This page explains how we organise the admissions process for infant, junior and primary schools.
These arrangements are updated every academic year, and consist of the following:
- Admissions schemes, which set out how we will handle the admissions process, including important dates for this admission round
- Admission numbers, which show how many places are available at each school or academy
- Admissions policies, which are tools that admissions authorities will use to allocate school places. There are different policies, depending on the type of school and the admissions authority (see below for more details)
Admissions schemes
We set the co-ordinated admissions arrangements for all of the maintained schools in our area. This means that we organise when and how you will need to apply for a school place, how the application process works, and communicating decisions about school places. You can find all of this information in these documents:
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For children moving to a school as part of a 'bulk admissions' round (starting school at the normal starting age) please read our Co-ordinated Primary Admissions Scheme
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For children who need to move schools outside the usual school starting age, or in the middle of an academic year, please read our In-year Admissions Scheme
Admissions numbers
An important part of the scheme is setting the number of places which are available in each school, based on the available resources.
You can find out about how places have been allocated at schools you are interested in by viewing our Primary Admissions Booklet.
Admissions policies
These documents explain the criteria that schools use to allocate places. For Community and Voluntary Controlled schools, there is a common policy which is set by B&NES School Admissions and Transport team. Other types of school may choose to use this B&NES policy, or set their own.
Some schools also have additional documents, such as supplementary information forms (SIFs). If you have any doubts or queries about what each school requires, please contact the school directly to discuss them.
In all cases, when an admission policy cannot give a definitive answer about how to allocate school places, we will use our Random Allocation Procedure.
The Primary Admissions Criteria for Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools covers the following schools in our area:
- Newbridge Primary
- Paulton Junior
- St Keyna Primary
- St Nicholas' Primary
- Twerton Infant
If you can't find the school you're looking for in this list, please check under Community and Voluntary Controlled schools (above), as a number of additional schools are using the general B&NES admission policy for the academic year 2021 to 22.
From 01 September 2021, the admission criteria for Looked After Children and Previously Looked After Children also includes those who 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. Please refer to the Admission Booklets for further information.
- Abbot Alphege CE Academy
- Bathampton Primary
- Batheaston Primary
- Bathford Church School
- Bathwick St. Mary Church School (admissions policy and SIF)
- Bishop Sutton Primary
- Cameley Primary
- Castle Primary
- Chandag Infants (admissions policy and supplementary information form)
- Chandag Junior (admissions policy and supplementary information form)
- Chew Magna Primary
- Chew Stoke Church School (admissions policy and supplementary information form)
- Clutton Primary
- Combe Down C. of E. Primary (admissions policy and supplementary information form)
- East Harptree C. of E. Primary
- Farmborough Church Primary
- Farrington Gurney C. of E. Primary
- Freshford Church School
- High Littleton C. of E. Primary
- Longvernal Primary
- Marksbury C of E Primary
- Midsomer Norton Primary
- Moorlands Infant
- Moorlands Junior
- Mulberry Park Educate Together Primary
- Norton Hill Primary
- Oldfield Park Infant
- Oldfield Park Junior
- Paulton Infant
- Peasedown St John Primary
- Pensford Primary
- Roundhill Primary
- St. Andrew's Church School (admissions policy and SIF)
- St. John's Catholic Primary (admissions policy and supplementary information form)
- St. John's C. of E. Primary (Keynsham)
- St. John's C. of E. Primary (MSN)
- St. Julian's C. of E. Primary
- St. Martin's Garden Primary (admissions policy and supplementary information form)
- St. Mary's Catholic Primary (admissions policy and supplementary information form)
- St Mary's Primary (Timsbury)
- St Mary's Primary (Writhlington)
- St. Michael's Junior
- St. Philip's C. of E. Primary (admissions policy and supplementary information form)
- St. Saviour's C. of E. Infant
- St. Saviour's C. of E. Junior
- St. Stephen's C. of E. Primary
- Saltford C. of E. Primary (admissions policy and supplementary information form)
- Shoscombe C. of E. Primary
- Somerdale Educate Together Primary
- Stanton Drew Primary
- Swainswick Church School
- Trinity Church School (admissions policy and supplementary information form)
- Two Rivers C of E Primary
- Ubley C of E Primary
- Welton Primary
- Westfield Primary
- Weston All Saints Primary
- Whitchurch Primary
- Widcombe Infant (admissions policy and supplementary information form)
- Widcombe C. of E. Junior (admissions policy and supplementary information form)
When we use this
The school place allocation process applies admissions policy to create a ranked list of applicants, in order of priority for receiving an offer of a school place. Random allocation describes the procedure that we use to create a priority ranking, when the policy and guidelines we have already have failed to do this. Typically, we need to use this process in the following situations:
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There is more than one applicant ranked equally according to the school's admissions policy, and there aren't enough places available to allocate one to all of the equally ranked applicants.
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Two or more unrelated applicants live at addresses which have the same distance measurement from the school (using the measurement formula which is set out in the school's admissions policy).
The people involved
There must be three people to carry out the random allocation procedure:
- Picker - This person must be independent of the school and of the council
- Officer - This should be a member of the council's Admissions Team
- Scrutineer - This person must be independent of the school and of the council
They will need paper, pens, and enough identical envelopes for each applicant.
What happens
- The scrutineer oversees the entire process, but does not get involved.
- The Officer assigns a number to each of the applicants who are ranked equally, and puts this cross reference sheet into a sealed envelope.
- The Officer cuts up pieces of paper, numbers and folds them and puts them into separate, identical sealed envelopes. These are shuffled, and handed to the picker.
- The picker shuffles the envelopes, picks one, and opens it. The Officer records the number inside on an official Random Allocation Record sheet.
- The process is repeated until all equally ranked applicants have been ranked. The Officer then opens the first sealed envelope, with the cross referenced names and numbers.
- The Officer records the ranking of the applicants on the Random Allocation Record sheet, and all three people sign and date both sheets.
- The process can be repeated as many times as necessary, each time there are a number of applicants, and there is no other way to decide their ranking.