Introduction
Dorset LA is the Admissions Authority for all community and voluntary controlled schools in the Dorset Council area. Arrangements for entry to sixth forms are administered by the respective governing bodies. The policy set out below does not apply to voluntary aided, free schools, academies and foundation schools.
Should more than one parent have parental responsibility, only one application will be considered.
Unless a court order rules otherwise, the application must be made by the parent who has day to day care of the child for the majority of the school days or weeks.
Where this is unclear, disputed, or care is split equally and there is no agreement between the parents, the application considered will be that made by the parent at the address identified on the child’s registered general practitioner (GP) record.
If separated parents reside at the same address, they should reach agreement or, if not possible, obtain a Court Order to clarify the preferences before an application can be considered by the local authority (LA).
- Where all parental preferences for places at the school can be satisfied, all children seeking a place will be admitted.
- Where there are too few places available to satisfy all preferences, places will be allocated according to the following priority order:
- a “Child in Care” or who was “previously a Child in Care”
- children who the authority accepts have an exceptional medical or social need and where there is a need for a place at one specific school
- children living within the school’s catchment area who will have a sibling(s) attending the school at the time of admission
- children living within the school’s catchment area
- children living outside the school’s catchment area who will have a sibling(s) attending the school at the time of admission
- children living outside the school’s catchment area and whose parents wish them to attend a CE Voluntary Controlled school on denominational grounds
- children of staff with at least two years continuous service at the school or who have been recruited to a vacancy to meet a demonstrable skills shortage as at the date of application (in year) or relevant closing date under the LA co-ordinated scheme (normal year of entry) and who still intend to be employed at the school at the time of the child's admission
- all other children living outside the school’s catchment area
Please see the footnotes section for definitions.
- If oversubscribed within any of the priority order categories above, places will be allocated on the basis of the shortest straight line measurement using a geographical information based system which identifies an easting and northing for the home address and the school and calculates the distance between the two locations. School transport is based on walking and driven distances.
- In the event that the LA is unable to distinguish between applications despite applying the priority categories above, lots will be drawn by an independent (of the LA) person to determine the final place(s).
- Where applications are received from families with multiple birth siblings and by adhering to sixth form PAN these siblings could not be offered the same school, the admission number will be exceeded to accommodate the multiple birth siblings. This is not an indication that schools can exceed the admission number other than under these exceptional circumstances.