sub-Committee with reviewing responsibility: Admissions

Stretford Grammar School is a foundation mixed Grammar School. The student admission number is 128 for Years 7 – 11. The School has no religious affiliation.

Definitions (for the purpose of this Admissions Policy)

‘Looked after children’ has the meaning set out in the Education Act 2002
‘Residence’ means the main permanent home of the applicant
‘The School’ means Stretford Grammar School
‘Sibling’ means any person (full, half, step, adopted or foster brother or sister) of admissions age who is residing permanently at the same address as the candidate and will be in attendance at Stretford Grammar School at the time of the proposed admission.
‘Pupil Premium’ is funding for publicly funded schools in England to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and close the gap between them and their peers. Schools receive funding for each child registered as eligible for free meals at any point in the last 6 years as well as funding for children who have a parent serving in the armed forces.

Admission at Age 11

The number of admissions into Year 7 for the year commencing 1st September 2019 will be 128. Candidates who attain the required standard in the School’s testing arrangements for selection by ability (as set out in this Policy) will be eligible for admission to the School.

Applicants must have a date of birth between 1st September 2007 and 31st August 2008.

Younger candidates may be considered for a place providing they are studying in a Year 6 class prior to the Entrance Examination and they obtain an examination score of 360 or above. Applicants who are studying in a Year 5 class, but whose date of birth is between the dates given above must sit the Entrance Examination with applicants of the same age. Decisions as to their year of entry to the School would be made on an individual basis.
a) Application Procedure for Admission to Year 7 September 2019

1. All parents/carers of candidates who wish to take the Tests for entry to Stretford Grammar School in September 2019 must complete the School Registration Form on-line, via the school website, by noon on Friday 29th June 2018. If the closing date is missed the next testing date will be after National Allocation Day which is 1st March 2019.

2. The School is part of the Trafford Local Authority Co-ordinated Scheme. Parents/carers of children who wish to apply for a place at the School must indicate Stretford Grammar School on their home Local Authority Admissions Form.

3. Candidates who move into the area (as defined by criteria 3 of the over-subscription criteria) after the closing date for applications and who submit an on-time application to their Local Authority including Stretford Grammar School as a preference will be given consideration from the address given on the original application made to the school until after the first round of offers. Thereafter, the new address will only be considered if and when the following evidence and legal documentation in relation to the change of residency have been supplied to the school:

a. Evidence and legal documentation to the effect they have purchased or exchanged contracts on a property is produced and proof of disposal of the previous home.
b. For leasing agreements a minimum of 24 months is required and legally supported documentation produced and proof of disposal of the previous home.
c. The applicant and his/her parents/carers became resident at the new home.
Applicants who move further away from the School after the date of application will be considered from their new address with immediate effect.

4. Access Arrangements
Access arrangements will be agreed before the Entrance Test. They allow candidates with special educational needs, disabilities or temporary injuries to access the test and show what they can do without changing the demands of the test. The intention behind an access arrangement is to meet the particular needs of an individual applicant without affecting the integrity of the exam. Access arrangements are the principal way in which the School complies with the duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make ‘reasonable adjustments’.
The Equality Act 2010 requires the School to make reasonable adjustments where a candidate, who is disabled within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010, would be at a substantial disadvantage in comparison to someone who is not disabled. Whether an adjustment will be considered reasonable will depend on a number of factors which will include, but are not limited to:

the needs of the disabled applicant;
the effectiveness of the adjustment;
the cost of the adjustment; and
the likely impact of the adjustment upon the applicant and the other applicants.
The evidence of need required by the School will vary depending on the disability and the access arrangement(s) being applied for. Each case will be considered on its own merit. Information must be forwarded to the School by parents at the time they register their child for the Entrance Test or as soon as possible thereafter but MUST be before the closing date for all applications.
Access arrangements must not give an applicant an unfair advantage over other applicants. Where a request for 25% extra time is made, therefore, it will only be granted where there is evidence of substantial impairment or exceptional circumstances. In order to evidence such circumstances, parents should provide the School with a Local Authority Statement of Special Educational Needs, an Education, Health and Care Plan or primary school SEND support information. Information from the primary school should also be provided which details the applicant’s normal way of working; the primary school may be consulted.
All reports and documentation must be current and dated no more than 2 years before the testing date. All documentation provided must also show the Assessors full details including qualifications and how the assessment results were reached and be on official letterhead.

b) Arrangements for Testing

1. Arrangements for the Stretford Grammar Entrance Test will be available on the website from 21st May 2018

2. The Stretford Grammar Entrance Test will consist of Verbal, Non Verbal and Mathematic questions, set and standardised by our service provider. The standardisation will take into account the applicants’ date of birth.

