Applying for a secondary school 2020/2021 Foreword Dear Parent / Carer Please take the time to read this booklet carefully and also visit the schools that We understand that moving from primary you are considering so that you and your to secondary school may be an anxious child can make up your own mind about time for parents and children. We know what they have to offer. All secondary that you will want to choose the school schools have open days and / or evenings that is right for your child and that enables for children and their families and these them to reach their true potential as well are detailed in this booklet on pages 9 - 12. as beneft from the range of activities each The schools also have information on their school has to offer. This booklet aims to help websites, including exam results and Ofsted you to do that by giving you information information, which you may fnd useful. about local secondary schools, how to make an application and how school places are If you have any questions that are not allocated. covered in this booklet more information can be found on our website at You can list up to four different schools leicester.gov.uk/admissions. on your application form and these will Alternatively, you can contact the be considered in order of preference. For school admissions team on example, preference 1 will always be 0116 454 1009 (Option 1) or by email at considered as your most preferred school, [email protected]. preference 2 will be your second most Please note that the closing date for preferred school. We will always try to applications is midnight on offer you the highest preference we can. 31 October 2019. National It is always best to use all four of your Offer Day is 2 March 2020. preferences and to include your catchment area school - see page 14 for more details. Finally, we would like to wish your child a happy and Whichever schools you choose to apply for, successful time at their new you will need to visit our website to make an secondary school. application. If you do not have access to a computer or the internet, please see page 17 for details on how we can help. Don’t forget to apply by the closing date - midnight 31 October 2019 2 Everything you need to know SECTION 1 SECTION 4 BEFORE APPLYING FOR A SCHOOL PLACE 5 HOW PLACES ARE ALLOCATED 22 Admission criteria for Leicester City secondary schools .............. 24-26 Important dates to remember ....................................... 6 Different types of secondary schools in Leicester and the Admission criteria for voluntary aided schools and academies ..... 27-31 ............................... surrounding area ....................................................... 7 Admission criteria for Leicestershire schools 32 Details of school locations ............................................ 8 Details of schools in the area ...................................... 9-12 SECTION 5 Maximise your chances ............................................... 13 Choose your preferred schools carefully ........................... 14 RECEIVING YOUR OFFER OF A SCHOOL PLACE 33 Waiting lists ..................................................................... 33 SECTION 2 How does the appeals process work? ........................................ 34 MAKING AN APPLICATION 15-16 SECTION 6 Get help with your application ....................................... 17 Applying for a school on religious grounds ........................ 18 IN-YEAR FAIR ACCESS PROTOCOL 35 What happens if my application is late? ........................... 18 Special educational needs (SEN) .................................... 18 SECTION 7 Your home address .................................................... 19 Moving house .......................................................... 20 TRAVEL AND TRANSPORT TO SCHOOL 36 What if I want to change my preferences ......................... 20 Arrangements for low income families ...................................... 36 Useful links ...................................................................... 37 SECTION 3 APPENDIX 1 - How places were allocated at schools within HOW WE PROCESS YOUR APPLICATION 21 Leicester City on 1 March 2019 ............................................... 38 Don’t forget to apply by the closing date - midnight 31 October 2019 3 Data protection We have a legal requirement to make sure you know what we intend to do with your information and who it will be shared with. In order to provide you with a school admissions service, there may be occasions when your information is shared with schools and the Department of Education. The details you provide on your form will also be shared with other council departments, including the Corporate Investigations Contact information Team. They will compare the details you provide against If you need more information about the records held by the council , including council tax records, and admissions process, please contact us using one those held by other organisations including credit reference of the methods shown below: agencies. They will check that the details provided match. Any You may fnd the answer on our website: applications identifed that are deemed to be fraudulent or otherwise questionable will be investigated further. leicester gov uk/admissions We have a duty to: Email: admissions-online@leicester gov uk • keep suffcient information to provide services and fulfl our By telephone to our Customer Service Centre: legal responsibilities 0116 454 1009 (option 1) • keep your records secure and accurate Telephone opening hours are: 8.30am – 5pm on Monday to Thursday • only keep your information as long as is required 8.30am – 4.30pm every Friday • collect, store and use the information you provide in a Visit our Customer Service Centre: manner that is compatible with the General Data Protection 91 Granby Street Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018 Leicester City Council We will always try and keep your personal data secure, LE1 6FB whether it is held on paper or electronically. Please see our privacy notice for more details. Don’t forget to apply by the closing date - midnight 31 October 2019 4 SECTION 4 Consider how your child will travel to BEFORE APPLYING and from school It is your responsibility as a parent/ carer 1 FOR A SCHOOL PLACE to get your child to school. You must think very carefully about the distance and how your child will travel to school. The majority of children are not eligible for free transport to school. 1 Visit the schools and have a look on their 3 Consider how many places are available Please see page 36 for more information websites at each school and who these are about school transport. offered to Arrange to visit schools during their open 5 Do use all four of your preferences days and evenings. The dates for these Each school has a limited number of are given on pages 9 to 12 of this booklet. places and this is known as the published Carefully consider four different schools Also, visit the school websites - the web admission number. This number takes to list on your application form. We will addresses for each school are shown on into account how many pupils each always offer you the highest preferred pages 9 to 12. school can accommodate and how many school if you qualify for a place here. children in Leicester need a school place. If you only list one school, and you do 2 Read useful reports about the schools not secure a place here, you may end Read the admissions criteria for each up being offered a school much further You can fnd information on school school, shown on pages 23 - 32, to see away. We strongly recommend including performance at education.gov.uk/schools/ the priority that applies to your child. This your catchment area school as one of performance. To view the most recent will give you an idea of how likely it is you your preferences as this is likely to be Ofsted report for a school, please visit will gain a place at a preferred school. a nearby school and priority is usually ofsted.gov.uk Priority is usually given to those children given to catchment area children. Please that have one or more siblings at the see pages 23 – 32 for how priority is preferred school or those that live in the given for each school. Details of your catchment area for a school. Please see catchment area school can be found page 38 for how places were allocated in the letter distributed through your last year and the lowest admission child’s primary school or on our website criterion met. at leicester.gov.uk/admissions Don’t forget to apply by the closing date - midnight 31 October 2019 5 Important dates to remember From 12 September 2019 2 March 2020 Application process begins Offers of school places are sent out for all on-time Online system opens for applications to be submitted. applications Schools hold open events so that you can visit and look round – If you applied online, we will send you an email with your the dates for these can be found in the ‘details of schools in the application outcome. We will also send offer letters by second area’ section in this booklet. class post. Please be aware that some email providers may delay sending Midnight 31 October 2019 the messages to account holders – applicants will need to check with their own email service suppliers in this regard. Leicester Closing date for applications City Council has no control over email delivery times once they Please ensure that you apply ahead of this date as leaving it have left our servers. until the last minute may mean you miss the closing date if there are any technical issues. If you miss the deadline, this will 23 March 2020 signifcantly reduce your chances of getting a place at the school you want. First round of late applications will be considered (new applications received between 1 November 2019 and 1 March 17 January 2020 2020). If you have missed the deadline we may still accept your 20 April 2020 application as on-time but only if there are good reasons for this and if it is submitted up to this date.