Admissions Years 7 to 11

Entry at Year 7:

The number of intended admissions for the year commencing 1st September 2024 will be 240.

When the school is oversubscribed, after the admission of pupils with Statements of Special Educational Needs/Individual Health Care Plan, where the school is named in the Statement/Plan, priority for admission will be given to those children who meet the criteria set out below, in order:

  1. Children in public care as defined below(i).
  2. Children who have a sibling(ii) at The Ecclesbourne School at the time of application and admission and who live in the normal area(iii) served by the School at the time of application and admission.
  3. Children living in the normal area(iii) served by the School at the time of application and admission.
  4. Children who have a sibling(ii) at The Ecclesbourne School at the time of application and admission and who do not live in the normal area(iii) served by the School.
  5. Children of members of staff with a minimum of two years’ service at the school at the time of application.
  6. All other children not eligible under the above criteria.

Notes:

  1. Children in public care are defined as children who are currently looked after, or were looked after but ceased to be so because they were adopted [or became subject to a residence order or special guardianship order].
  2. Siblings are considered to be a brother or sister; a half-brother or half-sister; a legally adopted child regarded as a brother or sister; a step-brother or step-sister residing in the same family unit.
  3. 'Living in the normal area’ is defined as the child having full-time residence(iv) in a property which is the child’s only or main residence. Documentary evidence including proof of actual permanent residence at the property concerned will be required.
  4. Residence: This is defined as the child’s permanent place of residence, which is deemed to be the residential property at which the child habitually resides with the person or persons having parental responsibility for the child, or the address where the child is placed by the Local Authority at the time of completion of the application form for on-time applications, this is presently 31 October, and at the time of admission [the following September]. Addresses of other relatives or friends will not be considered as the place of residence, even when the child stays there for all or part of the week. Proof of permanent residence (minimum 12 months’ tenancy agreement in the case of rented accommodation) and other evidence from the court regarding parental responsibilities in these matters may be required. If a parent lives in rented accommodation within the catchment area yet still owns another property within 20 miles of the school, the address of the owned property will be taken as the place of permanent residency, even if it is rented out to a third party.

    If there are exceptional circumstances that relate to a child’s residence these should be set out, and evidence provided. Any query about residence can be the subject of an investigation by the Admission Authority to determine if an address should be accepted.

    Ecclesbourne School reserves the right to carry out random checks at any time and this may include a home visit. Parents and carers may be required to declare that the address used will be their place of residence beyond the date of the student starting school. Ecclesbourne School reserves its right to carry out further investigation of any change of address once the student has started school.

In the event of over-subscription of candidates meeting the requirement in (2) and (3) above and a tie-breaker being required to reach a decision, the governors will use the distance from the centre of the school, as measured by the Local Authority’s Geographic Information System, in a straight line to the front door of the dwelling house, calculated to within two metres.

In the event of over-subscription of candidates meeting any of the requirements (4)-(6) above and a tie-breaker being required in order to reach a decision, the governors will use distance from the normal area boundary to the dwelling house as the crow flies.

The online and telephone application facility [at www.derbyshire.gov.uk/admissions] opens early in September in the year preceding entry and applications are dealt with in accordance with the co-ordinated scheme. Please refer to the Local Authority’s website for the closing date.

The governors will not consider more than one application on behalf of the same child in a single academic year unless the Chair of Governors considers there is a significant change in the particular circumstances of that child.

The Governors reserve the right to verify information and, if misrepresentation is confirmed, refuse or cancel the place.

Right of Appeal

Parents/Carers have the right to appeal against an unsuccessful application which should be submitted within 20 days after receiving their letter of refusal from the Local Authority. An appeals timetable will be published on the school’s website, at www.ecclesbourne.org.uk, by 28th February each year.

Admission Appeal Hearings

Admission to Year 8-11

If a place or places become available for these years during any academic year, and the relevant year remains oversubscribed, the oversubscription criteria set out above for Year 7 will be applied in the same order of priority to those who apply.

Waiting Lists:

Applications from parents whose children have not been accepted into The Ecclesbourne School who wish to be placed on a waiting list must indicate in writing between 1st September and 30th September annually if they wish their names to remain on the list. Waiting lists will be kept for Years 7-11.

Waiting lists will be set up in the order of the published over-subscription criteria.

Withdrawal of Offers

Offers of places may be withdrawn if they were based on incorrect or fraudulent information. They may also be withdrawn if the parent or carers’ address changes before the child is admitted. For example, if a child was offered a normal area place and the family moves out of the normal area before admission takes place, the offer of the place may be withdrawn.