3. To be eligible for consideration of a place at the school a candidate must achieve the following:

Candidates who achieve a score of 334 or above will be deemed to have qualified for consideration for admission to Stretford Grammar School. This does not in itself guarantee a place
Candidates who achieve a score of between 324 to 333 (inclusive) will be deemed to have qualified for the right to be reviewed by the Review Panel
Outcomes and scores for the main testing will be communicated by Stretford Grammar School to parents/carers prior to the 31st October 2018. No results will be given over the telephone or via e-mail. The result for any other testing will be when it is available.

c) The Automatic Review Procedure

1. All candidates whose standardised score is between 324 and 333 (inclusive) will have their application automatically reviewed. The Review will take account of the following:

The test score achieved by the applicant.
Any special circumstances that the School have been advised of on or prior to the date of the examination or in the week immediately after the testing (if your child is ill immediately prior to or on the day of the exam, please do not bring them, alternative arrangements can be made).
Any supporting official documentation requested by Stretford Grammar School.
The invigilator’s Report
The result letters for automatic review candidates will be communicated by Stretford Grammar School to parents/carers prior to the 31st October 2017.
Those candidates whom are deemed to have qualified for admission under the Right of Review will have their Test score amended to 334R

2. Challenges against the ‘examination outcome’ will be heard at a Local Review, solely by a Review Panel upon receipt of the Local Review Form along with optional supporting documentations detailing the challenge.

The decision relating to the parental challenge will be notified by post and will be after the date for the submission of the Common Application Form.
It is your entitlement to put Stretford Grammar School as a preferred school on the Common Application Form if you are awaiting the results of the review.
Those candidates whom the Review Panel deem to have qualified for admission under the Right of Review will have their Test score amended to 334R

3. The Review Panel will consist of the Headteacher, the Deputy Headteacher, the Head of English, the Head of Mathematics and a current primary school Headteacher.

4. Statutory appeals may follow in the Summer term – see “Right of Appeal” section.

d) The Over-subscription Criteria

1. A ‘looked after child’ or a child who was previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, residence, or special guardianship order (Under the terms of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (see section 46 (adoption orders)).

2. 15 Pupil Premium Places – Places will be allocated to the highest performing candidates who qualify for Pupil Premium at the time of allocation, irrespective of distance. Candidates, on Pupil Premium, with equal scores to the lowest candidate in this allocation will also be offered places.

3. The top 20 scoring candidates, irrespective of home residence, will be allocated a place. Candidates with equal scores to the lowest candidate in this allocation will also be offered places.

4. Children who will have a sibling attending the School within Years 7 to 11 at the time of admission (September 2019).

5. Successful candidates who live within the immediate area of the school; being M32, M33, M41, M15 and M16 (both within Trafford and Manchester) and including M21, this being the next closest postcode to the school.

6. Children who live nearest to the School, measured in a direct straight line from the child’s permanent place of residence to the School.

If there are more applicants than can be accommodated at the School in criteria 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 places will be offered to those children in each criteria whose place of residence is nearest to the School as defined in criterion 6. This will be measured using property co-ordinates provided through a combination of the Trafford Local Land and Property Gazetteer (BS7666), other LA data and Royal Mail Postal Address Information. In the case of a child living in a block of flats, the distance will be measured in the same manner.

Random allocation will be used as a tie-break to decide who has the highest priority for admission where the qualifying score and the distance between two applicants’ home and the school is the same.

Parents/carers should note that although Stretford Grammar School will inform them of their child’s assessment result prior to 31st October 2018, allocation letters will be sent on, National Allocation Day, the 1st March 2019 (or the next working day) by their home authority on behalf of the Governing Body of the School.

