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Admissions

Admissions consultation for September 2025

Please find two documents below relating to our current admissions consultation which will run until 31st January 2024.

 

Admissions into Year 7

We are delighted that you are considering our school for your son’s secondary education. We admit 130 boys into Year 7. We are committed to providing a happy, safe and stimulating environment in which your son will achieve his full potential. We welcome all parents who share this ambition, as a strong partnership between home and school is essential if each student is to do his best.

You and your son are encouraged to read our prospectus and to visit the school, either on our Open Evening in September or on an Open Morning during the school day in September/October. Times and dates will be posted on the school website. These events provide an excellent opportunity to find out more about our school.  Parents and prospective students can meet and talk with staff and current students. Our students proudly act as guides to show visitors round the school. Talks are given by the Headteacher on each of these occasions.

For residents of Camden the application process for admissions into Year 7 for the start of the school year is co-ordinated by the London Borough of Camden, who acts on behalf of the Governing Body to offer places at the school. Students in other London boroughs should apply through the borough in which they live.

For further information and full details on how to apply please visit the LA website: www.camden.gov.uk/admissions or telephone the Camden Admission team on 020 7974 1625. Alternatively you can email: admissions@camden.gov.uk

MUSIC PLACES

Music Place applications for 2024 admission have now closed.

Up to 10% of places are offered to boys with an aptitude for music as determined by a music aptitude test.  If you are interested in a music place for your son you are asked to come to the Open Evening or an Open Morning to discuss further with school staff.  The school has a separate application form for music places that must be returned to the school. All music place applicants must still complete a secondary transfer application form through their local authority. 

For consideration of a music place in September 2024 your son will need to be available to attend for a Music Aptitude Test on 12th October 2023 from 3.30pm.

Families who have applied for a Music Place should please note that the standard application form for the Local Authority in which you reside must also be completed.

 

Admissions criteria 

The school will admit up to 130 boys into Year 7 and will also fill casual vacancies in any year up to Year 11.  In the event of over-subscription to the school, the following criteria will be applied in order:

  1. Looked after children. This can include a child who was previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, child arrangement or special guardianship order, and those that 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.
  2. Applicants with a brother in the school at the time when the applicant is to join. This can include siblings* in the sixth form as long as they are on roll at the same school and will still be on roll when the sibling joins.
  3. Applicants who can demonstrate that admission to William Ellis School is necessary on the grounds of professionally supported medical or social need. Parents/carers must supply details of any such special factors at the time of the original application, together with supporting documentation. Such applications will not be considered without professional support – such as a letter or report from a doctor, consultant or social worker and which must be no more than six months old. All information submitted will be regarded a confidential. The supporting documentation will need to support the link between the need and the school.
  4. Applicants who can demonstrate musical aptitude as measured by the school’s assessment criteria. Up to 10% of places will be offered on this basis. In the event that fewer than ten per cent achieve the minimum score on the aptitude test, the remaining places will be allocated according to criterion 6 (below). Details of examination grades and performing experience will NOT be taken into account. Supplementary forms for music applicants are available from the school.
  5. Applicants who have a parent employed at the school for two years or more at the time of application and/or children of a qualified teacher training at William Ellis School who has been recruited to fill a vacancy for which there is a demonstrable skills shortage.
  6. Applicants who live closest to the school, measured in a straight line to the centre of the school.

Notes:

  • Criterion 6 will be used as a ‘tie-breaker’ should any of the first five criteria be oversubscribed.
  • Any offer of a place on the grounds of proximity is conditional on the child being resident at the address provided at the closing date for application. A business address, a child-minder’s address, or any address other than the child’s home will not be accepted. Proof of address may be sought and may be subject of further investigation. The school reserves the right to withdraw an offer if the address given turns out not to be the applicant’s permanent home.
  • We use the Local Authority's standard method of measuring home to school distance in a straight line using the School Admissions computerised geographical information system. The starting point of the measurement is a grid reference point, which is supplied by Ordnance Survey, within the property. The end point is the centre of the school. Residents of every floor level in a particular block of flats are given an identical starting point, regardless of the distance to floor level. (For applicants from the same block of flats or who live the same distance from the school random selection by the drawing of lots is used as a tie-breaker).
  • Applicants with a signed Education Health Care Plan which names William Ellis School will be placed at the school via the process as set out in Section 39 of the Children and Families Act 2014.
  • If there is only one place available at the school and the next child who qualifies for a place is one of a twin or multiple birth siblings, governors will go over the school’s published admission number and all will be offered a place in order to support the family.
  • The school will keep a waiting list at all times.
  • * Sibling: Sibling refers to brother or sister, half brother or sister, adopted brother or sister, stepbrother or stepsister.

IN YEAR ADMISSIONS

In year applications are made directly to the school. If a place is available and there is no waiting list, the governors will offer a place to the family. If more applications are received than places available, applications will be ranked by the governing body in accordance with the oversubscription criteria set out above (with the exception of criterion 4). If a place cannot be offered, then you may ask us for the reasons and you will be informed of your right to appeal. You will be offered the opportunity of being placed on a waiting list. This waiting list will be maintained by the governing body in order of the oversubscription criteria and not in the order in which the applications are received. Termly reviews and updates to our waiting lists will be made by the school. When a place becomes available, the governing body will decide who is at the top of the list and they will inform the parents that the school is making an offer. In accordance with statutory requirements, Camden’s Admissions Team will be notified of all applications and offers made to/for the school.

ADMISSION OF CHILDREN OUTSIDE NORMAL AGE RANGE

In some situations it may be appropriate for a student to be placed with a cohort outside their normal age range.  Decisions about this will consider the parents’ views and the individual circumstances and will be made at the discretion of the governing body.

APPLICATIONS FROM OVERSEAS

The school accepts applications from overseas.  For the purposes of oversubscription criterion 6 we will accept a future address should the applicant have evidence of one.

 

Reviewed - July 2021