Once a child has been offered and has taken up a place at a particular school, that place is secure until the child leaves. In the case of over subscription Cambridgeshire County Council has a policy which allocates places within each school and organises parental appeals when parental preferences for their child to join a particular school cannot be met. Two figures are used by the authority in determining the number of children a school can accommodate. The first is the published admissions limit, (PAL), which in the case of Elm C of E Primary School is 30. This is the maximum number of children who would normally be offered a place within any class. The second figure is the capacity of the school, which in the case of Elm C of E Primary School is 210.

A school is deemed to be full, and thus a pupil may be refused admission, if both:

a) the admissions limit for a particular year group has been reached and
b) the overall capacity of the school has been reached or is expected to be reached during the pupil’s anticipated time in school.

If this situation exists, then each application for a place will be examined against the criteria below in the following order:

Children who have a statement of special educational needs that names the school will be admitted. Those children with a statement of special educational needs that does not name the school will be referred to Student Assessment to determine an appropriate place.

Thereafter, the criteria used to allocate places in the event of over subscription are:

1. Children in Care, also known as Looked After Children.
2. Children living in the catchment area with a sibling at the school at the time of admission.
3. Children living in the catchment area.
4. Children living outside the catchment area who have a sibling at the school at the time of admission
5. Children living outside the catchment area who have been unable to gain a place at their catchment area school because of oversubscription.
6. Children living outside the catchment area, but the nearest the school as measured by a straight line.

In cases of equal merit in each set of criteria, priority will go to children living nearest the school as measured by a straight line.
If a parent is refused admission for their child owing to a school having reached its published admissions limit and capacity, the parents have a right of appeal to an independent appeals committee. This appeals committee can allow a place for the child even if the school is full, if the committee believes that the child’s or the family’s case is sufficiently strong.

Updated December 2011

If you wish to place your child in reception starting September 2012 the deadline to submit applications is 15th January 2012. Applications are made directly to the admissions team at Cambridgeshire County Council.

For further information click here:  
http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/education/parents/admission/apply2012/

Or write to:
CC1206
Castle Court
Castle Hill
Cambridge
CB3 0AP

Telephone: 01223 699200 or 01223 699662