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Here are some of your questions answered. Please choose from the listed questions, or browse
through all the answers.
If you have other questions about the application process, have any technical issues, or want some help please
telephone us on 0191 561 1427/1447/1399/1425 or email
school.admissions@sunderland.gov.uk
How do I find out what the
catchment schools are for where I live?
How do I find out what the
school clusters are?
What if I miss the
deadline to return my application?
What happens if I do not
complete an application?
How do you decide which
school I will be offered?
Do I have a choice of
which school I can send my child to?
If I know which school I
want my child to go to, why should I list other schools?
My child attends one
of the cluster primary schools, does this guarantee a place in the
secondary school?
I only want to apply
to one Foundation, Voluntary Aided School or Academy. Do I still need to complete a
Local Authority application?
I do not live in
Sunderland but I want my child to go to a Sunderland school. What do I
do?
If I live in
Sunderland but want to apply for a school in another area, what do I do?
What if my situation changes
or I change my mind after I have returned the preference form?
If you do not offer my child
a place at my preferred school, can I appeal against the decision?
How do I find out what
the catchment schools are for where I live?
As a result of a review, from September 2003 the
Council's Cabinet agreed that the catchment system should be stopped and
replaced by a cluster system. A cluster is a group of primary
schools (including infant and junior schools) which feed into a single
secondary school There are no longer catchment areas for
schools in the Sunderland Authority. Parents may express a preference for any school
and providing places are available places will be offered.
Should a school have more applications than places will be offered using
the admissions criteria detailed in the
Admissions
Booklets. Details of the
community schools criteria along with the criteria for the Foundation
and Voluntary
Aided Schools and Academies are included in this booklet.
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How do I find out what
the school clusters are?
We have produced a list of the
cluster schools
(
29kb) which is also included in the
Admission to Schools booklets
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What if I miss the
deadline to return my application?
To ensure we are able to consider all applications
fairly you must return your preference form by 31 October 2008 for
infant/primary/junior applications and 24 October 2008 for secondary
applications. If we receive your application after this deadline it
will be considered as 'late' and this may reduce your chance of getting
a place at your first choice school. Late applications (received
between the closing date and 15 January 2009) will only be considered after the forms that are
received on time, unless there is a genuine reason e.g. a lone parent
who has been ill for some time, family moving into the area.
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What happens if I do
not complete an application?
If an application is not received for your child, a place will be allocated. This
place will be at the nearest appropriate school to your home address
with a vacancy, after all other applications have been considered.
This will mean that your child's name will be considered at the end of
the process, once most children will have secured their places.
This will greatly reduce your chance of getting a place in the school of
your choice.
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How do you decide which
school I will be offered?
In respect of the admissions for September 2009,
Sunderland LA will operate an ‘equal preference’ scheme. This applies to
all Community, Foundation, Voluntary Aided and Voluntary Controlled
Schools and Academies.
Parents will be invited to express up to three
preferences, which will be considered equally at the first stage. This
means that all applications will be considered against the school’s
admission criteria, no matter whether they are 1st, 2nd
or 3rd preferences. Therefore you should only apply for
a place at a school that you would like a place at, as all
schools on the application will be considered.
The
applications are then moved to the second stage and, if parents could be
offered more than one school place, a place would be offered to the
highest ranked school.Back to top
Do I have a choice
of which school I can send my child to?
You do not have a right to choose which school your
child will go to, you only have a right to express a preference.
Our ability to meet your preference will depend upon not only the demand
for places at an individual school but also on the number of places
available.
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If I know which school I
want my child to go to, why should I list other schools?
If you only list one school and your child cannot
be offered a place at that school a place will be offered at the nearest
appropriate school with a vacancy (as measured by the shortest, safest
walking route from the parental home residence to the main entrance(s)
of the school, using a Geographical Information System).
If you list more than one preference and a
place cannot be offered at your first choice school, it is possible to
accept a place at one of the other listed schools and still appeal
for any higher ranked schools. This will not affect your right of
appeal and will have no bearing on any appeal hearing.
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My child attends
one of the cluster primary schools, does this guarantee a place in the
secondary school?
No - although attendance at the cluster primary
school is one of the higher criterions, you do not have a guaranteed
place.
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I only want to apply
to one Foundation, Voluntary Aided School or Academy. Do I still need to complete a
Local Authority application?
Yes. If you wish to apply for a place for
your child in a Foundation, Voluntary Aided school or Academy you must include
them on the application form in the order that you would like them to be
considered. If you are applying for a place in a Voluntary Aided
School, you must also complete the additional information section of
the online form.
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I do not live in
Sunderland but I want my child to go to a Sunderland school. What do I
do?
If you are applying for a place at a secondary
school you must apply for Sunderland schools on the Local
Authority preference form supplied by the Local Authority where you live
(your home Local Authority). We treat all applications
equally no matter where people live. If you are not offered a place at
a Sunderland school, it is the responsibility of your home Local
Authority to make sure your child has a school place.
If, however, you are applying for a place at a
primary, infant or junior school you can complete either the Sunderland
Authority form or the form for the authority where you live.
However you must still contact the Local Authority where the school is
based for more information.
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If I live in
Sunderland but want to apply for a school in another area, what do I do?
You need to obtain the information booklet from the
Local Authority where the school is located. This will tell you about
the school’s admission criteria and your chances of obtaining a place at
that school.
If you are applying for a place at a secondary
school you can only apply for that school as one of your
three preferences on the Sunderland Local Authority application.
However, if you are applying for a place at a
primary, infant or junior school you can complete either the Sunderland
Authority form or the form for the authority where you live.
However you must still contact the Local Authority where the school is
based for more information.
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What if my situation
changes or I change my mind after I have returned the preference
application?
If you would like us to consider any changes to
your submitted application you can complete another preference using the
online software if the preference period is still open. If it is
after the preference period has closed we will require something in
writing from you e.g. letter or paper preference form. While we will do
everything we can to accommodate any changes we may not always be able
to take new information into account before places are allocated.
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If you do not offer my
child a place at my preferred school, can I appeal against the decision?
You have the right of appeal, further
appeal information (
42kb) is available from the
School Admissions Team. If you have applied
for a Voluntary Aided, Foundation School or Academy and want to appeal against their decision, you
must contact the school directly.
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