Proposed Co-ordinated Scheme for Secondary School Admissions for 2025/26

3. Parents will be able to make an online application. If an online application has been submitted, a written application is not necessary. The online facility will be available from 1 September 2024 up until the deadline of 31 October 2024.

4. There will be a standard application form known as the Secondary Common Application Form (SCAF). This form must be used to apply for the admission of pupils, into the first year of secondary education in the specified year, unless an online application has been submitted.

5. The SCAF must be used as a means of expressing one or more preferences by the parent wishing to apply for a school place for their child (either within or outside the county). The child must live in Wiltshire.

6. The LA will make arrangements to ensure:

a. the SCAF is accompanied by written guidance notes
b. that copies are available on request from the LA
c. that an electronic version of the form is available for parents to make an online application.

7. The SCAF and accompanying guidance notes will invite the parent to express up to three  preferences  in  rank  order and  give  reasons for  their  preferences. Preferred schools may be state funded schools inside or outside Wiltshire. They will also explain that the parent will receive no more than one offer of a school place and specify the closing  date  and  the  address  to  which the  SCAF must  be  returned.   They  will  also confirm that;

a. a place will be offered at their highest ranked school at which they are eligible to be offered a place; or
b. if a place cannot be offered at any one of their preferred schools, and the child is living within Wiltshire, a place at an alternative school will be allocated.

8. Any school which operates criteria for selection by ability or aptitude must ensure that its  arrangements for assessing ability or aptitude enable decisions to be made in accordance with the scheme's timescale as set out in the back of this policy.

9. The governing body of an Academy (A), Foundation  (F), or Voluntary Aided (VA)School, can ask parents who have expressed a preference for their school on the SCAF, to provide additional information on a supplementary form, but only if the additional information is required in order to apply their oversubscription criteria to the application.

10. Where a school receives a  supplementary form, it will not  be  regarded  as a valid application unless the parent has also completed a SCAF which expressed a preference for that school. The SCAF or  an online application must have been returned to the LA by the deadline date.

11. The deadline date for applications is 31 October 2024. All completed SCAFs are to be returned directly to the LA by the deadline date. Any SCAFs which are incorrectly returned to schools, must  be forwarded to the  LA to be submitted by  the  deadline. Forms returned to schools and not  received by the LA  by 31 October 2024 will be treated as late applications.

12. The LA will send out an acknowledgement of  receipt  for each SCAF and all online applications. Applicants will be advised to contact the LA if they have not received an acknowledgement with 15 school days of posting their paper application.