Please Note: The child’s home address means the address where the child normally and permanently lives on a full-time basis, not the address of any child-minder, grandparent or any other relative. In the case of parents/carers who are separated or divorced and where child-care arrangements are shared between two addresses, the average of the distances of the two addresses from the School will be used for the purpose of determining priority for admission. You may be required to provide proof of residency. Failure to do so may result in the offer of a place being withdrawn.

The School may withdraw a place at a later date if false, incorrect or misleading information has been provided which has advantaged the applicant in the priority order for over-subscription. Parents/carers must inform the School of any changes to their address or circumstances.

e) Waiting List

The school will operate a waiting list for Year 7 admission in September, following the completion of the allocation and appeals process. Should a place become available, the oversubscription criteria will be applied to those on the waiting list.

f) Right of Appeal

Under the terms of Education Act 1998, all parents/carers of candidates refused admission have the right to an Independent Appeals Panel against any decision made by the School. The decision of the Independent Appeals Panel is binding on both the School and parents/carers. An appeals timetable is published on the school website by 28th February each year.

Appellants considering making a complaint regarding an appeal may contact:
The Local Government Ombudsman
PO Box 4771
Coventry
CV4 0EH

Admission for Candidates applying to enter Years 7 to 11
(from another secondary school)

1. These procedures apply both to candidates who have previously been unsuccessful in the School’s Testing procedure and to candidates who have not previously been tested. Candidates who have previously applied and sat the School’s In-Year Testing and who have not achieved the qualifying score for admission cannot re-apply in the same academic year and must leave a minimum of 12 months before applying for re-assessment.

2. Candidates who have previously been unsuccessful in the School’s Entrance Examination procedure are able to be reassessed in Summer Term 2019 and if assessed as suitable, and places being available, are able to start in September 2019.

3. Candidates will be assessed for their suitability for admission to the School using the following procedure:

candidates will receive a Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT) which comprises verbal, quantitative and non-verbal sections and their score will be standardised
the school will ask for a letter from the candidate’s current school, setting out the candidate’s current level of attainment and progress and asking for the results of any nationally-taken tests or exams
a scrutiny of the candidate’s work, including Maths, English, Science, Modern Foreign Languages, History and Geography. Candidates may bring work in other subjects if they wish.

4. Under the terms of Education Act 1998, all parents/carers of candidates refused admission have the right to an Independent Appeals Panel against any decision made by the School. The decision of the Independent Appeals Panel is binding on both the School and parents/carers.

5. Year 10 and 11 candidates will sit a bespoke testing, if applicable, which will be advised on application.

6. Applications for candidates in Years 7 to 9 who have previously qualified for Stretford Grammar School will be considered in light of the availability of places and their position on the waiting list. Applicants who are currently in Year 9 and above who have previously qualified will be required to re-qualify.

7. Please note a successful outcome from an assessment does not guarantee a place at the school. If any places are available we apply our over-subscription criteria.

8. Positions on the waiting list are subject to change and as such a candidate may move up or down the list.

9. To register your child for re-assessment please contact the Admissions Officer on 0161 866 0130 or email admissions [at] stretfordgrammar [dot] com.

Admission to the Sixth Form

1. The Sixth Form intake will be dependent on the number of students in Years 7-11 and the maximum capacity of the school. When Years 7-11 are fully subscribed, admission to Year 12 will be such that the total number of Sixth Form students does not exceed 192. The school does not enrol students at the beginning of Year 13.

2. For those offered a place in the Sixth Form the requirement for entry is that students must have achieved a minimum Attainment 8 score of 60 and at least a grade 6 in the subjects chosen to study and a grade 5 in GCSE English Language and Mathematics.

3. For unreformed subjects, Business Studies and Design and Technology:
Grade A* = 8 points,
Grade A = 7 points,
Grade B = 6 points,
Grade C = 5 points, etc.

4. Please note that for the purposes of our entry criteria 2018 the Attainment 8 score is defined as a summation of the grades students achieve in their best 8 GCSEs, including Mathematics and English Language. A student’s best Mathematics GCSE and English Language GCSE grade will be included in this measure and both the Mathematics and English Language grades will be double weighted. For example, a score of 8 in English Language will be awarded 16 points towards the minimum target of a 60. The remaining 6 GCSEs are not double weighted and can come from any other GCSE subject studied by the students as part of their curriculum.

