IN-YEAR ADMISSIONS POLICY  

 Determined Admission Arrangements for 2026/27

GENERAL INFORMATION 

St. Clement Danes School educates students between the ages of 11 and 18. It is a coeducational, all ability school.  The school is proud of its long history, rich traditions and values. The school was founded as a secondary school in 1862.  As an Academy the Admissions Committee of the Governing Board, which includes the Headteacher, is responsible for all admissions to the school.  The school has been supported throughout its history by the Trustees of the Holborn Estate Charity founded in 1551.   
 
St. Clement Danes School provides access to wide-ranging curricular and extra-curricular opportunities and facilities which are a strength of the school.  At Secondary Transfer, 10% of the intake is admitted on the basis of aptitude in music and a further 10% on their proven academic ability.  

It is the St Clement Danes Governors’ policy that students will be taught within their normal age group (that is their correct chronological year) because the school’s curriculum is differentiated for all abilities within the cohort. They will only consider an exception to this if there are extenuating circumstances submitted with the application as to why a student should be educated out of year; however in the case of applicants from summer born children, who delayed their entry to Reception by one academic year, the school will continue to educate these children out of their normal age group.

The definition of an In-year admission is an application received for Years 7 – 11 at any time other than secondary transfer. Admissions for external candidates applying to join the Sixth Form, to commence studies at the beginning of the academic year in year 12, are administered through the Sixth Form Admissions Process; applicants should contact the sixth form directly.  

CHILDREN LOOKED AFTER AND CHILDREN PREVIOUSLY LOOKED AFTER (CRITERION 1) 

1.1    Looked after children will be prioritised under criterion 1. Priority will also be given to children, who were previously looked after, including those who appear (to the admissions authority) to have been in state care outside of England or Wales, but ceased to be as a result of being adopted, or became subject to a child arrangement order¹ or a special guardianship order². Children who were not “looked after” immediately before being adopted, or made the subject of a child arrangement order or special guardianship order, will not be prioritised under this criterion.  

1.2    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.   
A “child looked after” 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 (section 22(1) of The Children Act 1989).  
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 criterion 1.

1.3    All children adopted from care in England and Wales who are of compulsory school age are eligible for admission under criterion 1. The applicant must provide an Adoption Certificate, a Child Arrangements 

Order or a Special Guardianship Order, along with evidence from a local authority to show that the child is in their care or was in their care immediately prior to being adopted

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.  
² Special guardianship order  
Under 14A of The Children Act 1989, an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian or guardians.  

1.4    Applications for children who have been adopted but were previously looked after abroad (not by an English or Welsh local authority) will be considered under this rule and accepted if the child’s previously looked after status and adoption is confirmed.

1.5      A child’s previously looked after status will be decided in accordance with the definition outlined in The Children & Social Work Act 2017: (a) 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 (b) 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: (a) a public authority, (b) a religious organisation, or (c) any other organisation the sole or main purpose of which is to benefit society. 

1.6      All applications are considered individually but a successful application should include evidence that the child was previously cared for by the state abroad because he or she would not otherwise have been cared for adequately and has been subsequently adopted.

2.    SIBLINGS (CRITERION 2)  

2.1     St Clement Danes School has always valued the tangible sense of community.  Hence the Governors place great importance upon Admission Criterion 2.   
 
2.2     For the purposes of the School’s Admission Criteria, a sibling is defined as an applicant who has at least one natural parent (or parent by legal adoption/carer) in common with a student at the school, a looked after or previously looked after child (this does not include children temporarily living in the same house). In every case the siblings must reside at the same family home as each other at least Monday to Friday. The parent must also have parental responsibility for the child.   
 
2.3     A brother or sister is considered to have a sibling connection only if their older brother or sister will be attending the school at the time of application of the younger sibling.   
 
2.4     In the case of twins/multiple births from the same household, if only one twin qualifies for admission, the school will allocate places to both children, conditional on both twins attending the school.  If the qualifying twin withdraws, the second place is forfeit.  This principle will apply to other multiple births such as triplets. Additional place(s) will be counted as sibling admissions. If children of multiple births are tied for the final place, those siblings will be admitted over the published admissions number. 
 
2.5     Where there is more than one sibling on the continuing interest list, the applicant who lives closest to the school, in a straight line as determined by AddressBase Premium, will be allocated a place first. 

3.    CHILDREN OF STAFF (CRITERION 3) 

Children of staff employed by the Trustees of Danes Educational Trust at St Clement Danes School (excluding Central Services Staff) will be allocated a place if either or all of the following conditions are met:  
 
3.1.    Where a member of staff has been employed by the Trustees of Danes Educational Trust at St Clement Danes School (excluding Central Services Staff) under a contract of employment for a continuous period of two or more years at the time the application is made.

