Year 8 Admissions Criteria

Downloadable version also with details of open evenings and intake numbers

The Board of Governors has determined that all children resident in Northern Ireland at the time of their proposed admission to the School will be selected for admission before any child not so resident.

Regent House School will not use as a criterion the position of preference given to the school on the Transfer Form; for example a child who has chosen the School as a second preference school will be considered in the same way as all first preference applications.

The Board of Governors will first consider for admission to Year 8, children who have taken the Association for Quality Education (AQE) Common Entrance Assessment (CEA) and been awarded a score by AQE, subject only to the consideration of those children claiming “Special Circumstance” and “Special Provisions”, as explained below.

Parent/Guardians are advised to record the Score awarded by AQE, together with the AQE Candidate Number, in Section C of the Transfer Form. Parent/Guardians must attach to the Transfer Form the original notification received from AQE.

In the event that there are more applications than there are places available the following criteria will be applied in the order set down:

1. Children who have taken the AQE Common Entrance Assessment and been awarded a score by AQE, or awarded a score by the Board of Governors in accordance with the arrangements for Special Circumstances or Special Provisions set out below, will be considered before other children. If the number of applications is greater than the number of places available, children will be placed in strict rank order of marks, highest to lowest. The Board of Governors will award places on the basis of these scores with the highest score being awarded the first place(s) and then working in descending rank order until the number of places that would be awarded is equal or greater than the admissions number.

If following the application of this criterion it is not possible to identify for admission an exact number of children equivalent to the admissions number as a result of pupils with the same score being tied for the final place(s), the sub-criteria in paragraph 3(i) to (viii) below will be applied in the stated order to distinguish between such pupils.

2. If there are still places available after consideration of all the children who have taken the AQE Common Entrance Assessment and been awarded a score by AQE, or awarded a score by the Board of Governors in accordance with the arrangements for Special Circumstances or Special Provisions set out below, the School will consider for admission any children who have not taken the AQE Common Entrance Assessment using the criteria listed (i) – (viii) in paragraph 3 below.

3. If as specified above, the number of applications exceeds the number of available places, children will be selected by applying the following criteria progressively in the order set down:-

(i) pupils enrolled in Regent House Preparatory Department as at 1 September 2015;

(ii) children who have, or have had, a sibling attending the secondary department of the school. “Sibling” is defined as another child of the family to include, for example, half-brothers and sisters, together with children who are adopted or fostered (details to be supplied);

(iii) children who are the eldest child of the family to be eligible to be admitted in September 2016;

(iv) children who are transferring from Primary Schools located in the Ards, North Down and Castlereagh Borough Council areas;

(v) children who are entitled to receive Free School Meals.*

(vi) the age of the child, preference being given to the eldest child.

(vii) In the unlikely event in criterion (vi) above, of two or more children having the same birthday;

(a) Children will be selected for admission on the basis of the initial letter of the surname as it appears on the birth certificate in the order used in the BT Telephone Directory for domestic users, ‘BT order’.

(b) Where surnames begin with the same letter, the second and, if necessary, subsequent letters will be used to establish relative priority for admission using BT order.

(c) Where children have the same surname, the initial letter of the first forename as it appears on the birth certificate will be used for admission.

(d) Where the forenames begin with the same letter, the second and, if necessary, subsequent letters will be used to establish relative priority for admission using BT order.

(e) Where no priority can be established by means of this direct alphabetical comparison (eg ‘Alan’ ‘Alanna’) the child with the shorter first forename will be prioritised for admission.

(f) Where children have the same forename the child without any subsequent forename will be prioritised for admission.

(g) Where the application of (a) to (f) has not permitted priority to be established then (c) and (d) will be repeated with the substitution of ‘second forename’ for ‘first forename’.

(viii) The School wishes to continue its tradition of accepting children from a wide catchment area, irrespective of the proximity of their homes from the School. If however after all the criteria 3(i) to 3 (vii) have been exhausted it becomes necessary to make a final selection, priority will be given to a child whose home is closer to the school. Distance will be measured in a straight line using an Ordnance Survey map from the front door of the child’s home to the front door of the School. Home will be taken to mean the child’s address appearing at the commencement of the Transfer Application Form.

Parents/Guardians must indicate on the Transfer Form which of the above sub-criteria apply and to furnish relevant details. The Board of Governors will only take into account information which is detailed on or attached to the Transfer Form.

* “entitled to Free School Meals” will mean applicants who are listed on the Education Authority register as entitled to Free School Meals at the date on which their parent or guardian has signed their post-primary Transfer Form, or at any date up to and including 13th May 2016.

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES AND SPECIAL PROVISIONS

The purpose of a claim for special circumstances and/or special provisions is so that a child can be assigned a whole number score equivalent to that which he or she would have obtained in the AQE CEA under normal conditions. Consideration of a claim for special circumstances and/or special provisions consists of two parts: the first requires the consideration of whether there is sufficient material to permit a child to be considered as having special circumstances or attracting special provisions, or both; if a child is permitted to be considered as having special circumstances or as attracting special provisions or both, the second part of the consideration requires an educational judgement to be made on the totality of the material presented to the Board of Governors so that a score equivalent to that which the child would have obtained in the AQE CEA under normal conditions can be awarded.

It is for parents to present all such material as they consider will assist the Board of Governors in performing both parts of the consideration described above. It should be noted by parents that both parts of the consideration referred to involve an exercise in judgement and not precise calculation.

Special Circumstances

Regent House School has academic performance as its first criterion, subject only to the consideration of medical or other problems which may have affected performance in the AQE Common Entrance Assessment and which are supported by documentary evidence of a medical or other appropriate nature including educational evidence. These ‘medical or other problems’ are commonly referred to as ‘special circumstances’.

