Admissions criteria for secondary schools 2025-26

Published admission number: 180

Where the school is oversubscribed, after the admission of pupils with an Education, Health and Care plan, priority for admission will be allocated to those children who meet the criteria set out in the school's admissions policy.

Please refer to the Avanti Fields School website for information about their admissions arrangements.

Published admission number: 210

Places will be allocated to pupils who have a statement of special educational needs or an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan which names the school before any other allocations are made.

These allocations will reduce the number of places available.

Criterion

Criterion 1: Children in the care of a local authority within England or who were previously in the care of a local authority within England (see note 1).

Criterion 2: Children who were previously in care outside of England (see note 1).

Criterion 3: Pupils who have a serious medical condition or exceptional social or domestic needs that make it essential they attend the school requested (see note 2).

Criterion 4: Children whose home address is in the catchment area of the secondary school with a sibling at the school, who will still be on roll in years 8 – 11 when the applicant starts school (see note 3).

Criterion 5: Children whose home address is outside the catchment area of the secondary school with a sibling at the school, who will still be on roll in years 8 – 11 when the applicant starts school (see note 3).

Criterion 6: Children whose home address is in the catchment area of the secondary school (see note 4).

Criterion 7: Children who are sons / daughters of staff working at the school for at least 2 years at the time of application (see note 5).

Criterion 8: Children whose home address is outside the catchment area of the school and who have requested a place.

Tiebreaker: Within each criterion priority will be given to children living closest to the school, as measured on a straight-line basis using a geographical information system measuring from the geo-code reference point from the child’s home address to the geo-code reference point for the school.

If two applicants within a category live exactly the same distance from the school and only one place remains, the place will be offered to one applicant on the basis of lots drawn by an officer of the local authority not involved in the administration of school admissions.

Guidance notes

Note 1: A “looked after” child is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority in England, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in England, in the exercise of their social services function at the time of making an application to the school. A “previously looked after” child is a child who was looked after, either in England or outside* of England, but ceased to be because they were adopted or became subject to a residence order or special guardianship order.

Note 2: All schools in Leicester have experience in dealing with children with diverse social and medical needs. However, there may be exceptional cases where there are compelling reasons why it is essential they attend the school requested. For further details please refer to the Leicester Scheme.

Note 3: Sibling means a brother or sister, half brother or sister, adopted brother or sister or child of the parent/carer’s partner. In every case, the child must be living in the same family unit at the same address. Siblings must be on roll at the point of entry. In the case of twins, triplet or other children of multiple births, if the final place is offered to one child, and the remaining sibling(s) would ordinarily be refused, places will be offered to the remaining sibling(s).

Note 4: Home address” means the child’s permanent home address at the time of application. In the case of split households, it is the address of the person who receives the Child Benefit. ‘At the time of application’ means the closing date for applications. Informal accommodation arrangements with family and friends are not accepted unless there are very special circumstances and supporting proof is required. An address used for child care arrangements cannot be used as the home address for the purpose of applying for a school place

Note 5: Priority will be given to children of staff in the following circumstances:

Where the member of staff has been employed at the school for 2 or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made; and/ or
The member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage.

Published admission number: 210

Places will be allocated to pupils who have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan which names the school before any other allocations are made.

These allocations will reduce the number of places available.

Criterion

Criterion 1: Children in the care of a local authority within England or who were previously in the care of a local authority within and outside of England (see note 1).

Criterion 2: Children who have a serious medical condition or exceptional social or domestic needs that make it essential they attend the school requested (see note 2).

Criterion 3: Children whose home address is in the catchment area of the secondary school with a sibling at the school, who will still be on roll in years 8 – 11 when the applicant starts school.

Criterion 4: Children whose home address is outside the catchment area of the secondary school with a sibling at the school, who will still be on roll in years 8 – 11 when the applicant starts school (see note 3).

Criterion 5: Children whose home address is in the catchment area of the secondary school (see note 4).

Criterion 6: Children who are sons / daughters of staff working at the school for at least 2 years at the time of application (see note 5).

