How to apply
for a place in a
Leeds secondary school
A summary of the information included in the booklet ‘Starting secondary
school in Leeds- A guide for parents and carers 2013-2014
If you live in Leeds (pay Council Tax) and have an email address you
can apply online at www.leeds.gov.uk and there is no need to fill in
the common preference form.
Our website has lots of useful information. You can view or
download the booklet ‘Starting secondary school in Leeds – a
guide for parents and carers’, there are maps of schools that were
oversubscribed last year, information on the school transport policy
and details of all secondary schools.
Remember to apply by 31 October 2012
This summary pamphlet is to help you apply for a place at a Leeds
school. It contains the Council admission policy for community
and voluntary-controlled schools. It does not show the policies
for voluntary-aided (church) or foundation schools or Academies,
where governors make decisions on who is offered a school place,
you can look at these on our website or contact the schools direct
for a copy. We have also included frequently asked questions to help
you make the best use of your five preferences. There are details
about co-ordinated admission arrangements, what to do if you move
house and how we deal with brothers and sisters.
If you apply online you will receive an acknowledgement email.
Once we receive your preferences you will not hear from us until we
send you an offer letter by second class post or email on 1 March 2013.
We regret that we cannot tell you your offer over the phone. In our
letter we will tell you what to do if you are not happy with the
school we have offered, for example there is a waiting list and appeal
process.
How to apply for a place in a Leeds secondary school
Apply online at www.leeds.gov.uk 1
Deadline - 31 October 2012
The admissions policy for Leeds
community and voluntary-controlled
schools for entry in September 2013
The Director of Children’s Services
makes all offers of a school place
on behalf of Leeds City Council,
which is the admissions authority.
Headteachers or school-based staff
are not authorised to offer a child a
place.
Children with a statement of special
educational needs will be admitted to
the school named on their statement.
We will offer places to children in the
following order of priority.
Priority 1
Priority 4
We will give priority to parents who
put their nearest school (see note 6).
This does not include any voluntaryaided schools which act as their own
admission authorities.
If we have more applications than
there are places, we will offer places
first to children living nearest to the
school (measured in a straight line)
(see note 5).
Priority 5
a Children in public care or fostered
under an arrangement made by the
local authority (see note 2).
We will give priority to parents who
choose a Leeds school, which is
not the one nearest to their home
address (see note 6).
b Pupils without a statement but
who have Special Educational Needs,
or with exceptional medical or
mobility needs, that can only be met
at a specific school (See note 3).
If we have more applications than
there are places, we will offer places
first to children living nearest to the
school (measured in a straight line)
(see note 5).
Priority 2
Note 1
Children with older brothers or
sisters who will be at school at the
start of the academic year and are
living at the same address (see note
4). This priority will not apply where
the older sibling joined the sixth form
from a different school.
If we cannot offer parents or carers
a place for their child at any school
they put on their preference form,
we will offer their child a place at
the nearest school that has places
available when we make the offer
(this may include voluntary aided
and foundation schools or academies
where their governing bodies have
given us permission to do so).
Priority 3
Where children attend the following
infant school they will have priority
for the linked junior school:
Farsley Westroyd Infant linked to
Farsley Springbank Junior
Guiseley Infant linked to St Oswald’s
Junior
Rothwell Haigh Road Infant linked to
Rothwell Victoria Junior
Yeadon Westfield Infant linked to
Yeadon Westfield Junior
Should there be more children than
places available priority 4 will be used
as a tie break.
Note 2
Children who have been adopted
from local authority care, children
with a residency order and those
with special guardianship immediately
following being Looked After will all
be included within the higher priority
for looked-after children (priority 1a).
Note 3
Applications in this category must
be supported by a statement in
writing from a doctor or other
relevant professional. This is
necessary because you will be
asking the Authority to assess
your child as having a stronger
case than other children. Each
case will be considered on its
merits in consultation with the
school concerned. To receive this
assistance you must contact the SEN
Assessment and Provision Service on
0113 3951100.
Note 4
For these purposes, brothers and
sisters must be living at the same
address as your child. Siblings refer
to brother or sister, half brother or
sister, adopted brother or sister, step
brother or sister, foster brother or
sister. The definition does not include
cousins or other family members
sharing a house.
