Schools guidance in preparing for admission appeals
GENERAL INFORMATION

Onslow St Audrey’s School is a mixed ability, 11–18, comprehensive school. The Published Admission Number for Year 7 in 2024-2025 is 150.

HOW TO APPLY

To apply for a place at this school, you must complete the Hertfordshire Council’s Secondary Transfer Form. The school participates in the Local Authority Coordinated Admissions Scheme. Hertfordshire County Council will apply the admission rules, appeals process and In Year admission applications for Onslow St Audrey’s School and will make offers on behalf of the school.

Parents/carers of children living in Hertfordshire can make an online application via the Hertfordshire County Council website: www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions or contact the Customer Service Centre on 0300 123 4043 for a paper application form. Parents should return the application direct to the County Council. Parents/carers of children not living in Hertfordshire must make an application to their local authority.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION FORM

Onslow St Audrey’s School does not require applicants to complete a Supplementary Information Form.

CHILDREN WITH AN EDUCATION, HEALTH AND CARE PLAN (EHCP)

Under Section 324 of the Education Act 1996, Onslow St Audrey’s School will admit a child with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) that names the school. These children will be admitted within the school’s PAN but before any child prioritised under the school’s over subscription criteria.

OVER SUBSCRIPTION CRITERIA (YEARS 7-11)

If applications for admission exceed the number of places then the following school admissions rules and tie break criteria will be used to prioritise applications¹:

RULE 1 – CHILDREN LOOKED AFTER (CLA) AND PREVIOUSLY LOOKED AFTER (CPLA)

Children looked after and children who were previously looked after, including those who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England, and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted or became subject to a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order.

RULE 2 – SIBLING

Children who, at the closing date for applications, have a brother or sister currently attending² Onslow St Audrey’s School in Years 7 to 12.

RULE 3 – CHILDREN OF STAFF

Children of staff employed by Danes Educational Trust whose contract of employment (not a casual contract) names Onslow St Audrey’s School as the primary place of work, will be allocated a place if either of the following conditions are met:

1. Where a member of staff has been employed at the school for two or more years at the time the application is made – this includes part-time or full-time staff in either a support role, teaching role and/or leadership role.
2. Where Danes Educational Trust can demonstrate that the member of staff has been recruited to fill a vacant position for which there is a demonstrable skills shortage.
3. In addition to either (a) or (b) the child must live at the same permanent address as the member of staff.

Children of staff at the school includes children of partners, providing the child lives at the same permanent address as the member of staff.

¹ Please see the ‘Definitions and Explanatory Notes’ section for full explanations/definitions.

² ‘Currently attending’ means children who are actually at the school, or children who have been offered and accepted a place but have not yet started the school.

RULE 4 – DISTANCE (PRIORITY AREA) (NEAREST NON-FAITH, CO-EDUCATIONAL, NON-PARTIALLY SELECTIVE)

Children who live in the priority area and for whom Onslow St Audrey’s School is their nearest Hertfordshire maintained school or academy that is non-faith, co-educational and non-partially selective.³

RULE 5 – DISTANCE (PRIORITY AREA)

Children who live in the priority area who live nearest the school.

RULE 6 – DISTANCE (OUTSIDE PRIORITY AREA)

Children living outside the priority area on the basis of distance, with those living nearest to the school given priority.

These rules are applied in the order they are printed above. If more children qualify under a particular rule than there are places available, the next rule will be applied to further prioritise children.

PRIORITY AREA

The priority area consists of the following parishes and areas: Ayot St Peter, Codicote, Essendon, Hatfield, North Mymms, Potters Bar, South Mymms, Welwyn Garden City, Welwyn, Woolmer Green.

TIE BREAK

When there is a need for a tie break where two different addresses are the same distance from the school, in the case of a block of flats for example, the lower door number will be deemed nearest as logically this will be on the ground floor and therefore closer. If there are two identical addresses of separate applicants, the tie break will be random. Every child entered onto the HCC admissions database has an individual random number assigned, between 1 and 1 million, against each preference school. When there is a need for a final tie break, the random number is used to allocate the place, with the lowest number given priority.

CONTINUED INTEREST (CI) (WAITING) LISTS

After places have been offered, the school’s CI list will be maintained by Hertfordshire County Council. A child’s position on the CI list will be determined by the admission criteria and a child’s place on the list can change as other children join or leave it. The County Council, on behalf of the School Board, will contact parents/carers if a vacancy becomes available and it can be offered to a child. CI lists will be maintained for every year group until the summer term (date to be confirmed). To retain a CI application after this time, parents must make an In Year application.

