Westminster City Council
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Westminster Your choice for secondary education A guide for parents with children transferring to secondary school in 2019 APPLY ONLINE FOR YOUR CHILD’S SECONDARY SCHOOL PLACE westminster.gov.uk/admissions Westminster City Council westminster.gov.uk APPLY ONLINE AND SAVE TIME CONTENTS The Pan-London eAdmissions site opens on 1st September 2018. CONTACTING THE ADMISSIONS TEAM 4 SCHOOL INFORMATION 21 If your child was born between 1st September Common definitions 21 2007 and 31st August 2008, you will need to INTRODUCTION TO WESTMINSTER’S The Grey Coat Hospital 22 apply for a secondary school place by SECONDARY SCHOOLS 5 31st October 2018. Harris Academy St. John’s Wood 26 Applying online can be done in five easy steps. PAN-LONDON SYSTEM 5 Marylebone Boys’ School 28 How the system works 5 Paddington Academy 30 Why apply online? Pimlico Academy 32 • It is quick and easy to do. KEY DATES 6 St. Augustine’s CE High School 34 • It’s more flexible as you can change or delete preferences on your application up until St. George’s Catholic School 38 GATHERING INFORMATION 7 the application deadline of 11.59pm on The St. Marylebone CE School 40 31st October 2018. Considering the facts 7 Westminster Academy 44 • You’ll receive an email confirmation once Applying for schools outside Westminster 8 you submit the application. Westminster City School 46 • You can receive reminder alerts to your mobile THE APPLICATION PROCESS 9 to make sure your application gets in on time. ALL-THROUGH SCHOOL (4–18) 50 Closing date for applications 9 • You will receive your outcome by email Ark King Solomon Academy 50 Proof of address 9 during the evening of 1st March 2019. Paper applicants will not receive their Change of address 9 14–19 EDUCATION OPTIONS 52 outcome until the following morning. Exceptional Need 10 University Technical Colleges (UTCs) 52 Additional forms to complete 10 Sir Simon Milton Westminster Applications for children living abroad 10 University Technical College 54 Members of the UK Armed Forces and Crown Servants 11 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 56 Late applications 11 In-year admissions 56 Change of preferences 11 Fair access protocol 56 Assistance with home-to-school travel 56 GUIDANCE ON COMPLETING YOUR Support for school attendance 56 APPLICATION (PAPER OR ONLINE) 12 Apply online at westminster.gov.uk/admissions Apply online at Educational Psychology Service 56 Step-by-step guide to applying online 14 Special Educational Needs and Education, Health and Care needs assessments 57 HOW DECISIONS ARE MADE 16 Children with Disabilities Team 57 The process 16 Family Information Service 57 Notifying you of the outcome 17 The information provided in this brochure Free school meals 58 is correct at the time of publication in Waiting lists 18 August 2018. The admissions process and Privacy Notice 58 Appeal arrangements 18 school admission arrangements are set out in accordance with the current Admissions Making final arrangements for starting school 18 INDEPENDENT FEE-PAYING SCHOOLS 60 Code (issued December 2014), Section 84 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 19 CONTACT DETAILS FOR Your choice for secondary education 2019 secondary education choice for Your Any corrections, updates and additions NEIGHBOURING BOROUGHS 61 will be published on our website: westminster.gov.uk/admissions KEY AND MAP OF WESTMINSTER’S EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS 64 Westminster Cover artwork by a pupil from Pimlico Academy 3 CONTENTS CONTACTING THE ADMISSIONS TEAM INTRODUCTION TO WESTMINSTER’S SECONDARY SCHOOLS Westminster City Council Admissions Team CONTACT DETAILS This brochure is for parents of pupils aged between The higher the number of applications, the works in partnership with the Royal Borough 11 and 16, focusing on children transferring from harder it will be to gain a place, so looking at each [email protected] of Kensington and Chelsea as a joint service. primary to secondary school. It provides information school’s criteria becomes even more important. westminster.gov.uk/admissions about how and when to apply for a place, explains You need to be aware that the outcome can be The Admissions Team is based at Kensington how admission decisions are made and gives different each year depending on the number and Town Hall, Hornton Street, W8 7NX. 020 7745 6432 / 6433 information about each school to help parents types of applications (e.g. the number of siblings). Lines are open Monday to Friday between decide which schools to apply for. 9am–2pm This information is therefore provided as a There are currently 10 State maintained secondary guide to help you to make an informed decision. schools and Academies in Westminster, and When considering your preferences, do not one All-through school. Five of the schools are rely solely on what you may have heard