Note 5
In Leeds we use a straight-line
distance system.
We use a national computer system
to run our school-admission system.
As part of this system there is a
program that measures the ‘straightline’ distance from the centre of the
main school building to your home
address. The point we measure to at
your home address is determined by
the Royal Mail Postcode Address File.
This information provides us with
coordinates for every dwelling. If we
are not able to match your address
with the Postcode Address File
then we will use the centre of your
dwelling.
In the unlikely event there are
insufficient places for two (or more)
pupils living in the same building (e.g.
flats) or otherwise equidistant from
the school, then any final place will
be allocated by the drawing of lots.
Note 6
If you live in Leeds
If you live in Leeds and your nearest
school is a school in another local
Summary
2
authority, then your nearest Leeds
school by straight-line distance will
be your nearest eligible school. You
can apply for any school but the
nearest priority only applies to Leeds
schools.
If you don’t live in Leeds
If you live in another local authority
and the nearest school to your
home in a straight line is a Leeds
community, voluntary-controlled or
foundation school, or academy we
will give you the relevant priority
under our admissions policy.
If you live in another local authority
and the nearest school to your
home, by straight line, is a school not
in Leeds you are still able to apply for
a Leeds School but priority 4 will not
apply.
Nearest School
When we say the ‘nearest’ school, we
do not include voluntary-aided (faith
based) schools. This is because they
apply their own admissions policies
and, if they are oversubscribed, they
mainly offer places based on the
religion practised by the child and
family.
Address
For admission purposes, the home
address is where the child usually
lives with their parent or carer.
You must not give the address
of a childminder or relative. We
will investigate any queries about
addresses and, depending on what
we find; we may change the school
we offer your child. When we make
an offer, we assume your address
will be the same in the following
September as we have on record. If
you plan to move house, you must
still give your current address. If you
move house after the deadline of 31
October 2012 for Secondary places
or 15 January 2013 for Primary and
Junior places, you must tell us your
new address as we may have to offer
your child a place at another school.
Late Applications
If you return the preference form
after the deadline we cannot
guarantee to consider your
preferences at the same time
as those received on time. Any
Summary
Apply online at www.leeds.gov.uk
secondary applications returned
after 10 December 2012, or primary
applications returned after 24
February 2013 will only be dealt
with once all other preferences have
been considered, unless there are
significant and exceptional reasons.
Late applications will be considered
before placements are made (where
no preference could be met).
Accepting Offers
Parents will be asked to accept the
offer of a school place. This will not
affect their position on any waiting
list for a higher preference, or their
right to appeal. Parents who do not
wish to accept the offer, or do not
accept the offer within a reasonable
time, may have the place withdrawn.
Waiting List
After offers have been made on 1st
March 2013 for Secondary and 16th
April 2013 for Primary and Junior,
parents can ask to go on the waiting
list for any school. The waiting list
will be held in criteria order of the
admission policy and will close on 22
July 2014. Waiting lists will be held
in each year group for applications
outside of the normal admission
round closing on 22 July 2014.
Nursery
A place in a nursery does not offer
any priority or guarantee a place in
the school. Parents must apply for
a place if they want their child to
transfer to the reception class.
Temporary School Site
If a school has to move to a
temporary site for any reason, such
as the building being damaged by
a fire, we will base our distance
measurements on the school’s
permanent site.
Starting Reception Age
We normally only allow children
to start primary school in the
appropriate age range. You must
ensure your child receives an
appropriate full time education from
the term following their fifth birthday.
Almost all children start school in
Leeds in the September following
their fourth birthday. However,
parents can request that the start
date for their child is deferred until
later in the school year in the case of
children who have not reached their
5th birthday. You can also request
that your child attends part-time until
he/she reaches compulsory school
age. If you want a later start date
within the academic year you should
discuss this with the school. If your
child is born in the summer term
and you wish to defer entry until the
next academic year, unless you have
exceptional reasons, you will need
to apply for a place in year 1. You
should contact us for further advice.
Applications outside the
normal admission round
Applications outside the normal
admission round should be made on
Leeds’ In-year Common Preference
Form. From September 2013 you
return the form directly to your
preferred school. If the school is full
you will be offered a right of appeal.
Where no house move has taken
place you will only be offered a place
to start at the beginning of the next
term.
