Admissions Policy

This policy is reviewed annually to ensure compliance with current regulations

For admission September 2025

The Admissions Authority is the Board of Co-op Academies Trust, with authority delegated to the local governing board of Co-op Academy Leeds.

Admissions Policy

The Academy has an admissions number of 180 in Year 7.

By mutual agreement, the academy and the local authority can, should place planning requirements dictate, agree to temporarily change the PAN for any given year.

The Academy will accordingly provide for the admission of 180 pupils to Year 7 each year if sufficient applications for entry are received.  Where fewer than the published admissions number for the relevant year group are received, the Academy will offer places to all those who have applied.

Children with an education, health and care plan (EHCP) which names Co-op Academy

Leeds will be admitted to the school.

Applications for places in the normal admissions round

Parents are required to fill in a Common Preference Form (CPF) in the Local Authority in which they live to apply for a school place.  

Applications can be made online from 1 September at www.leeds.gov.uk.  All applications must be submitted by the deadline date of 31 October.  In accordance with the co-ordinated admissions policy, on 1st March each year the Local Authority will make a formal offer of a place to parents or carers on behalf of the Academy (in 2026 this will be 3rd March as the 1st March falls on a Saturday).

If you return the Common Preference Form after the deadline we cannot consider your application at the same time as those received on time. Late applications will be dealt with once all other applicants have been considered.

Oversubscription criteria for Years 7-11

When the Academy is oversubscribed, after the admission of pupils with EHCPs where the school is named, priority for admission will be given to those children who meet the criteria set out below, in priority order:

1 – Looked after children and children who were previously looked after but left care as they were adopted, became subject to a Special Guardianship Order or Child Arrangements order

2 – Children with siblings* (see note) who are students at the Academy and will still be at the Academy when the applicant child attends and who are living at the same address.  This priority will not apply where the older sibling joined the sixth form from a different school

3 – Children who live within the Academy’s catchment area** (see note) (the Academy’s Catchment map is attached to this policy)

4 – Other children

Note*: Siblings include adopted siblings, step-siblings and foster siblings, providing they are permanently residing at the same address, but this does not apply to cousins or other family members living at the same address.

Note**: Catchment polygon: The area has been defined by the straight-line distance between the school and the next nearest school with a non-faith based admission policy and was set in November 2015 based on the schools and academies expected to be admitting year 7s in September 2017.   You can apply for any school but if you live in the defined catchment area for a school you will receive a higher priority for it than families living outside of the catchment area. Living in the catchment area does not guarantee a place at the school.

Tie-break (1)

If, in any of the categories above, a tie-break is necessary to determine which child is admitted, the child living closest to the academy will be given priority for admission.  

Tie-break (2)

Random allocation, carried out by someone independent of the Academy, will be used as a tie-break in any of the categories above to determine which child has highest priority for admission if the distance between a child’s home and the Academy is equidistant in two or more cases.

Additional Notes

Looked after Children definition

A looked after child 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 services functions (see the definition in Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989.

Previously looked after children are children who were looked after, but ceased to be so because they were adopted or became subject to a child arrangements order or special guardianship order. This includes children who were adopted under the Adoption Act 1976 or under the Adoption and Childrens Act 2002, Child arrangements orders as defined in s.8 of the Children Act 1989, as amended.  Child arrangements orders replace residence orders and any residence order in force prior to 22 April 2014 is deemed to be a child arrangements order.  Section 14A of the Children Act 1989 defines a ‘special guardianship order’ as an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian (or special guardians).

The definition also includes children who appear to the admission authority of the Academy 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 in a place outside of England if they were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation or any other provider of care whose sole purpose is to benefit society

Parents may be asked to provide a copy of the Court order and evidence that the child was previously looked after to the Academy Address

For admission purposes, the home address is where the child usually lives with their parent or carer. You must not give the address of a childminder or relative. The Local Authority or Academy will investigate any queries about addresses and, depending on what they find, they may change the school offered to your child.

When we consider your application, we assume your address will be the same in the

following September as you have provided on your application. If you plan to move house, you must still give your current address. If you move house after the deadline of 31 October for applying for Secondary places, you must tell the Local Authority your new address as they may have to offer your child a place at another school.

