Consultation Document in accordance with School Admissions (Admission Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2008
Version dated 16th December 2009
Draft Admissions Criteria & Arrangements
2011 intakes
Admission to Year 7 in September 2011
Mid Term Admissions 2011
Admission to the Sixth Form in September 2011
Appeals Information
Special Needs
Waiting Lists
Year 7 Supplementary Form
Mid Term Supplementary Form
Sixth Form Application Form
Objections to these arrangements should be sent to the Chairman of Governors care of the school address given below by 1st March 2010. If no objections are received these arrangements will be determined by 15th April 2010.
Acting Headmaster Mr P G Smart
CROYDON ROAD WALLINGTON SURREY SM6 7PH
Telephone 020 8647 2235 Facsimile 020 8254 7921 Email wcgs@suttonlea.org www.wcgs.org.uk
Admissions Criteria - entry into Year 7 in September 2011
The School admits 120 boys on the basis of their ability. Boys will be regarded as of selective ability according to their performance in the selection tests established by the school:
a) Pupils who have reached the pass mark who are Looked After Children, then those who have medical or social grounds for admission supported by appropriate professional evidence.
b) In rank order of performance.
Admissions Arrangements
The closing date for the receipt of the Supplementary Form is:
Friday, 10th September 2010.
(This form must be returned to the School)
The selection test will take place on:
Saturday, 18th September 2010.
Entrance Test Results will be sent by first class post on:
Friday, 8th October 2010.
The closing date for the receipt of the Common Application Form is:
Sunday, 31st October 2010.
(This form must be sent to your own Local Authority listing your school preferences)
Offers of School Places will be sent by your Local Authority on:
Tuesday, 1st March 2011.
The School Supplementary Form and your LEA Common Application Form
The School uses a Supplementary Form to administer the entrance examination which will take place on Saturday, 18th September 2010. All applicants to Wallington County Grammar School must complete a Supplementary Form and supply a passport-sized photograph for security reasons. The Supplementary Form is available from the School, from our website www.wcgs.org.uk and from the London Borough of Sutton on their website www.sutton.gov.uk/education/admissions.
Boys born between 1st September 1999 & 31st August 2000 are eligible for admission in September 2011 although those taught out of year group will be considered provided supporting documents demonstrating why this has occurred are received.
The Admissions Code of Practice states:
‘Grammar schools and other schools, or their admission authorities, which are permitted to use selection by ability or aptitude, should ensure that parents are informed of the outcome of entry tests before they make their applications for other schools.’
Results of the entry tests will be posted by first class post on Friday, 8th October 2010 which will enable parents to make a more informed choice of school preferences on the Common Application Form.
Parents who apply late for their child to be tested, will be offered a test date in the Autumn Term. Late applicants will not know test results before making school preferences on the Common Application Form. The scores of late applicants are adjusted for age. The School takes part in Sutton's co-ordinated scheme for secondary admissions. In order to make a valid application to the School parents must name the School on their Home Local Authority's Common Application Form. They must also complete the School's Supplementary Form, which is an application to sit the test. The deadline for completion of the Common Application Form for many Local Authorities is Sunday, 31st October, but parents/guardians should check with their Home Local Authority for details of closing dates and their Home Local Authority scheme. Common Application Forms received after the closing date will be considered in accordance with the Home Local Authority's co-ordinated scheme. All 33 London Boroughs and 8 Local Authorities that border London have agreed to co-ordinate admissions. This means that they will share details of potential offers and will eliminate multiple offers to ensure that more parents receive an offer of a school place on the offer day of 1st March 2011.