3
How to apply for a place in a Leeds secondary school
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I make sure my application
arrives on time?
Can I use my childminder’s or
relative’s address because I work?
If I don’t put down my nearest
school will you give it to me anyway?
There are instances every year
where parents say that they posted
their preference forms but we have
not received them.
No, you must use your home address
when applying.
No, we consider all preferences
equally.
If we find that you have supplied
us with false information, we will
withdraw the offer of a school place.
It is an offence under the Fraud Act
2006 to use a false address.
If you don’t put your nearest school
down it may fill up with children that
asked for it and you risk being sent
to a school that is out of your area.
To reduce the risk of any forms going
astray we would encourage you to:
• apply online at www.leeds.gov.uk
an email is sent to confirm that your
preferences have been submitted.
This is the quickest, easiest and safest
way to apply;
• hand the form into the Primary
school where it will be date stamped
and forwarded onto Admissions –
schools will keep a record of the
completed forms received;
• post the form to Admissions and
complete the acknowledgement
card at the same time – this will be
returned to you confirming receipt
of your form;
• send the form in by registered
post;
• call into the office and you will be
given a receipt;
• Ring the office, but not before
December 2012 for secondary or
mid February 2013 for Primary and
Junior applications, to check if we
have received your form.
My neighbour’s child got a place last
year in the school that I want so will
my child get a place there this year?
No, the places we offer depend on
the number of people who apply for
a particular school and, among other
things, where they live. There are
more children being born in Leeds
needing school places.
You should always include your
nearest school as one of your
preferences.
If I put my nearest school down on
the form will I definitely get it?
No, unfortunately some schools
are very popular and fill before all
the nearest families can be offered
a place. This is why we recommend
that you put down five preferences,
including your nearest.
Do you allocate places in date of
receipt order? Is it first come, first
served?
No. Everyone who applies by the
deadline is considered together.
If I just put one school down on the
form will it help my appeal?
No, our most important piece of
advice is for you to include your
nearest school as one of your
preferences.
If you do not follow this advice your
child may be allocated a place out
of your local area. This will not help
your appeal as the panel will know
that you did not follow our advice.
You must use your home address
on your application. Do not use a
childminder’s or relative’s address, or
a false address or the address you
plan to move to on your application.
If we find that you have supplied false
information, we will withdraw the
offer of a school place.This may mean
that your child is offered a place at
a school outside your local area as
nearer schools may be full by then.
Summary
4
Apply online at www.leeds.gov.uk
General information
Applying online from 1 August 2012
You can apply online at www.leeds.
gov.uk. You must live in Leeds and
have an email address to apply online
so that we can reply to you. We will
send you an email on 1 March 2013
telling you which school you have
been offered.
Priority for brothers and sisters will
be given as long as:
• You apply online on time or
•w
e receive your preference form
on time; and
• y our older child will still be at the
school when your younger child
starts and is named when you
apply, with the correct date of
birth; and
• the children concerned all live in
the same house.
You can get information about your
nearest school to your home address
by phoning the Admissions Team on
0113 222 4414 or you can e-mail
[email protected].
uk . The nearest school is important
because of the way our admission
policy works.
You must keep us informed on any
move to a new address, even after
you have made your preferences.
We may need to change the school
we offer you. We will require proof
of your new address, for example
if you are renting we may need
to see the rental agreement, final
utility bills from your previous
address and Council Tax details.
If you are buying a property we
may need to see confirmation that
the sale has been completed, final
utility bills and Council Tax details.
We reserve the right to ask for
further evidence in some cases.
If you are happy with the school
you are offered you will be asked
to accept the offer by completing
the form at the bottom of the offer
letter. If you do not email or write to
us to accept the offer the place will
be withdrawn and offered to another
child. It is very important that you
Summary
let us know you want to keep the
offer even if you want to appeal for
another school.
If we cannot give you the school
you want, you can ask to be placed
on the school waiting list and
appeal against our decision to an
independent appeal panel. You will
have 20 days to send us the appeal
form. If you return the form after
the 20 day deadline we may not
be able to hear your appeal before
the end of the summer term.
You can appeal for more than
one school at the same time. You
should not wait for the result of
an appeal for one school before
deciding to appeal for another.