3.2.    Where the Governors can demonstrate that the member of staff has been recruited to fill a vacant position for which there is a demonstrable skills shortage. 

3.3.    In addition to either (a) or (b) the child must live at the same permanent address as the member of staff.

4.    DISTANCE (CRITERION 4) 

4.1    Any remaining places will be allocated on distance.  For the purposes of Criterion 4, an applicant’s home address shall be the family home for the applicant for a period of a minimum of 12 months immediately prior to application. Where an applicant has not been in residence at the stated address for the period of 12 months prior to application, it shall be the responsibility of the applicant to demonstrate the authenticity of the applicant’s address and that the address is permanent. The school may check the authenticity of the address stated.  Proof of residence may be requested and must be provided.  
 
4.2     Where parents/carers share residence for part of the week, both home addresses must be quoted and the address of the parent where the child spends the majority of their time will be considered as the permanent home address. Where an applicant lives equally between two addresses, parents/carers should make a joint statement as to the address to be used for the school application. If the parents/carers are not in agreement then court documentation should be provided as to which address should be used for the school application. Only one application can be accepted for a child. In all cases, the relevant parent/carer must have parental responsibility (sole or shared) for the applicant.
    
4.3     The Governors are concerned to ensure that applicants who provide misleading, incomplete or fraudulent information for admissions do not deprive other applicants of a rightful place. The Governors will consider each application and apply the school’s admissions rules where an address appears to be temporary or false. An application from a home address will also be viewed critically and may be refused if, inter alia:- 

- the completion of purchase or the rental agreement has been contracted in the 12 month period prior to making an application; 
- the family has recently moved from a property from which their application was less likely to be successful; 
- there are reasonable grounds to believe that the home address provided is an “accommodation" address for the purposes of a fraudulent application;  
- where a tenancy agreement is for less than 6 months and/or the end of a tenancy agreement precedes the commencement of the school term;
- when the child starts at the school their address is different from the address used at the time of application;
- when a child starts at the school they change address within the first term or
- where an applicant continues to have ties to a previous family home.

In each case the applicant will be given the opportunity to provide evidence to show that a property is their permanent home address. This evidence must be sufficient to demonstrate to the school Governors that an address is permanent.

 4.4    Hertfordshire County Council’s ‘straight line’ distance measurement system is used for all home                      to school distance measurements. 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. 
 
  4.5    Applications must be made from the permanent home address where the applicant is residing at the time of application. At the time of application means the date of application.
              If the applicant changes address after applying for a place at the school, the applicant should advise the school in writing immediately. Provision of an incorrect home address or other false information is likely to lead to the withdrawal of an offer of a place. 
 
  4.6    St Clement Danes School is an autonomous admitting authority and as such will make the                                                     decision as to whether or not to accept an address.

5.    TIE BREAK 

The distance criterion is measured to two decimal places.  If the next allocation is to two or more applicants and their distances are identical to two decimal places, then a random selection will be made.  

6.    CONTINUING INTEREST LIST 

The school is usually fully subscribed in all year groups and operates a Continuing Interest List for applicants who wish to be considered should a place become available in the relevant year group.  Applicants who have not been allocated a place have their name added to the continuing interest list, ranked in order of eligibility. Each time an application is received and a child is added to the continuing interest list, the list will be ranked again.  If a place becomes available, candidates on the continuing interest list are reviewed, and the place is allocated in accordance with the in-year oversubscription criteria. It is the policy of the school to obtain information regarding the student from the present or previous school once an offer has been made.  
 
The school has to prioritise children with an Educational Health and Care Plan and those allocated a   place through the fair access protocol which operates in South West Hertfordshire over those on the continuing interest list.   
 
The Governors Policy is not to consider repeat applications during the same academic year unless there have been significant changes in circumstances relevant to the application.   

7.    EDUCATIONAL HEALTH AND CARE PLAN (EHCP) 

The Governors will meet their legal obligation to allocate a place to an applicant who has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).  

8.    WITHDRAWAL OF A PLACE 

The Governors of the school will withdraw an offer of a place if the place is offered in error, a parent fails to respond to an offer within a reasonable time or the Governors offered the place on the basis of a fraudulent or intentionally misleading application from a parent or in the case where a negligent misstatement has been made.  

Applicants must inform the Governors of any change in circumstances relating to the application immediately, and in writing.  A decision will then be made as to whether or not this affects the application or the place offered.  

9.    APPEALS 

Hertfordshire Local Authority manages all St. Clement Danes admissions appeals. If you are advised by the school that your application is unsuccessful, Hertfordshire County Council will contact you with registration details to enable you to create an account and lodge an appeal through the online appeals system. 
 
The Admission Criteria and Policy for In-year Admission are reviewed annually by the Governors of St. Clement Danes School.  
 
Governors Admissions Committee 
St Clement Danes School: January 2025