Admissions Arrangements 2025-26

Leigh Academies Trust is the Admissions Authority of the Academy. Applications for places will be made in accordance with Kent County Council’s co-ordinated admissions scheme and timetable.

Admission number

Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard has a Published Admission Number (PAN) of 60 pupils for entry in reception. The Academy will accordingly admit at least 60 pupils in the relevant age group each year if sufficient applications are received. All applicants will be admitted if 60 or fewer apply.

Oversubscription criteria

If the Academy is oversubscribed, after the admission of pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan where the Academy is named in the Plan, priority for admission will be given to those children who meet the criteria set out below, in priority order.

For the purposes of these Admissions Arrangements the catchment area is set out in Appendix A and includes the Castle Hill development area in the immediate vicinity of the Academy.

1. Children in Care and previously Looked After Children

A Child in Care is a child who is (a) in the care of a Local Authority or (b) being provided with accommodation by a Local Authority in the exercise of their Social Care functions (Section 22(1) of the Children’s Act 1989). A previously looked after child means such children who were adopted (or subject to child arrangements orders or special guardianship orders) immediately following having been looked after and those children 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. A child is regarded as having been in state care outside of England if they were in the care of or were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation, or any other provider of care whose sole or main purpose is to benefit society.

2. Sibling(s)

A brother or sister in the same Academy at the time of entry where the family continue to live at the same address as when the sibling was admitted – or – if they have moved – now live in a property that is nearer to the Academy than the previous property as defined by the ‘Nearness’ criterion’ (Point 5 below). For this criterion brother or sister means children who live as brother and sister in the same house, including natural brothers or sisters, adopted siblings, step brothers or sisters, foster brothers or sisters. Children residing in the same households as part of an extended family, such as cousins, will not be treated as siblings. If siblings from multiple births (twins, triplets, etc.) apply for the Academy and the Academy would reach its Published Admission Number (PAN) after admitting one or more, but before admitting all of those siblings, the Academy will offer a place to each of the siblings, even if doing so takes the Academy above its PAN. If the admissions are to Year R, and so result in a breach of class size legislation, the additional pupil(s) will be treated as “excepted” for a period of one year, in line with the School Admission Code.

3. Child of a staff member

The son or daughter of a member of staff who has been employed at the academy for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the academy is made, or who has been recruited to fill a vacant post at the academy for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage. For this criteria son or daughter means a child who lives in the same house as the member of staff, including a natural son or daughter, an adopted child, stepson or daughter, or foster child. Children residing in the same households as part of an extended family, such as cousins, will not be eligible under this criterion. If children come from multiple births (twins, triplets, etc.) and the Academy would reach its Published Admission Number (PAN) after admitting one or more, but before admitting all of those children, the Academy will offer a place to each of the children, even if doing so takes the academy above its PAN. If the admissions are to Year R, and so result in a breach of class size legislation, the additional pupil(s) will be treated as “excepted” for a period of one year, in line with the School Admission Code.

4. Health and Special Access Reasons

Medical and social reasons will be applied in accordance with the Academy’s legal obligations, in particular those under the Equality Act 2010. Priority will be given to those children whose medical or social reasons mean they have a demonstrable and significant need to attend the Academy. Equally this priority will apply to children whose parents’/guardians’, medical or social needs means that they have a demonstrable and significant need to attend the Academy. Such claims will need to be supported by written evidence from a suitably qualified medical or social worker, and submitted at the time of application.

5. Nearness of children’s homes to the Academy

We use the distance between the child’s permanent home address (defined in KCC’s annual admissions prospectus) and the school, measured in a straight line using the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) address point. Distances are measured from a point defined as within the child’s home to a point defined as within the school as specified by NLPG. The same address point on the school site is used for everybody. When we apply the distance criterion for the school, these straight-line measurements are used to determine how close each applicant’s address is to the school. Where applications are made from properties or abodes that are not registered to the NLPG, including new build properties, KCC may be required to use planning sites or other relevant co-ordinates. In exceptional circumstances where alternative co-ordinates are not available, measurements will be determined by a Senior Admissions Officer and confirmed by Head of Service.

These straight line measurements are used to determine how close each applicant’s address is to the Academy with those living closest being given priority. If more than one applicant lives in a multi-occupancy building (e.g. flats) priority will be given to the applicant whose door number is the lowest numerically and/or alphabetically. Where parents live at separate addresses, and have joint custody, the address used will be the one where the child spends the main part of the academy week (i.e. Sunday night to Thursday night inclusive).

Applications eligible under criteria 1 – 4 are each ranked in order of nearness of the child’s home to the Academy, using the method given in criterion 5.

Other Applicants

Tie breaks

If the school is oversubscribed and it is therefore necessary to use a tie-breaker to distinguish between two or more applications in any of the criteria above, a distance criterion will be used. Priority will be given to the applicants who live nearest to the Academy. We use the distance between the child’s permanent home address (defined in KCC’s annual admissions prospectus) and the school, measured in a straight line using the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) address point. Distances are measured from a point defined as within the child’s home to a point defined as within the school as specified by NLPG. The same address point on the school site is used for everybody. When we apply the distance criterion for the school, these straight-line measurements are used to determine how close each applicant’s address is to the school. Where applications are made from properties or abodes that are not registered to the NLPG, including new build properties, KCC may be required to use planning sites or other relevant co-ordinates. In exceptional circumstances where alternative co-ordinates are not available, measurements will be determined by a Senior Admissions Officer and confirmed by Head of Service.

In the unlikely event that two or more children in all other ways have equal eligibility for the last available place at the school, the names will be issued a number and drawn randomly to decide which child should be given the place. This process will be overseen by someone independent of the academy and Trust.

Note: for these Admissions Arrangements

Brother or Sister (‘siblings’) means children who live as brother and sister in the same house, including natural brothers or sisters, adopted siblings, step brothers or sisters, foster brothers or sisters. Children residing in the same households as part of an extended family, such as cousins, will not be treated as siblings. If siblings from multiple births (twins, triplets, etc.) apply for the Academy and the Academy would reach its Published Admission Number (PAN) after admitting one or more, but before admitting all of those siblings, the Academy will offer a place to each of the siblings, even if doing so takes the Academy above its PAN. If the admissions are to Year R, and so result in classes of more than 30 pupils to a teacher the additional pupil(s) will be treated as “excepted” pupils , in line with the School Admissions Code and infant class size legislation.