Should a child be successful in the entrance examination, parents must include Wallington on the Common Application Form to be eligible for a place. The School's DCSF Number is 319 5407. It is important for parents to note that success in the entrance examination does not automatically mean that a place will be offered in March 2011. All those who are successful in the test are placed in rank order according to the School's admission criteria. In March successful applicants are allocated places using the Pan London Register and the Coordinated Admissions Arrangements in accordance with the order of preference listed on the Common Application Form which will have been completed by parents. Offers of school places are made by the Home Local Authority. For the September 2010 intake into Year 7 1,663 pupils were tested and 498 were successful
Admissions Test for Entry into Year 7 & Mid Term Admissions
The entrance examination for entry into Year 7 and mid term admission consists of an English paper, a Mathematics paper and a short Verbal Reasoning paper. The School produces its own papers and uses no outside agency. Scores are calculated to several decimal places to ensure accurate rank order positions. Tied marks are extremely rare but in the very unlikely event of a tie, the place will be offered to the pupil whose ordinary place of residence is closest to the main entrance to the School building, measured in a straight line from the child’s home address using the GIS system maintained by the London Borough of Sutton Admissions Team.
Unsuccessful Applicants and Appeals
All parents and Sixth Form students have a statutory right to appeal against the School’s decision not to offer a place and these should be lodged with the Governing Body. For those pupils applying for entry into Year 7 in September 2011 or for mid term admission, information about the appeals process will be included with the letter from the Home Local Authority. Appeals for Year 7 are usually heard in June. Very few appeals are upheld and those that are tend to have significant supporting professional evidence. Please note that you can only make an appeal for this school if you have made an application. In 2008 and 2009 no appeals were upheld.
Special Needs
Statements: Children with statements of educational needs that name this school are admitted automatically ahead of other applicants, although of course, they must undertake the entrance examination and reach the pass mark to be eligible. Admission of children with statements counts towards the overall admission number and are not in addition to the published admission number.
Medical and Social: Should an applicant feel that there are medical or exceptional social reasons for attendance at this school rather than at any other, the applicant should demonstrate that this school is the most suitable to meet their child’s stated medical or social need, why no other local school could meet those needs, and what the difficulties would be if they had to attend another school. Applications must be supported by written evidence from a Doctor, Social Worker or Borough Attendance Officer. Refugees and Asylum Seeking children will be included under this criterion, depending on individual circumstances. Applicants who apply under these categories must undertake the entrance examination and reach the pass mark to be eligible. The Admissions Manager will (with the permission of the parent/guardian) liaise with the primary school or other professional body to ascertain any special arrangements for the proper conduct of the test. Where the justification is not exceptional, and a place at the school has been refused under this criterion, the parent will have the statutory right of appeal.
Waiting Lists
Waiting lists remain open until the end of the Autumn Term and are ranked according to the published admissions criteria. Where there are more applicants than places available, waiting lists will operate for each year group according to the oversubscription criteria and without regard to the date the application was received or when a pupil’s name was added to the waiting list.
Waiting lists for Year 7 admission will be kept open until the end of the Autumn Term 2011. Parents wishing to remain on the list after this date must write to Sutton Local Authority by 31st December 2011 stating their wish and providing the pupil’s name, date of birth and name of their current school. After 31st December 2011, parents whose children are not already on the waiting list but who wish them to be so, must apply for mid term admission through their Home Local Authority. Waiting lists for other year groups will be reviewed at least twice a year.
After the start of the academic year applications for mid term admissions and waiting lists will be managed in accordance with the coordinated schemes for mid-term admissions for the relevant home Local Authority.
Mid Term Admissions Year 7 – 11
If a casual vacancy occurs after the normal admission round into Year 7 it will be filled according to the School’s Admission Criteria stated above. Wallington County Grammar School is part of Sutton’s coordinated Mid Term admissions scheme. Applicants should contact the school and complete a Supplementary Form and must also complete a Mid Term or In Year Application Form available from their Home Local Authority where school preferences must be listed. Supplementary Forms are only considered if the Home Local Authority Form has also been completed. Offers are made to successful applicants for mid term places by the Home Local Authority.
Pupils at Wallington County Grammar School commence GCSE studies in Year 9 and smaller teaching groups are then created. This reorganisation allows a 13+ entry with a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 10 places. Testing for entry into Year 9 will usually take place in the January/February prior to the September of entry.