5. Applicants who have completed their secondary education in schools other than in England and Wales and have taken IGCSE or equivalent qualifications will be subject to the same requirements as stated in paragraphs three and four. Students who take qualifications other than GCSE, or IGCSE or must have equivalent qualifications as defined and verified by NARIC (www.ecctis.co.uk/naric) and be able to demonstrate that they are working at a level comparable to the minimum academic requirement for entry into the sixth form. Equivalent qualifications will only be accepted if the course content provides suitable preparation for A Level study and students will only be enrolled once qualifications have been verified in writing.

6. Internal Year 11 students will be asked to indicate whether they wish to progress to Sixth Form in the first half of the Spring Term and to give an initial choice of subjects.

7. Internal applicants, who meet the entry requirements and who enrol on or before GCSE Results and Enrolment day, will be given priority over all other applicants and guaranteed a place in the Sixth Form, on courses of their choice, within the option lines available. Internal applicants who enrol between GCSE Results and Enrolment day and the first school day of the Autumn Term may be enrolled, subject to availability of places on the courses of their choice. The maximum class size for any A Level class will be 25.

8. Year 11 applicants from other schools should return completed application forms between October and mid-February each year; the deadline date is the end of the first half of the spring term. Their school will be asked to provide information to verify the suitability of the candidate’s choice of courses and to ensure Stretford Grammar School is able to provide appropriate support to meet individual student needs. Proof of qualifications, identity and residency, will also be required.

9. Year 11 students from other schools (external applicants), who apply and accept a conditional offer during the Spring Term, meet the entry requirements and enrol on or before 21st August will be allocated a place in the Sixth Form, on courses of their choice, within the option lines available.

10. Year 11 external applicants, who apply after the February deadline will only be offered places subject to availability and only once all qualifying students in paragraphs 6 to 9 have received conditional offers.

11. Any student who enrols in the Sixth Form but fails to attend on the first day of the Autumn Term, without prior notice being given, may have their place withdrawn.

12. Applications to re-take year 12 will only be considered if there are places available after all qualifying year 11 students have enrolled. Such applications will be considered on an individual basis, taking account of any extenuating circumstances and priority will be given to students already at the school. Following discussions with the student and their parent/carer to ascertain whether it is in the student’s best educational interest, the school may refuse requests to retake Year 12.

Over-Subscription Criteria for Sixth Form Places

Where eligible applications for admission exceed the number of places in the Sixth Form, or the number of applications for a course exceeds the places available on that course, the following criteria will apply:

2. Those highest in rank order of Average Rank Score (ARS) for entry into Year 12 or onto the course.

3. In the event of tied scores resulting in more than one applicant being eligible for places then the applicant living nearest to the school as measured using the property co-ordinates provided through a combination of the Trafford Local Land and Property Gazetteer (BS7666), other LA data and Royal Mail Postal Address Information. In the case of a child living in a block of flats, the distance will be measured from the communal entrance of the building.

4. Random allocation will be used as a tie-break to decide who has the highest priority for admission where the qualifying score and the distance between two applicants’ home and the school is the same.

Progression to Year 13

Students who fail to achieve a record of continuous effort to make good progress in their Y12 studies, at the end of Year 12, will be invited, with their parents/carers, to a consultation to discuss whether progression to Year 13 is in the best interest for their continuing education. The school may advise that the student should retake Year 12 or seek alternative qualifications more suited to their individual needs.

Please Note:
Proof of qualifications, identity and residence may be required from applicants. The School may withdraw a place at a later date if false, incorrect or misleading information has been provided. Parents/carers must inform the School of any changes to their address or circumstances.

Right of Appeal

Under the terms of Education Act 1998, all candidates and parents/carers of candidates refused admission have the right to appeal to an Independent Appeals Panel against any decision made by the School. The decision of the Independent Appeals Panel is binding on both the School and parents/carers. Appeals will be heard within 40 school days and acknowledged within 30 days.