After we send offer emails and
letters on 1 March, we sometimes
receive information from parents and
schools telling us that children have
accepted a place in a private school
or have moved away. Successful
appeals at one school can also lead
to spaces becoming available at other
schools.
Whenever that happens we will fill
those vacant places from the waiting
list in line with our admissions policy.
It is important to realise that children
can move up and down the waiting
list. It is not when you contact us that
is important but where you stand in
relation to the admissions policy.
Vacancies will continue to be offered
in this way up until 22 July 2014. If
at any stage during the process you
are happy with the offer of a school
you must contact us to cancel the
schools on the waiting list that are
still outstanding. If you do not and a
place becomes available at a higher
preference school that you no longer
require we will change the offer.
We may also fill the place that your
child has vacated which may make it
impossible to reverse the allocation.
How can I find out more about a
particular school?
Each school has its own prospectus
which sets out how it is organised
and its curriculum, statement of
ethos, values and aims. You can get
a free copy from the school itself
and it will help you to make the best
decision for your child.
You can look at our website and
follow the direct links to each
school’s web pages. You can also go
to each school’s open evening.
You can look at the Ofsted reports
at www.ofsted.gov.uk. They are also
available from main libraries. You can
also find the reports on our website
at www.leeds.gov.uk. Other websites
you may find helpful are the Advisory
Centre for Education’s website
at www.ace-ed.org.uk and the
Department for Education website at
www.education.gov.uk
What should I do if my child may
need to go to a special school?
Before we will consider offering your
child a place in a special school, the
local authority will need to carry out
a ‘statutory assessment’. This is an
assessment of your child’s educational
needs and will involve professionals
from education, health and social
services. This assessment means that
everyone involved with your child can
better understand the difficulties they
may have and plan what particular
help they need. All of this information
is summed up in the statement of
special educational needs.
The Parent Partnership Service
offers independent advice and
support to parents and carers whose
children have a special need that may
affect their education. To talk to one
of the staff, and use the wide range
5
How to apply for a place in a Leeds secondary school
of services available, please phone
the helpline during office hours.
Parent Partnership Service
Phone: 0113 395 1200 (helpline) or
0113 395 1222 (general enquiries).
Or, you can phone a national parent
network called Network 81 on 0845
077 4055 (10am to 1pm Monday
to Friday).
If you feel your child is not making
enough progress and needs extra
support, please contact:
SEN Assessment and Provision
Service
Integrated Children’s Services
Adams Court
Kildare Terrace
Whitehall Road
Leeds
LS12 1DB
Phone: 0113 395 1030
They can give you advice about all
areas of special education.
•Jobseeker’s Allowance
(income based); or
•Child Tax Credit.
To apply for free school meals and
help with buying school clothing,
please contact:
The Department of Finance
Leeds Benefit Service
Selectapost 15
2 Great George Street
Leeds
LS2 8BA
Phone: 0113 222 4404
As well as public transport, there
are school buses provided especially
for certain schools. You can get
information about these services
from the school and from www.
generationm.co.uk.
Filling in the preferences
Against each school that you ask
for on the preference form is a box
with space to write a four figure
school code. The codes for all Leeds
schools are given at the back of this
pamphlet. If you apply online do not
fill in the form.
Charging for school activities
You can get details of schools’ policies
for charging for certain school
activities from the schools themselves
or their websites.
Sustainable Travel
Entry for public exams
All secondary schools enter pupils
for GCSEs and GCSE A levels in a
range of subjects approved by the
Department for Education. Some
schools offer a range of vocational
qualifications such as hairdressing.
School clothing and meals
Most schools have rules about what
the pupils can and cannot wear (a
dress code). Other schools will have
a uniform that all pupils must wear.
You should accept the dress code or
uniform when deciding on a school.
Meals are provided in all Leeds
secondary schools, and there are
facilities for pupils to eat packed
lunches brought from home. If you
have any questions about school
meals, contact the school or ask at
the open evening.
You are entitled to free school meals
for your child, and help with buying
school clothing, if you get:
•Income Support;
The Education and Inspections
Act 2006 section 508A places a
statutory duty on all local authorities
to promote sustainable travel in
schools. Travelling to school by
car raises issues of air quality, road
safety and the long term decline in
children’s levels of physical exercise.