IN YEAR ADMISSIONS

Parents can make an online In Year Admission application via the Hertfordshire County Council website: www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions or contact the Customer Service Centre on 0300 123 4043 for a paper application form. Parents should return the application form directly to the County Council.

For In Year Admissions, the County Council will write to you with the outcome of your application and if you have been unsuccessful, will include registration details to enable you to login and appeal online at: www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/schoolappeals.

APPEALS

Parents/carers wishing to appeal who applied through Hertfordshire’s online system should log on to their online application and click on the link “register an appeal”. Out of county residents and paper applicants should call the Customer Service Centre on 0300 123 4043 to request their registration details and log into www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/schoolappeals and click on the link “log into the appeals system”.

For In Year Admissions, the County Council will write to you with the outcome of your application and if you have been unsuccessful, will include registration details to enable you to login and appeal online at: www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/schoolappeals.

³ Non-partially selective means that the school does not offer any places based on academic ability.

Onslow St Audrey’s School will admit children under the Fair Access Protocol (FAP) before those on continuing interest, and over the Published Admission Number (PAN), if required, as set out in locally agreed and county wide protocols.

DEFINITIONS AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

The following definitions apply to terms used in the admissions criteria:

RULE 1: CHILDREN LOOKED AFTER (CLA) AND PREVIOUSLY LOOKED AFTER (CPLA)

Places are allocated to children in public care according to Chapter 7, Section 2 of the School Admissions (Admission Arrangements and Co-ordination of Admission Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2012. These children will be prioritised under Rule 1.

Highest priority will also be given to children who were previously looked after, including those looked after outside England, but ceased to be so because they were adopted, or became subject to a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order.

A ‘Child Looked After’ is a child who is:

1. In the care of a local authority, or
2. Being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (Section 22(1) of The Children Act 1989).

All children adopted from care who are of compulsory school age are eligible for admission under Rule 1.

Children in the process of being placed for adoption are classified by law as Children Looked After providing there is a Placement Order and the application would be prioritised under Rule 1.

Children who were not ‘looked after’ immediately before being adopted, or made the subject of a child arrangements order or special guardianship order, will not be prioritised under Rule 1.

Child arrangements order:

Under the provisions of the Children and Families Act 2014, which amended section 8 of the Children Act 1989, residence orders have now been replaced by child arrangements orders which settle the arrangements to be made as to the person with whom the child is to live.

Special guardianship orders:

Under 14A of The Children Act 1989, an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian or guardians.

Children previously looked after abroad and subsequently adopted will be prioritised under Rule 1 if the child’s previously looked after status and adoption is confirmed by Hertfordshire’s “Virtual School.”

The child’s previously looked after status will be decided in accordance with the definition outlined in The Children & Social Work Act 2017:

1. To have been in state care in a place outside England and Wales because he or she would not otherwise have been cared for adequately, and
2. To have ceased to be in that state care as a result of being adopted.

A child is in “state care” if he or she is in the care of, or accommodated by:

1. A public authority,
2. A religious organisation, or
3. Any other organisation the sole or main purpose of which is to benefit society.

RULE 2: SIBLING

A sibling is defined as: the sister, brother, half brother or sister, adopted brother or sister, child of  the

parent/carer or partner or a child looked after or previously looked after⁴ and in every case living permanently⁵ in a placement within the home as part of the family household from Monday to Friday at the time of this application. A sibling must be on the roll of the named school at the time the younger child starts or have been offered and accepted a place.

If a place is obtained for an older child using fraudulent information, there will be no sibling connection available to subsequent children from that family.

MULTIPLE BIRTHS

If one child/multiple birth child is allocated a place at the school, the other twin/multiple birth child will be allocated over the school’s Published Admission Number (if necessary) for that allocation round.

RULES RELATING TO DISTANCE HOME ADDRESS

The address provided must be the child’s current permanent address at the time of application. ‘At the time of application’ means the closing date for applications. ‘Permanent’ means that the child has lived at that address for at least a year. Where a family has not lived at an address for a year, they must be able to demonstrate that that they own the property or have a tenancy agreement for a minimum of 12⁶ months and the child must be resident in the property at the time of application.

The application can only be processed using one address. If a child lives at more than one address (for example due to a separation) the address used will be the one which the child lives at for the majority of the time. If a child lives at two addresses equally, parents/carers should make a single joint application naming one address.

If a child’s permanent residence is disputed, parents/carers should provide court documentation to evidence the address that should be used for admission allocation purposes. If two applications are received, with different addresses and/or different preferences, neither will be processed until the address issue is reconciled.

