Co-ordinated Admission Arrangements
All local authorities are required by regulations in the School Standards and Framework Act 1988 to have co-ordinated admissions for all schools within its area for each academic year.
Co-ordination establishes a mechanism that ensures that, as far as practical, every child living in a local authority area who has applied in the normal admissions round receives one and only one offer of a school place on the same day.
The Local Authority co-ordinates the admission arrangements for all schools within Darlington Borough.
This includes receiving all application forms for Community Schools and, on behalf of governors of Voluntary Aided and Academy schools, then writing to parents/carers informing them which school place has been allocated.
Applications for Reception Places 2012/13
Parents/carers have the right to express a preference for a school(s) within Darlington Authority. If your child was born between 1st September 2007 and 31st August 2008 and you live in Darlington, you must complete a PSA (primary school application). You can request a PSA from the School Admissions Team at the Town Hall or from a primary school in Darlington Authority when the new brochures are available in September 2011. Forms should be returned to the School Admissions Team no later than 15TH JANUARY 2012. Forms received after 15th January 2012 (late applications) will only be considered in exceptional circumstances (for example: families who have moved into the area after the closing date). These applications will be considered up to and including Friday 27th January 2012.
Where a family intends to move into the Borough, a request for a school place based on the new address cannot be considered until a letter is provided from a licensed conveyancer or solicitor confirming exchange of contracts.
All other applications will only be considered once the process for allocating places has been applied to those applications received by the deadline.
If you live in another local authority area you must apply on your 'home' authority form, they then will contact us with your preference(s) and details.
The PSA should also be completed even if your child is currently undergoing a Statutory Assessment. Before completing and returning the PSA, you are strongly advised to read the Authority’s primary admissions brochure ‘Guide for Parents 2012/13’. The PSA is enclosed within the guide. The Guide for Parents are available from nurseries, primary schools and the Local Authority from September 2011. You may also wish to obtain a copy of the schools prospectus from the Head Teacher(s) of the school(s) you are considering. You can also find reports about schools [external link] on the website of the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) and annual school performance tables [external link].
The Local Authority acts as the admissions authority or on behalf of the admissions authority of voluntary aided and academy schools for the Borough; we will make a single offer of a school place for the academic year 2012/13, to parents who have expressed a preference for their child to be admitted to a maintained school within Darlington. Although all applications will be considered on an equal weighting basis, should a child be eligible for a place at more than one school parents/carers are requested to rank their order of preference on the PSA in order that only one offer will be made. The relevant admissions criteria will be applied to all schools that are oversubscribed either by the Local Authority or by the Governing Body of the school(s) requested.
Most children attend the nearest appropriate school from their home address. However, some parents/carers may wish their children to attend a different school. The Authority will comply with parental requests where a place is available in the requested school. It is however a good idea to list more than one school. If you only give one preference and we cannot offer your child a place at that school, there may be few schools left with places available, should you choose to go through the appeals process and are not successful.
The Local Authority will issue decision letters on 16th April 2012. You are required to reply to the offer within 14 working days of receipt of the letter, otherwise the Local Authority will look to withdraw the offer of the place. Should your child be unsuccessful in gaining a place at your preferred school(s), parent/carers will receive a single offer of a school place at the nearest school to the parental address with available places.
Parents wishing to express a preference for a school in another Local Authority MUST complete the form from the Authority that the child lives in 'the home authority' It is however advisable to contact the Local Authority of the school concerned to understand the process for applications. The Local Authority that the child lives in will offer a place on behalf of another Local Authority or/and admission authority outside of Darlington Borough Council in order that a single offer will be made.
Please remember to return your PSA by 15th January 2012 to the Schools Admissions Team, Town Hall, Darlington, DL1 5QT.