Please note:

· If a claim for the consideration of Special Circumstances is made in respect of matters for which Special Access arrangements were granted for a child, the School will take into account the fact that the child was granted Special Access arrangements for those matters.

Parents/Guardians who wish to apply to the School under Special Circumstances should complete Form SC15, obtainable from the School or AQE, and attach it with appropriate documentary evidence, as detailed below, to the Transfer Form. The onus is upon parents to ensure that all relevant supporting information and accompanying application forms are provided to the school.

· Details of Medical or Other Problems

Where it is claimed that a child’s performance in the AQE CEA has been affected by a medical or other problem, it is the responsibility of the parents/guardians to set out in the Form SC15 precise details of the problem and append evidence to corroborate its existence.

Where the problem is a medical one of short term duration which affected the child only at the time of the AQE CEA, the School will attach greater weight to evidence indicating that the child was examined by a medical practitioner in relation to the illness at the time of the assessments.

Where the problem is of a non-medical nature the parents/guardians should attach to the Transfer Form precise details of the problem and append evidence to corroborate its existence.

Greater weight will be given to independent evidence.

· Educational Evidence

In reaching the educational judgement needed to award the mark that the child would have received in the AQE CEA under normal circumstances, the Board of Governors will consider the AQE score and the educational evidence as detailed in the Form SC15. This should include any or all of the following:

· the results for the child of any standardised tests in English and Mathematics conducted in Years 5, Year 6 and Year 7 and the results in any end of year tests in English and Mathematics in Year 5 and Year 6.

· comparative information from the Primary School for other pupils in the child’s Year 7 class (without names) of any standardised tests in English and Mathematics conducted in Year 5, Year 6 and Year 7 and the results in any end of year tests in English and Mathematics in Year 5 and Year 6.

· Any other relevant material presented by parents/guardians.

The Board of Governors will consider the application for Special Circumstances. Where this is granted, the Board will determine, on the basis of the information available, an appropriate AQE CEA whole number score for the child. Such children will then be considered with all other children who have received an AQE CEA score and the admissions criteria applied.

Special Provisions

Special provisions will apply for:

a) children whose parents/guardians wish them to transfer from schools outside Northern Ireland;

b) children who have received more than half their primary education outside Northern Ireland;

c) children, entered for the AQE Common Entrance Assessment, who because of unforeseen and serious medical or other problems which are supported by appropriate documentary evidence, were unable to participate in any of the assessment.

Note: It is expected that all those seeking admission should sit the AQE CEA, with the exception of those children who take up residence in Northern Ireland after 16th September.

Parents/Guardians who wish to apply to the School under Special Provisions should complete Form SC15, obtainable from the School or AQE, stating the precise reason why they believe the child is eligible for consideration under Special Provisions and attach it with appropriate independent evidence to the Transfer Form. For those pupils whose parents wish them to transfer from a school outside Northern Ireland, applications for Special Provisions should be received by the EA on or before 13th May.

The Board of Governors will consider the application for Special Provisions. Where this is granted, the following procedures will apply. The Board of Governors will consider the assessment information as detailed in Form SC15:

· the results for the child of any standardised tests in English and Mathematics conducted in Years 5, Year 6 and Year 7 (the last three years of Primary School) and the results of any end of year tests in English and Mathematics in Year 5 and 6 (the last two years of Primary School);

· comparative information from the Primary School for other pupils in the child’s Year 7 class (without names) of any standardised tests in English and Mathematics conducted in Years 5, Year 6 and Year 7 and the results of any end of year tests in English and Mathematics in Year 5 and Year 6.

· Any other relevant assessment material.

· If a claim for the consideration of Special Provision is made in respect of matters for which Special Access arrangements were granted for a child, the School will take into account the fact that the child was granted Special Access arrangements for those matters.

The Board of Governors will determine, on the basis of all the available information, an appropriate AQE CEA score for the child. Such children will then be considered with all other children who have received an AQE CEA score and the Admissions criteria applied.

It is the responsibility of parents/guardians to ensure that the Transfer Form is completed in full, including, for example, details of any family relationship with Regent House School (including, for verification purposes, dates and maiden name if appropriate) and other relevant information.

If the Board of Governors becomes aware of:

a) any material irregularity in the application made to the Association for Quality Education Limited in connection with the prescribed test, or

b) any falsification of any documents submitted to the Association for Quality Education Limited in connection with the prescribed test, or

c) any material breach of the conditions on the part of the child or his parents or guardians relating to the prescribed test.

It reserves the right to reject the application to the School of such a child.

Duty to verify

The Verification of Information

Those making applications should note that the information contained within an application that qualifies the child for admission will be verified.

The Board of Governors therefore reserves the right to require such supplementary evidence as it may determine to support or verify information on any application form/Transfer Form.

Those making applications should also note the provision of false information or incorrect information, or the failure to provide verifying documents according to the required deadline, may result in either the withdrawal of a place or the inability of the School to offer a place

Waiting List Policy

1) Should your application for a place in Regent House School be unsuccessful, your child’s name will be automatically added to a waiting list. Please contact the school if you wish your child’s name to be removed from the list. The waiting list will be in place until the end of the academic year.

2) Should a vacancy arise after notification that your application was unsuccessful, the school will contact you to ascertain if you are still interested in a place. All applications for admission to the relevant year group that were initially refused, new applications, late applications and applications where new information has been provided will be treated equally and the published criteria applied. The school will contact you in writing if your child gains a place by this method.