It is for a child’s home Local Authority to determine address. If two applications, with different addresses are received from the same Local Authority, it will be for that Local Authority to determine permanent address. If two applications are received from two different Local Authorities, the above process will be used.

If two different applications are received for the same child from the same address, e.g. containing different preferences, parents/carers will be invited to submit a joint application or provide court documentation to evidence the preferences that should be used for the admission process. Until the preference issue is reconciled neither application will be processed.

For the transfer application rounds, if the initial differing applications (one or both) were received ‘on-time’, an amended joint application will also be considered ‘on-time’ if received before the ‘late deadline’. If the amended joint application is received after the late date, it will be treated as ‘late’. The late deadline for the 2023/24 transfer application process is 2^nd December 2022 for secondary applications. If this date changes, amendments will be published on the HCC admissions web pages at the start of the 2023/24 application process in September 2022.

FRAUDULENT APPLICATIONS

The school, in liaison with Hertfordshire County Council, will do as much as possible to prevent applications being made from fraudulent addresses. Address evidence is frequently requested, monitored and

⁴ Children previously looked after are those children adopted or with a special guardianship order or child arrangements order.

⁵ A sibling link will not be recognised for children living temporarily in the same house, for example a child who usually lives with one parent but has temporarily moved or a looked after child in a respite placement or very short term or bridging foster placement.

⁶ If, because of the nature of the agreement, it is not possible to provide a 12-month tenancy agreement, alternative proof of address will be requested and verified as necessary with the Shared Anti-Fraud Service.

checked and school places will be withdrawn when false information is deliberately provided. Action will be taken in the following circumstances:

• When a child’s application address does not match the address of that child at their current school;
• When a child lives at a different address to the applicant;
• When the applicant does not have parental responsibility;
• When a family move shortly after the closing date of applications when one or more of the following applies:
  • The family has moved to a property from which their application was less likely to be successful;
  • The family has returned to an existing property;
  • The family lived in rented accommodation for a short period of time (anything less than a year) over the application period;
  • Official/public records show an alternative residence at the time of application.

• When a child starts at the allocated school and their address is different from the address used at the time of application.

Parents/carers will need to show that they have relinquished residency ties with their previous property and they, and their child(ren), are permanently residing at the address given on the application form.

HOME TO SCHOOL DISTANCE MEASUREMENT FOR PURPOSES OF ADMISSIONS

A ‘straight line’ distance measurement is used for all home to school distance measurements for admission allocation purposes. Distances are measured using a computerised mapping system to two decimal places. The measurement is taken from the AddressBase Premium address point of your child’s house to the address point of the school. AddressBase Premium data is a nationally recognised method of identifying the location of schools and individual residences.

DEFINITION OF ‘NEAREST SCHOOL’

The ‘nearest school’ definition for Rule 4 is ‘the nearest Hertfordshire maintained school or academy that is non‐ faith, co-educational, and non‐partially selective’ (note – non‐partially selective means that the school does not offer any places based on academic ability).

APPLICATIONS FROM CHILDREN⁷ OVERSEAS

All children of compulsory school age (5 to 16 years) in England have a right of access to education. However, where a child is in England for a short period only, for example less than half a term, it may be reasonable to refuse admission to a school.

An application for a school place will only be accepted for such children currently overseas if, for In Year applications, proof is provided that the child will be resident in Hertfordshire within two weeks. In Year allocations are made on the assumption that the child will accept the school place and be on roll within that timescale.

For the Secondary transfer processes, applications will not normally be accepted from, nor places allocated to, an overseas address. The exception to this (for both In Year and transfer processes) is for children of UK service personnel and crown servants (and from military families who are residents of countries with a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK). In these cases, HCC will allocate a place in advance of the family arriving in the area provided the application is accompanied by an official letter that declares a relocation date and a HCC Unit postal address or quartering area address, for consideration of the application against over subscription criteria.

7 Children who hold full British Citizen passports (not British Dependent Territories or British Overseas passports), or have a UK passport describing them as a British citizen or British subject with the right of abode or are European Economic Area nationals normally have unrestricted entry to the UK

Applications will also be considered, and places offered in advance for those families, if the application is accompanied by an official letter that declares a relocation date but does not provide a quartering or unit address because the family will be residing in private accommodation. In these cases, if the family does not already have a permanent private address in Hertfordshire, the military base or alternative ‘work’ address in Hertfordshire will be used for allocation purposes. If the family already has an established alternative private address, that address will be used for admission purposes.

The school, in liaison with HCC, will also consider accepting applications from children (as defined in the footnote) whose family can evidence intent to return to and/or permanently reside in Hertfordshire prior to the start of the new academic year. These applications, if accepted, will be processed from the overseas address until sufficient evidence is received to show the child is permanently resident in Hertfordshire. Evidence must be submitted at the time of application.

