Admissions Numbers

• All students in Year 11 at Chipping Norton School who meet the academic entry criteria are entitled to a place in the Sixth Form.
• The minimum number of external applicants to be admitted is not restricted.

Admissions Arrangements

• Chipping Norton Sixth Form encourages applications from students currently at Chipping Norton School as well as students from other institutions.
• The academic entry criteria are the same for both internal and external applicants.
• All applicants must complete the online application form and send this to the Sixth Form Administrator by the designated date (usually the start of February).
• All information relating to applications is contained within the Sixth Form prospectus, a copy of which can be found on the school website.
• A Sixth Form Open Evening is held annually (in November / December) and all potential applicants are encouraged to attend.
• Internal applicants will receive guidance prior to completing their application. External candidates may have a guidance conversation with a member of staff after receipt of their application. The guidance conversation will only be used to discuss options and academic entry requirements for particular courses.
• The school aims to inform applicants whether or not they have been successful in their application by the end of Term 4.
• Students wishing to study a subject at another institution should indicate this on the application form. Chipping Norton School will facilitate this where possible and no further application is required.
• For successful external applicants, a formal written acceptance of the offer will be required by the date indicated in the offer letter. Should a student fail to accept the offer by this date the school reserves the right to withdraw the offer of a place in the Sixth Form.
• All applicants who have been offered a conditional place will be invited to attend the Sixth Form induction programme (in early July) and confirm subject choices once students have received their GCSE results in August. Should a student fail to confirm subject choices without good reason the school reserves the right to withdraw the offer of a place in the Sixth Form.

Admission Requirements: Academic Entry Criteria

• Admission to particular courses will depend upon availability of places and a student’s prior attainment at GCSE.
• Our policy is to ensure that students accepted into the sixth form can be placed in appropriate courses where they are likely to succeed. For this reason the following entry criteria apply to the courses offered.
• General entry requirements: All students will require at least 7 grade 4 or above GCSE passes. These must include a  grade 4 or above in both English (Language or Literature) and Mathematics GCSE.
• Subject specific entry requirements: Most courses have additional subject specific requirements which are detailed online and in our course prospectus.
• Typically, courses will require a grade 6 in the chosen subject at GCSE. Combined with the general entry requirements, and factoring three KS5 subject choices,  this equates to a minimum GCSE point score of 34 required for most programmes of study across a student’s highest 7 GCSE results. Please see appendix B for an explanation of how points towards this measure are accrued.
• Offers of places are made for admission into the sixth form and are not offers to study a specific course of subjects.
• For in year admission to the sixth form any applicant must meet our GCSE entry requirements. An application form should be completed, and if a place is refused then a right of appeal arises.

Allocation of Places and Oversubscription Criteria

Where external students meet the admissions requirements  places will be offered in the following order of priority:

• Looked After Children and previously Looked After Children
• Other external applicants
• For each category, priority will be given to students living nearest to the school as measured by straight line distancing.
• Tie breaker – Where the distance between two children’s homes is the same, random allocation will be used to decide between them. 

Closing Dates and Late Applications

Internal applications received by the closing date will be considered before all subsequent external applications.  Late applications will only be considered if places become available in all subjects requested at the time of receiving the application; if a place in all subjects is not available the application is held on the waiting list.

Waiting Lists

If we are unable to offer applicants a place based on the details described in this policy, the school will hold a waiting list until 31st December in the year of school admission.  Each application is ranked on the waiting list as determined by the oversubscription criteria (see above) and should a place become available applicants may be contacted. 

Appeals Process

If an applicant is refused a place and wishes to make an appeal, they or their parents/carers may do so.

In relation to appeals that relate to a student not having secured the entry requirements, the student or their parents may write to the Headteacher and Head of Sixth Form, stating why they feel that there are mitigating circumstances which should be taken into account. This mitigation may involve, but not be limited to, one or more of the following:

• Special Educational Needs
• Significant underperformance against predicted outcomes
• Significant medical issues which impacted on a student’s performance
• Other factors which may have led to a student not performing in line with expectations.

It is important that the mitigation is enough to explain why a student has not secured the entry requirements. In such cases, the appeal will first be considered by the school which reserves the right to use its discretion to offer a place to that applicant, in line with the oversubscription criteria.

Should such an appeal be turned down, or appeals that relate to the applicant not having received a place due to the administration of the oversubscription criteria, applicants and their parents/carers have a right of appeal to an independent appeals panel administered by the Local Authority.