Perhaps more important than these
direct impacts are the effects that
car dependency has on health and
independence of young people and
their future views of later life travel
behaviour.
Details of sustainable travel and
transport facilities available in schools
have been compiled in order to assist
parents and carers when making
their choice of school.
Where can I get more information
about school transport?
You can read the full home-toschool policy by looking at Metro’s
website at www.generationm.co.uk.
You can also phone Leeds Education
Transport Assessment Team on 0113
3481121.
Summary
6
Apply online at www.leeds.gov.uk
School details and Open days
Supplementary Information Form (SIF) required
Codes for any school in a neighbouring local authority
Any school in North Yorkshire
4444
Any school in Bradford
5555
Any school in Wakefield
6666
Any school in Kirklees
7777
Codes for all community, Church of England, Foundation (F), Academies (A) and Catholic secondary schools in
Leeds, with dates and times of open days and evenings. Please note that the status of each school is correct as of
18 July 2012.
5400Abbey Grange Church of England
Academy (A)
Butcher Hill LS16 5EA
27 September 2012
6.30pm to 9pm
4040 Allerton Grange School Talbot Avenue LS17 6SF
20 September 2012
6pm to 8pm
4032Allerton High Business and Enterprise
Specialist School
King Lane LS17 7AG
4 October 2012
6.15pm to 8.45pm
4106
Benton Park School Technology College
Harrogate Road LS19 6LX
3 October 2012
4114 Boston Spa School (F) Clifford Moor Road LS23 6RW
2 October 2012
6pm
4113Brigshaw High School and
Language College (F)
Brigshaw Lane WF10 2HR
22 September 2012
10am to 1pm
Summary
4109 Bruntcliffe School (F)
Bruntcliffe Lane LS27 0LZ
11 October 2012
6pm to 8.30pm
4751 Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School
Tongue Lane LS6 4QE
3 October 2012
13 October 2012
7.30pm
11am to 1.30pm
4041
Carr Manor Community School
Carr Manor Road LS17 5DJ
12 July 2012 15 September 2012
5.30pm 9am to 12pm
19 September 2012
5.30pm to 7pm
4031City of Leeds School Bedford Field LS6 2LG
Contact the school for details of the
open evening.
4047Cockburn School (F)
Gipsy Lane LS11 5TT
27 September 2012
6pm to 8pm
6909 The Co-operative Academy of Leeds (A)
Stoney Rock Lane LS9 7HD
25 September 2012
29 September 2012
9am to 11.30am
10.30am to 12pm
7
How to apply for a place in a Leeds secondary school
4752 Corpus Christi Catholic College Neville Road LS9 0TT
2 October 2012
6.45pm
4006 Lawnswood School
Ring Road LS16 5AG
19 September 2012
6pm to 8pm
4107 Crawshaw School (A)
Robin Lane LS28 9HU
13 September 2012
6pm to 8pm
6906 Leeds West Academy (A)
Intake Lane LS13 1DQ
Contact the school for details of the
open evening.
6905 David Young Community Academy (A)
Bishops Way LS14 6NU
20 September 2012
6pm to 8pm
4101 The Morley Academy (A) Fountain Street LS27 0PD
4 October 2012
6.30pm to 9pm
4000 The E-ACT Leeds East Academy (A)
South Parkway LS14 6TY
27 September 2012
5pm to 7pm
4056 The Farnley Academy (A)
Chapel Lane LS12 5EU
10 October 2012
6.30pm
4112 Garforth Academy (A) Lidgett Lane LS25 1LJ
18 October 2012
4108 Guiseley School
Fieldhead Road LS20 8DT
26 September 2012
9.30am and 6.30pm
4115 Horsforth School (A)
Lee Lane East LS18 5RF
4 October 2012
6pm
4045 John Smeaton Community College
Smeaton Approach LS15 8TA
Contact the school for details of the
open evening.