Evidence submitted after the date for late applications cannot be taken into account before National Allocation Day. Decisions on these applications will be made by a panel of County Council officers and communicated with parents within 6 weeks of the closing date for applications.

If an applicant owns a property in Hertfordshire but is not living in it, perhaps because they are working abroad at the time of application, the Hertfordshire address will not be accepted for the purposes of admission until the child is resident at that address.

Other children, than those mentioned above, from overseas do not generally have automatic right of entry to the UK. An application for a school place will not therefore be accepted until they are permanently resident in Hertfordshire. Proof of residency, such as an endorsed passport or entry visa will be required with the application, in addition to proof of Hertfordshire address, for example a council tax bill or 12-month rental agreement.

CHILDREN OUT OF YEAR GROUP (EXCEPT APPLICATIONS FOR SUMMER BORN CHILDREN WHO DELAYED THEIR ENTRY TO PRIMARY SCHOOL BY A YEAR)

The school’s policy is for children to be educated within their correct chronological year group, with the curriculum differentiated as necessary to meet the needs of individual children. This is in line with DfE guidance which states that ‘in general, children should be educated in their normal age group’.

If parents/carers believe their child(ren) should be educated in a different year group they should, at the time of application, submit supporting evidence from relevant professionals working with the child and family stating why the child must be placed outside their normal age appropriate cohort. DfE guidance makes clear that ‘it is reasonable for admission authorities to expect parents to provide them with information in support of their request – since without it they are unlikely to be able to make a decision on the basis of the circumstances of the case’.

The School Board will decide whether the application will be accepted on the basis of the information submitted. The decision will be based upon the circumstances of each case including the view of parents, the Headteacher, the child's social, academic and emotional development and whether the child has been previously educated out of year group. There is no guarantee that an application will be accepted on this basis. If the application is not accepted this does not constitute a refusal of a place and there is no right to an independent statutory appeal. Similarly, there is no right of appeal for a place in a specific year group at a school. The internal management and organisation of a school, including the placement of pupils in classes, is a matter for the Headteacher and senior leadership of the school.

CHILDREN OUT OF YEAR GROUP: APPLICATIONS FOR SUMMER BORN CHILDREN WHO DELAYED THEIR ENTRY TO PRIMARY SCHOOL BY A YEAR

Summer born children (children born between 1 April and 31 August) who have been educated out of their chronological year group due to delaying their entry to primary school by a year will be able to remain with their adopted year group, unless there are sound educational reasons to do otherwise.

Minimum entry criteria for different levels of courses:

Subject specific requirements are published on the Welwyn Hatfield Consortium website: https://www.welwynhatfieldconsortium.org.uk/

SIXTH FORM ADMISSIONS NUMBERS

All students in Year 11 at Onslow St Audrey’s School who apply for a place in the Sixth Form and who meet the academic criteria are entitled to a place in the Onslow St Audrey’s Sixth Form. There is a Published Admission Number of 20 external applicants.

SIXTH FORM ALLOCATION OF PLACES AND OVER SUBSCRIPTION CRITERIA FOR EXTERNAL APPLICANTS

In the event that there are more qualified external applicants than places available, places will be awarded in the following order of priority:

1. CHILDREN LOOKED AFTER (CLA)⁸ AND PREVIOUSLY LOOKED AFTER (CPLA) including those who appear (to the admissions authority) to have been in state care outside of England, and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted or became subject to a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order⁹.
2. SIXTH FORM TIEBREAKER: In the event that two or more applicants are equally entitled to a place, an offer will be made to the applicant living closer to the school at the time of application¹⁰. A ‘straight line’ distance measurement is used for all home to school distance measurements for admission allocation purposes. Distances are measured using a computerised mapping system to two decimal places. The measurement is taken from the AddressBase Premium address point of your child’s house to the address point of the school. AddressBase Premium data is a nationally recognised method of identifying the location of schools and individual residences.

SIXTH FORM OFFERS AND ADMISSIONS PROCESS

Dates for Sixth Form open events will be published on the school website: https://onslow.herts.sch.uk/. All applicants must complete the application form and submit it by the deadline, following all instructions on the application form.

⁸ Refer to definition of Children Looked After in ‘Definitions and Explanatory Notes’ section.

⁹ Refer to explanatory notes for Children Previously Looked After abroad in ‘Definitions and Explanatory Notes’ section.

¹⁰ Refer to ‘Home to School Distance Measurement for Purposes of School Admissions’ in ‘Definitions and Explanatory Notes’ section.