If it is found that a false address has been given with the aim of fraudulently securing a school place, that place may be withdrawn, even if the child has already started at the school.

Where a child lives with parents with shared parental responsibility, each for part of a week, the address where the child lives is determined using a joint declaration from the parents stating the pattern of residence. If a child’s residence is split equally between both parents, then parents will be asked to determine which residential address should be used for the purpose of admission to school. If no joint declaration is received where the residence is split equally by the closing date for applications, the home address will be taken as the address where the child is registered with the doctor. If the residence is not split equally between both parents then the address used will be the address where the child spends the majority of the school week.

Distance

Distance is measured from the child’s home to the main Academy administration building in a straight line, using the computer system in use by Leeds City Council.

Late Applications

If you return the preference form after the deadline we cannot guarantee to consider your preferences at the same time as those received on time.  Any secondary applications returned after the deadline will only be dealt with once all other preferences have been considered, unless there are significant and exceptional reasons.  Late applications will be considered before placements are made (where no preference could be met)

Accepting Offers

Parents will be asked to accept the offer of a school place by contacting the Academy directly.  This can be done by telephone on 0113 380 7940 or via e-mail on leeds@coopacademies.co.uk.  

This will not affect their position on any waiting list for a higher preference, or their right to appeal.  Parents who do not wish to accept the offer, or do not accept the offer within a reasonable time, may have the place withdrawn.

Waiting List

We hold a waiting list after national offer day. How to add your child to a waiting list will be explained in the offer or decision letter you are sent.

If your child is added to a waiting list after offer day and a place becomes available before the new school year starts, the Local Authority will automatically allocate the place at your higher preference school and automatically withdraw the place at a lower preference school to give it to another child, even if you have accepted that place.

We hold waiting lists for all the year groups as follows:

•        your child’s place on a list is decided by the oversubscription criteria in the school’s admission policy (the rules for prioritising places)

•        each time a child is added or removed, the list is ranked again and your child can move down if another child meets higher criteria

•        the waiting list will close at the end of the academic year (July). You must reapply for a new school place to be on the list the following year

•        looked after children, previously looked after children and those allocated a place at the school in accordance with a Fair Access Protocol take priority over those on a waiting list

As per paragraph 2.14 of the Admissions Code:

• The position on the waiting list will be determined solely in accordance with the oversubscription criteria in this policy
• Each time a child is added to the waiting list, the list will be ranked again in line with the oversubscription criteria in this policy
• Looked after children, previously looked after children, and those allocated a place at the academy in accordance with a Fair Access Protocol, must take precedence over those on a waiting list

Temporary School Site

If a school has to move to a temporary site for any reason, such as the building being

damaged by a fire, we will base our distance measurements on the school’s permanent site.

Applications out of normal age group

Parents may request that their child is admitted outside their normal age group.  To do so parents should include a request with their application, specifying why admission out of the normal year group is being requested, and the year group to which they wish their child to be admitted.

When such a request is made, the academy will make a decision on the basis of the

circumstances of the case and in the best interests of the child concerned, taking into

account the views of the Principal and any supporting evidence provided by the parent.

There is no right of appeal against a decision not to allocate a place outside of normal year

group, only if the offer of a place in the normal year is not granted.

Applications outside the normal admission round – In Year Transfer Requests

All applications outside the normal admission (‘In-year’) round should be made using an

in-year common preference (ICPF) form. If you would like to request a place at Co-op

Academy Leeds, you should return the form directly to the school. If the school is full, you

will be offered a right of appeal against the refusal.

The sibling priority will apply to younger and older siblings where families move during the

school year.

Where no house move has taken place you will be offered a place to start at the beginning

of the next term, unless no other accessible school place is available to you

Appeals

All applicants refused a place have a right of appeal to an independent appeal panel

constituted and operated in accordance with the School Admission Appeals Code.

Appellants should contact the Local Authority for information on how to appeal.

All appeals will be held within 40 school days of the appeal being lodged; for in-year

applications, this appeal deadline is reduced to 30 school days.

Fair Access Protocol

As part of the co-ordinated admissions arrangements with the Local Authority, the Academy may accept “hard-to-place” pupils onto its roll in accordance with the Fair Access Protocol. These are special cases arranged wholly outside the boundaries of this admissions policy.