4753Mount St Mary’s Catholic High School
Ellerby Road LS9 8LA
27 September 2012
6.30pm
4110 Priesthorpe School (F) Priesthorpe Lane LS28 5SG
18 September 2012
6pm to 8pm
4501 Prince Henry’s Grammar School (A)
Farnley Lane LS21 2BB
1 October 2012
6pm to 8.30pm
4102
Pudsey Grangefield Maths and Computing Collage (F)
Mount Pleasant Road LS28 7ND
12 July 2012
6.30pm
4062Ralph Thoresby School
Holt Dale Approach LS16 7RX
26 September 2012
6pm to 9pm
4103Rodillian School (A)
Longthorpe Lane WF3 3PS
20 September 2012
4.30pm to 8pm
Summary
8
Apply online at www.leeds.gov.uk
4063Roundhay School – All-through
education from 4 to 18 Gledhow Lane LS8 1ND
6 October 2012
9.30am to 12.30pm
4104Royds School Specialist Language College
Pennington Lane LS26 8EX
20 September 2012
5.30pm to 8pm
6907 South Leeds Academy (A) Old Run Road LS10 2JU
Contact the school for details of the
open evening.
4601St Mary’s Catholic Comprehensive
School, Menston
Bradford Road LS29 6AE
6 October 2012
11am
4852
Swallow Hill Community College
Whingate Road LS12 3DS
5 July 2012
6pm to 8pm
4046 Temple Moor High School
Science College (F)
Field End Grove LS15 0PT
27 September 2012
4111 Wetherby High School (F)
Hallfield Lane LS22 6JS
27 September 2012
6pm
4105Woodkirk Academy (A)
Rein Road WF3 1JQ
27 September 2012
9.30am to 12pm and 6pm to 8.30pm
Summary
How to apply for a place in a Leeds secondary school
9
Glossary
Admissions policy
The policy setting out how we
decide which children to offer places
at a school to.
Appeal
If you are not happy with the
school we have offered you, you can
appeal to an independent panel who
can look at your individual case and
may be able to offer you the school
you want. Please see our Appeal
Guide on our website for more
information about appeals.
Common preference form
This is the form you can use to apply
for a place at any secondary school
if you live in Leeds. Parents must
apply to their local authority. Local
authorities then pass the information
between each other, as appropriate.
Community schools
These are the schools where we
decide who is offered a place.
Co-ordinated admission
arrangements
This is where all schools use a single
common preference form so parents
do not have to apply to individual
voluntary-aided, foundation schools
and academies.
Distance
This will be measured using a
straight-line distance system. As part
of this system there is a program that
measures the ‘straight-line’ distance
from the centre of the main school
building to your home address (this
data is obtained from the postal
address file).
Foundation schools
These schools are outside local
authority control. They have their
own admissions policy and are
part of the co-ordinated admission
arrangements.
Nearest school
The closest school to your home
measured by a straight line, not by
road. This does not include voluntaryaided schools.
Voluntary-aided schools
These are Faith schools that decide
their own policy on admissions and
take responsibility for offering school
places.
Ofsted
Office for Standards in Education
– this is the official organisation for
monitoring standards in schools
through regular inspections.
Waiting list
Once offers have been made, we
then set up a waiting list. This is a list
of parents who have asked for their
child’s name to be put on a list for a
school. It is not when you apply to go
on the waiting list that’s important,
it’s how you stand in relation to
the admissions policy. You need to
remember that children can move
up and down the waiting list. This is
mainly due to families moving into
the area.
Preference
Parents can express a preference for
a school for their child. A preference
is not the same as free choice.
Siblings
Siblings refers to brothers or sisters,
half brother or sister, adopted
brother or sister, step brother or
sister, foster brother or sister, all living
at the same address. The definition
does not include cousins or other
family members sharing a house.
SEN casework officer
If your child has a statement of
special educational needs, this is the
named person who you can contact
if you have any problems.
Statement of Special
Educational Needs
This is a legal document, produced
after an assessment of your child
and setting out how we will meet
their special needs.
Waiting list and appeal form
This is the form you must fill in if you
are not happy with the community
or voluntary-controlled school we
have offered your child.
Academies
These schools are independent
schools funded by the government.
The governing body of an academy
decides its own policy on admissions
and takes responsibility for offering
school places.
Supplementary Information forms
(SIFs)
All parents who list their preferred
schools on the website or on the
Common Preference Form are
regarded as having made valid
applications. A supplementary
information form may also have to
be completed for applicants to be
considered under faith criteria of
faith schools.
Summary
Admissions Team,
Floor 10 West,
Merrion House,
110 Merrion Centre,
Leeds
LS2 8DT.
Phone: 0113 222 4414
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.leeds.gov.uk