Criterion 7: Children whose home address is outside the catchment area of the school and who have requested a place.

Tiebreaker: Within each criterion priority will be given to children living closest to the school, as measured on a straight-line basis using a geographical information system measuring from the geo-code reference point from the child’s home address to the Geo-code reference point for the school.

If two applicants within a category live exactly the same distance from the school and only one place remains, the place will be offered to one applicant on the basis of lots drawn by an officer of the local authority not involved in the administration of school admissions.

Guidance notes

Note 1: A “looked after” child is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority in England, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in England, in the exercise of their social services function at the time of making an application to the school. A “previously looked after” child is a child who was looked after, either in England or outside* of England, but ceased to be because they were adopted or became subject to a residence order or special guardianship order. A child is regarded as having been in state care outside of England if they were in the care of or were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation, or any other provider of care whose sole or main purpose is to benefit society.

Note 2: All schools in Leicester have experience in dealing with children with diverse social and medical needs. However, there may be exceptional cases where there are compelling reasons why it is essential they attend the school requested. A separate application to be considered under this category will need to be made. Please refer to the full guidance shown in the Leicester City coordinated scheme.

Note 3: Sibling means a brother or sister, half brother or sister, adopted brother or sister or child of the parent/carer’s partner. In every case, the child must be living in the same family unit at the same address. Siblings must be attending in years 8 to 11 at the point of entry.

In the case of twins, triplet or other children of multiple births, if the final place is offered to one child, and the remaining sibling(s) would ordinarily be refused, places will be offered to the remaining sibling(s).

Catchment area is a geographical area, from which children may be afforded priority for admission to a particular school. Information about the catchment area for each school can be found on the Schools' Directory.

Note 4: Home address” means the child’s permanent home address at the time of application. In the case of split households, it is the address of the person who receives the Child Benefit. ‘At the time of application’ means the closing date for applications. Informal accommodation arrangements with family and friends are not accepted unless there are very special circumstances and supporting proof is required. An address used for child care arrangements cannot be used as the home address for the purpose of applying for a school place.

Catchment area is a geographical area, from which children may be afforded priority for admission to a particular school. Information about the catchment area for each school can be found on the Schools' Directory.

Note 5: Admission authorities may give priority in their oversubscription criteria to children of staff in the following circumstances:

Where the member of staff has been employed at the school for 2 or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made; and/or
The member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage

Published admission number: 240

When the school is oversubscribed, after the admission of pupils with an Education, Health and Care plan naming the school, priority for admission will be given to those children who meet the criteria set out below, in priority order:

Criterion 1: Children in the care of a local authority within England or who were previously in the care of a local authority within and outside of England.

Criterion 2: Pupils who have a serious medical condition or exceptional social or domestic needs that make it essential they attend the school.

Criterion 3: Children whose home address is in the catchment area of the school with a sibling at the school, who will still be on roll in Years 8 – 11 when the applicant starts school.

Criterion 4: Children whose home address is outside the catchment area of the school with a sibling at the school, who will still be on roll in Years 8 – 11 when the applicant starts school.

Criterion 5: 90 children whose home address is in the catchment area of the School and are eligible for the Pupil Premium*

Criterion 6: Children whose home address is in the catchment area of the School

Criterion 7: Children who are sons/daughters of staff working at the School for at least 2 years at the time of application.

Criterion 8: Children whose home address is outside the catchment area of the school and who have requested a place.

Within each criterion, priority will be given to children living closest to the school, as measured on a straight line basis using a geographical information system measuring from the Geo-code reference point for the child’s home address to the Geo-code reference point for the school. Applicants living in the same block of flats will be regarded as living the same distance from the school.

Guidance notes

* This criterion will only be applied for applications for Year 7 places each year up to National Offer Day. This criterion will NOT be applied to:

decisions made after National Offer Day for Year 7 admissions;
In-year admissions into other year groups; and
for the order of the waiting list following National Offer Day.

For the full admissions policy, please visit the Brook Mead Academy website