about denominational or church schools. This means a school’s reputation. Visit as many schools as they have a religious foundation, usually Catholic possible on their open days or evenings. Take or Church of England. your son or daughter with you and, if you can, Westminster’s University Technical College (UTC) visit the school when it is at work. opened in September 2017. The Sir Simon Milton Further details about each school can be found Westminster UTC delivers a new education on pages 22–49. Each school also issues its own opportunity to 14–19 year olds. Further prospectus, available directly from the school. information can be found on pages 52–55. Open days or evenings are one of the best ways to It is important to check the admission criteria find out more about a school. Details of when these for each school to assess whether your child is take place are contained in each school’s section. likely to be offered a place. You can also find Many of the questions parents raise are answered information on the number of applications each in this brochure, but if you need further information, school received for admission in September 2018. the Admissions Team will be pleased to help. PAN-LONDON SYSTEM All 33 London boroughs, together with councils The local authorities taking part in the PLCAS bordering the capital, use a Pan-London system to then use a secure computerised system to pass on coordinate admissions to their secondary schools. details of the applications for schools in other In 2018, 92,500 secondary school applications were areas. They will also coordinate the offer of places submitted as part of the Pan-London coordinated to make sure no child is offered more than one system. there was a 6.4% increase in applications school place. The decision on whether a place for London secondary schools. can be offered will continue to be made by the Admission Authority for each school. When a westminster.gov.uk/admissions Apply online at Apply online at westminster.gov.uk/admissions Apply online at This coordinated admissions system is fairer school receives more applications than places and means more parents are offered one of their available (also referred to as oversubscribed), preferred schools at an earlier stage and fewer its published admissions criteria will be used parents receive no initial offer at all. It is also easier to decide the order in which applicants will for parents to manage, reducing anxiety for you be offered places. and your children. Schools will not be informed of where they are listed on the application form or other schools HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS that have been applied for. Under the Pan-London Coordinated Admissions Where a child is eligible to be offered a place System (PLCAS), all parents must list the schools at more than one school, the local authority will they want to apply for on their local authority’s hold the offer for the highest preference on the common application form, ranking them in order parents’ form and release all other lower preference of preference. This is important, as potentially only offers. These places can then be offered to other Your choice for secondary education 2019 secondary education choice for Your Your choice for secondary education 2019 secondary education choice for Your one offer will be made and this will be for the applicants. Potential offers are exchanged between highest-ranked school able to make the offer. local authorities until they are in a position to make This form (either paper or online) is returned to the the single best offer to parents using all available local authority for the area in which the child lives. places. All offers will be made on the same day, Westminster Westminster Artwork by a pupil from Westminster City School 1st March 2019. 4 5 CONTENTS KEY DATES GATHERING INFORMATION To make an informed decision about which Maps are also available for schools located secondary schools to apply for, you are advised in Kensington and Chelsea: 2018 From 1st September You will be able to apply online at to read the information about the schools in this rbkc.gov.uk/children-and-education/schools/ westminster.gov.uk/admissions brochure and research the schools you are join-school/cut-distance-maps interested in applying to. Paper applications will be available • You must read the admission criteria for the from the Admissions Team on request. You are advised to: school(s) you would like to apply to. The criteria This brochure will be available online, • Contact schools you are interested in directly will determine the order of priority for each from 1st September. to ask for a copy of their prospectus. applicant. As an example, church schools will prioritise applicants who meet the respective • Visit schools’ own websites to find out more faith criteria if that school receives more 31st October Closing date for applications detailed information.