How will admissions be arranged?
The proposals are that:
- The Academy will accommodate up to 240 students in each year group
- The Academy will initially cover the 13-18 age range as John Bunyan School does at present. However, the sponsors believe that the secondary education of young people is best served in a school with an 11-18 age range. It is their firm view, therefore, that the Academy should become an 11-18 Academy in due course
- All students attending John Bunyan School at the time would be offered places in the Academy, including those that wished to stay on into the sixth form
- The Academy will have the same admission arrangements to those at John Bunyan at present and would be required to comply with the statutory Code of Practice on Admissions. It is intended that admission arrangements will be compatible with those for other local schools and that priority will continue to be given to those children living in the catchment area
- The Academy will admit children of all abilities including those pupils who have statements of Special Educational Need. The Academy will be accessible to pupils with disabilities
- Looked After Children. The Sponsors are particularly keen to ensure that the Academy is a welcoming and supportive place for those students who are looked after by local authorities
Procedures where the Bedford Academy is oversubscribed
- Where the number of applications for admission is greater than the published admissions number and after the admission of pupils with special educational needs where the Academy is named on the statement, applications will be considered against the criteria, and in the order, set out below: -
- All looked after children
- Pupils living in the catchment area
- 'Very exceptional' medical grounds
- Siblings
- Any other children
- Within each of the over-subscription categories, priority is given to those who live nearest the Academy, as measured by the straight line distance using the Local Authority’s computerised measuring system. The distance will be measured from the address-point of the pupil’s home to the front gate of the Academy on Mile Road, Bedford regardless of the distance of travel. Where a pupil lives for part of each week at different addresses, the ‘home’ address shall be that address at which the pupil spends the majority of the school week.
- For the purposes of criterion (d) above, a sibling is a brother or sister, half brother or sister, adopted brother or sister, step brother or sister or the child of the parent / carer’s partner, and in every case, the child should be living at the same address. The sibling must be in the school at the time of application and be likely to remain in the school at the proposed date of admission.