This document sets out Leigh Academy Tonbridge’s (LATon’s) admissions arrangements for entry in September 2023, as determined by Leigh Academies Trust (LAT) in its role as the admission authority.
The Academy will comply with all relevant provisions of the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) School Admissions Code and School Admission Appeals Code. Should the Academy need to make any in-year changes to its admissions arrangements it will apply to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).
Throughout this document the term ‘parent’ is used to refer to parents or legal guardians.
- Admission number
LATon’s Published Admission Number (PAN) for entry into Year 7 in September 2023 is 151. The Academy will admit up to this number in the relevant age group if there are sufficient applications. - The application process for students joining Year 7 in September 2023
The application procedure for admission into Year 7 will follow the Kent Councty Council (KCC) coordinated admissions arrangements.
For families living in Kent, applications for a place in Year 7 should be made using the online process available at www.kent.gov.uk/ola or by completing the paper Secondary Common Application Form (SCAF). The SCAF form can be downloaded from www.kent.gov.uk/secondaryadmissions or accessed by contacting KCC’s Secondary Admissions Team. The deadline for completing the online application or returning the SCAF to the Local Authority Admissions Team is 1 November 2022.
Those living outside of the county should consult their Local Education Authority regarding the process for applying for a place in a Kent school.
Parents will be informed by the Local Education Authority on 1 March whether their child has been offered a place. Parents are asked to accept any offer of a place at LATon by 15 March. - Consideration of applications
LATon will consider all applications it receives and students will be offered places without reference to aptitude or ability. Where fewer than 151 applications are received, the Academy will offer places to all those who have applied.
Requests for admission outside of the normal age group should initially be made to the Academy Principal as early as possible in the admissions round associated with the child’s date of birth. This allows the Academy and Admissions Authority sufficient time to make a decision before the closing date. Parents are not expected to provide evidence to support their request, however where provided it must be specific to the child in question and may include medical or Educational Psychologist reports. There is no legal requirement for this medical or educational evidence to be secured from an appropriate professional, however, failure to provide this may impede the academy’s ability to agree to a request for admission outside of the normal age group. Parents are required to complete an application for the normal point of entry at the same time, in case their request is declined. Deferred applications must be made via SCAF to the Local Authority, with written confirmation from the Academy Principal attached. Deferred applications will be processed in the same way as all applications for the cohort in the following admissions round, and offers will be made in accordance with the academy’s oversubscription criteria. - Oversubscription criteria
Where LATon receives more applications than the PAN, and following the admission of children with a Statement of Special Educational Need (SSEN) or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) which names the Academy, applications will be ranked against the following criteria in the order set out below:- Looked After Children and previously Looked After Children
A Looked After Child is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (see the definition in Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989) at the time of making an application to a school.
A previously Looked After Child means such children who were adopted (or subject to child arrangements orders or special guardianship orders) immediately following having been looked after and those children who appear to the admission authority to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result Leigh Academy Tonbridge Admissions Arrangements 2023/24 of being adopted.
A child who appears (to the Admission Authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. - Students who have a sibling on roll at the academy
Admission of students whose siblings currently attend the school and who will continue to do so at the time of entry. For this criterion brother or sister means children who live as brother and sister in the same house, including natural brothers or sisters, adopted siblings, step-brothers or sisters,or foster brothers or sisters. Children residing in the same households as part of an extended family, such as cousins, will not be treated as siblings. If siblings from multiple births (twins, triplets, etc.) apply for the Academy and the Academy would reach its Published Admission Number (PAN) after admitting one or more, but before admitting all of those siblings, the Academy will offer a place to each of the siblings, even if doing so takes the Academy above its PAN. The Academy reserves the right to ask for proof of a relationship. - Health and Special Access Reasons
Medical, health, social and special access reasons will be applied in accordance with LATon’s legal obligations, in particular those under the Equality Act 2010. Priority will be given to those children whose mental or physical impairment means that they have a demonstrable and significant need to attend LATon. Equally this priority will apply to children whose parents’/guardians’ physical or mental health or social needs mean that they have a demonstrable and significant need to attend the Academy. Such claims will need to be supported by written evidence from a suitably qualified, independent registered medical or other practitioner, at the time of original application, who can demonstrate a special connection between these needs and LATon. - The proximity to the student’s permanent home address
We use the distance between the child’s permanent home address and the Academy, measured as the distance between the child’s permanent home address and the Academy, measured in a straight line using the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) address point data. Distances are measured from a point defined as within the child’s home to a point defined as within the Academy as specified by NLPG. The same address point on the Academy site is used for everybody. Priority will be given to those living closest to the Academy. If more than one applicant lives in a multi-occupancy building (e.g. flats) priority will be given to the applicant whose door number is the lowest numerically and/or alphabetically. Where parents live at separate Leigh Academy Tonbridge Admissions Arrangements 2023/24 addresses, and have joint custody, the address used will be the one where the child spends the main part of the academy week (i.e. Sunday night to Thursday night inclusive). - In the event of two applications that cannot otherwise be separated, a clear and fair tie breaker will be used. Each will be issued a number and drawn randomly to decide which child should be given the place will be applied
- Looked After Children and previously Looked After Children
- Waiting lists
Where the Academy receives more applications for places than are available, a waiting list will operate for unsuccessful applicants to Year 7. This waiting list will be managed by KCC in the first instance as part of the coordinated admissions scheme, before being passed over to the academy on the date set out in KCC’s admissions process. A childs’ position on the waiting list will be determined solely in accordance with the oversubscription criteria set out in paragraph 4a) – 4e) above. Where places become vacant they will be allocated to children on the waiting list in accordance with the oversubscription criteria.
LATon will also maintain waiting lists for other year groups (excluding the Sixth Form) and all lists will be open to any parent to ask for his or her child’s name to be added.
The Academy’s waiting lists will be re-ranked, in line with the published oversubscription criteria, every time a child is added. - In-year admissions
Subject to any provisions in the Local Authority’s coordinated admission arrangements, applications for admission to the Academy such as:
– late applications for admission to Year 7;
– applications for admission to years other than Years 7 and 12;
– applications for admission to any year after the beginning of the academic year will be handled by the academy and places will be offered, if they are available, to applicants according to the oversubscription criteria specified in paragraph 4 above
Expressions of interest and applications for such admissions can be made directly to the academy by contacting the Admissions department on 01732 500600 or via admissions@latonbridge.org.uk - Admission to the Sixth Form
Admissions to Year 12 will not exceed the PAN (151 students).
Students in Year 11 at LATon will have priority over those applying from other schools. If fewer than 151 LATon students, who meet the entry criteria, apply to the Sixth Form then places will be open to students from other institutions on the basis that no more than 50% of the PAN will be allocated to external applicants. LATon will publish specific criteria in relation to minimum entrance requirements for the Sixth Form and for the range of courses available based upon GCSE grades or other measures of prior attainment. These criteria are the same for internal and external transfers. All internal applicants who meet the criteria will be admitted to the Sixth Form, even if this number is greater than the planned admissions number. The academic entry criteria will be published in the autumn immediately preceding the year of admissions (that is Autumn 2022) for September 2023 admissions. The criteria will be included within the Academy’s prospectus and, if available, within the local authority composite admission prospectus.
Where LATon receives more external applications than the PAN than available places, and following the admission of students with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) which names the Academy, applicants who meet the entry criteria will be ranked against the criteria outlined in 4a) – 4d).