The Standard Admission Number for Years 7 & 8 is 120 and for Years 9 to11 the Standard Admission Number is 130.
Co-ordination does not affect the rights and duties of the Governing Body of Wallington County Grammar School to set and apply its own admission arrangements and oversubscription criteria.
Admission Criteria for Entry into the Sixth Form in September 2011
The School admits both young men and women based on their performance in GCSE examinations.
The minimum entry requirements are:
- Average Point Score of 47.8 at GCSE using the best 8 GCSE results.
- Either at least a Grade A at GCSE in the subjects to be studied at AS Level, or the special entry requirements have been met for specific subjects;
- Subjects chosen at AS/A Level must form a coherent two year course.
A minimum of twenty boys or girls, depending upon the uptake of places by internal candidates, may be admitted to the Sixth Form from outside the School.
Students who meet the minimum entry requirement are selected according to the following criteria:
- Looked After Children;
- Those who have medical or social grounds for admission supported by appropriate professional evidence;
- Those progressing from Year 11 at WCGS;
- Those progressing from Year 11 at other schools in rank order of performance at GCSE.
It is important for external applicants to note that places are offered in rank order and that meeting the minimum entry requirement does not automatically mean that a place will be offered. The Admission Criteria include a minimum standard of entry but in practice, given the level of competition, most applicants achieve considerably higher.
Students of Sixth Form age may make their own application for a place.
Once provisional AS choices have been made, changes to proposed AS subjects may only be made in agreement with the Head of Sixth Form or a member of the Senior Leadership Team. Students will not be permitted to change more than two of their provisional AS choices once GCSE results have been published.
Continued enrolment in the Sixth Form at Wallington County Grammar School is conditional upon achieving a minimum of grade C at AS Level in the subjects studied at A2 Level, which together form a coherent programme of study.
Special entry requirements for specific subjects
Business Studies: either an A or above in GCSE Business Studies, or if Business Studies has not been studied at GCSE, at least an A in Mathematics and a B in English Language or English Literature at GCSE.
Classics: an A or above in GCSE Classics or History or English Literature.
Economics: either a B or above in GCSE Economics, or if Economics has not been studied at GCSE, at least an A in Mathematics and a B in English Language or English Literature at GCSE.
Further Mathematics: an A* in GCSE Mathematics.
Government and Politics: an A or above in GCSE History or Classics.
History: either an A or above in GCSE History or an A or above in GCSE English Literature.
Music: either Grade 5 or above in an instrument and Grade 5 or above in Music Theory, or the ability to show progression towards achieving these qualifications.
Philosophy: an A or above in GCSE Religious Studies, or History or Classics if Religious Studies has not been studied.
Physical Education: either an A or above in GCSE Physical Education and a B or above in GCSE Biology, or an A or above in GCSE Biology if GCSE Physical Education has not been studied.
Sciences: An A or above at GCSE in the relevant single science or A* grades in Dual Award Science.
Sixth Form Application Arrangements
External applicants to the Sixth Form are advised to complete the Application Form and return it to the School by February half term. Confirmation of predicted grades must be submitted and this can take the form of 'mock' GCSE examination results or a document confirming predicted grades from a member of staff. No other information is required. External applicants expected to meet the grade for entry will be invited to a meeting in March/April when further information and advice will be provided regarding subject choices.
On publication of GCSE results in August, places will be offered in accordance with the Admissions Criteria.
Students of Sixth Form age may make their own application for a place.
Applicants must confirm results following publication of GCSE grades if they intend to proceed with their application, when they will receive either a firm offer or be placed on a waiting list.
Unsuccessful applicants have the right of appeal.
The School complies with all relevant legislation, including Sex Discrimination Act, Race Relations Acts, Human Rights Act, Disability Discrimination Acts, Equality Act and these arrangements have been consulted on and then determined in accordance with the statutory requirements and the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code.
