How To Apply

How to apply for a current Reception to Year 11 place.

All admissions to our school are co-ordinated by Slough Borough Council’s Admissions Team.

If you are a Slough resident, the easiest way to apply is online using the citizen portal https://capita.slough.gov.uk/CitizenPortal/en

Late Applications

Application forms must be received by Slough Borough Council by the closing date (15 January 2025). Applications received after the closing dates will be considered as late applications and will be processed after places have been allocated to applicants who applied on time. In exceptional circumstances, the application may be considered as on time but must be received by dates stated in the published scheme. This also applies to any changes to the application e.g. order of school preference.

Criteria for New Intake Admissions 2025

Admission authorities for schools are required to have oversubscription criteria for each school. Oversubscription criteria refers to the published criteria that an admission authority applies when a school has more applications than places available to decide which children should be allocated a place.

All children whose Education, Health and Care Plan names the school will be admitted. If a school is not oversubscribed, all applicants will be offered a place. Where a school is oversubscribed, the order of priority that will be applied for all children is as follows:

1. Looked After Child

Looked after children and all previously looked after children, including those children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in care as a result of being adopted.

2. Exceptional Medical/Social Needs

Children who have exceptional medical or social circumstances require attendance at a particular school rather than any other school. The reasons must be fully supported in writing by a professional person involved with the child such as a doctor or social worker. This must show that the school requested is the only school that the child can attend because of the exceptional medical and social needs. All documents must be submitted with the common Application Form (CAF) or with a printed copy of the online form if completed online.

3. Siblings

Children who have a brother or sister, half brother or sister, adopted brother or sister, stepbrother or sister, foster brother or sister (not cousins), living in the same family unit at the same address as the child on roll at the school - at the time of application and expected to still be on roll at the time of admissions. 

4. Children of Staff

Children of any member of staff, regardless of role in the school where (a) The member of staff has been employed at the school for two or more years at the time of application or (b) The member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage.

5. Catchment Area

Children who live in the catchment area of the school.

6. Distance

All other applicants who live nearest from home to school.

(Note: for the purposes of defining the address of the child, if the child resides for part of the week with one parent and with the other for the remaining part of the week, then the address of the parent living closest to the school will be used.)

7. Tie Breaker

In the event that two or more children in all other ways have equal eligibility for the last available place at the school and cannot be separated, their names will be issued a number and drawn randomly to decide which child should be given the place.

•  In the case of flats or multiple-occupancy measurement will be taken from the main entrance of the building.
•  Where the application of oversubscription criteria would result in splitting children with either the same birth dates or children born in the same academic year from the same family, then places will be offered even if this will result in the school going above its admission number.

8. Multiple Births

If children of multiple birth (twins and triplets) require admission in the same year group and there is only one place available within the published admission number, places will be offered to those children over and above the school’s PAN.

9. Waiting List

The Local Authority will maintain a waiting list for all community and voluntary controlled schools. To ensure that the LA, as the admissions authority, meets its duty to continue to co-ordinate admissions beyond the offer date and comply with the parents’ highest possible preference, we will ensure that waiting lists do not contain lower ranked preferences. Waiting lists for all community and voluntary controlled schools will include all those that applied after the national closing date. Waiting lists will be held in the order of oversubscription criteria, not in order of when an application is received. This means a child’s position can move down as well as up following the addition of any applications that may have a higher priority. The waiting list will be in operation until 31 December 2023 in the academic year of the reception admission. Parents should complete and submit an in-year application form thereafter if they wish their child’s details to be kept on the waiting list for the remainder of the academic year. For the in-year waiting list, parents must complete and submit a new application form at the beginning of the new academic year.

Contact Information

Admissions Officer – Mrs Jody Wood

Telephone number – 01753 517359

Email address – admissions@groveacademy.co.uk