Admissions

Barton Court Grammar School complies with the Co-ordinated Admission Scheme which is administered by Kent Local Authority. Detailed information about the school is available in the prospectus which can be found on the school website www.bartoncourt.org. Boys and girls are normally admitted at age 11, when all pupils must have gained a selective place through the Kent PESE and placed Barton Court Grammar School on their Kent Secondary Common Application Form, in order to be eligible for admission. Details of the Kent PESE are available from the Kent County Council booklet “Admission to Secondary School in Kent 2020”. There is no guarantee of a place to applicants who meet the over-subscription criteria.

The Published Admissions Number (PAN) in Y7 for September 2020 is 150, for all other year groups the PAN is as follows: Y8 – Y10 is 150; for year 11 remains at 128. The school is usually over-subscribed. Before the application of oversubscription criteria children with a Statement of Special Educational Need (SSEN) or Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), who name the school, will be admitted. As a result of this, the Published Admissions Number will be reduced accordingly.

Oversubscription criteria

If the number of preferences is greater than the number of places available, the following criteria for over-subscription will be applied in priority order:

• Children in Local Authority Care or who were previously in Local Authority Care – a 'looked after child' or a child who was previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, child arrangements, or special guardianship order. 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).
   
• Children who are designated as receiving ‘Pupil Premium’ - Applicants under this criterion must complete a Supplementary Information Form (Appendix 3) so that checks can be made to determine eligibility. (For the purposes of this policy, the entitlement to Pupil Premium would need to be shown during the calendar year before entry to Year 7 is sought).
   
• Current Family Association - a brother or sister attending the school when the child starts. In this context brother or sister means children who live as brother or sister in the same house, including natural brothers or sisters, adopted siblings, stepbrothers or sisters and foster brothers and sisters.

If siblings from multiple births (twins, triplets, etc) apply for a school and the school would reach its Published Admission Number (PAN) after admitting one or more, but before admitting all of those siblings, the LA will offer a place to each of the siblings, even if doing so takes the school above its PAN.

• Health and Special Access Reasons – Medical, health, social and special access reasons will be applied in accordance with the school’s legal obligations, in particular those under the Equality Act 2010. Priority will be given to those children whose mental or physical impairment means they have a demonstrable and significant need to attend a particular school. 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 a particular school. Such claims will need to be supported by written evidence from a suitably qualified medical or other practitioner who can demonstrate a special connection between these needs and the particular school.
   
• Nearness of children's homes to school - we use the distance between the child’s permanent home address and the school, measured in a straight line using the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) address point. Distances are measured from a point defined as within the child’s home to a point defined as within the school as specified by NLPG. The same address point on the school site is used for everybody. When we apply the distance criterion for the school, these straight line measurements are used to determine how close each applicant’s address is to the school.

If, in the event, more than one applicant has the same distance from home to school (as measured by the local authority), then a random selection will be applied. In the event that the final place offered from the ranked list falls to a pupil of a multiple birth, the school will offer a place to each of these children who have met the over-subscription criteria.

With reference to the oversubscription criteria please refer to Appendix 1 regarding residency.

After a place has been offered, the school reserves the right to withdraw the place in the following circumstances:

1. When a parent has failed to respond to an offer within a reasonable time; or
    
2. When a parent has failed to notify the school of important changes to the application information; or
    
3. The Admission Authority offered the place on the basis of a fraudulent or intentionally misleading application from a parent.

Waiting List

Parents of children who have not been offered a place at the School may ask for their child’s name to be placed on a waiting list. The waiting list, which will be maintained until the end of April 2021, will be operated using the same admissions criteria as above. Placing a child’s name on the waiting list does not guarantee that a place will become available. This does not affect the statutory right to appeal.

Applicants at a time later than the normal admissions age should apply direct to Barton Court Grammar School and will be tested by the school to obtain evidence of ability to keep pace with the work of this selective school. Details of the testing process can be found in Appendix 2.

The Published Admissions Number and over-subscription criteria apply as above. In the event of the year group being over-subscribed, a waiting list will be held, ranked according to the over-subscription criteria.

Parents have a statutory right of appeal, should an application be refused, by writing to The Clerk to the Governors, Admissions, Barton Court Grammar School, Longport, Canterbury, CT1 1PH, 01227 464600

Admission outside of the normal age group

Requests for admission outside of the normal age group should be made to the Headteacher of each preferred school as early as possible in the admissions round associated with that child’s date of birth. This will allow the school and admissions authority sufficient time to make a decision before the closing date. Such an applicant will be expected to have gained the ‘grammar’ classification in the Kent PESE Tests, and if a request to apply for admission outside the normal age group is granted, it does not guarantee a place at the school. Parents are not expected to provide evidence to support their request to defer their application, however where provided it must be specific to the child in question. This might 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 school’s ability to agree to deferral. Parents are required to complete an application for the normal point of entry at the same time, in case their request is declined. This application can be cancelled if the school agrees to accept a deferred application for entry into Year 7 the following year. Deferred applications must be made via paper SCAF to the LA, with written confirmation from each named school 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 each school’s oversubscription criteria.