Admissions Policy 2026–27

 

Status	Approved June 2026
Publication Date
Policy Owner/Author	Headteacher
Approved/Ratified by	Governing Body, Date:

General Principles

Haydon Bridge High School (HBHS) is a foundation school providing a welcoming, safe, and supportive learning environment to children aged between 11-18 years. It is a small secondary school on the western fringes of Northumberland bordering Cumbria, serving local villages and towns across a very large area. The Governing Body is the Admission Authority for the school and is responsible for determining the school’s Admissions Policy.

The published admission number (PAN) for entry into Year 7 at the school is 120. Where the school receives more applications than places available, places will be allocated in accordance with the criteria set out below. There is currently no PAN for entry into Year 12.

We participate in the Local Authority coordinated admissions process. The closing date for applications to Year 7 in September 2026 is 31 October 2025. We also admit children from local middle schools into Year 9. Our PAN is 6.

Roles and Responsibilities

It is the responsibility of the Governing Body to set out and publish criteria as defined in this policy and ensure these requirements meet the requirements of the law and Admissions Code. Governors will ensure that:

• admission criteria are clear, fair, and objective;

• arrangements are as simple as possible; and

• all parents’ preferences are treated in a fair way.

It is the responsibility of the Headteacher to ensure the requirements of the school policy are always implemented and reviewed on an annual basis. Where changes are made public consultation will occur as required and outlined in the Department for Education’s (DfE) Admissions Code (2021).

Catchment Area

The catchment area is the area around the school and the town of Haydon Bridge as agreed with the Local Authority. A catchment map is available from the Local Authority.

Oversubscription Criteria

Places will be offered first to looked after children i.e. children who are looked after by the public authority and previously looked after children who were adopted or subject to residency orders or special guardianship immediately after having been looked after. Children with special needs who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) that names the school will be admitted.

In the event of over subscription, the following criteria will apply:

1. Children living in the school’s catchment area.

2. Children living outside the school’s catchment area with a sibling who:

   • a) attends the school at the time of application

   • b) will be attending the school at the time of admission.

3. Children who attend any of the school’s feeder schools at the time of application, namely:

   • Allendale Primary School; Bellingham Primary School; Kielder Primary School; Otterburn Primary School; Whitfield Church of England Primary School;

   • Wark Church of England Primary School; Greenhead Primary School; Greenhaugh Primary School; Henshaw Church of England Primary School;

   • Newbrough Church of England Primary School; Haltwhistle Academy; Shaftoe Trust Academy; Bellingham Middle School.

4. Other children

Within each oversubscription criteria priority will be given to children with a sibling who:

• attends the school at the time of application, and,

• will be attending the school at the time of admission

Priority will then be given to those children who live closest to the school measured as a straight line (i.e. “as the crow flies”) from the front door of the child’s home address to the school’s main entrance using Northumberland County Council’s computerised measuring system. But, as between two or more children living the same distance from the school, places will be offered by random allocation. The random allocation will be verified by someone independent of the school.

Sixth Form

The admission authority has set academic guidance criteria for entry into Year 12 which applies equally to its own pupils looking to move up from Year 11 and to children from other schools looking to transfer. Children will only be admitted into the Sixth Form if they have met the general entry requirements. In the avoidance of doubt, the academic criteria will not apply to children with a statement or an EHCP naming the school.

It is recommended that children and/or their parents/carers meet with relevant subject teachers at the school to discuss their course options for Sixth Form (although this is not compulsory). Please note, however, that these meetings will not in any way form part of the admission authority’s process for determining who will be offered a place (or not) in the event that the school is oversubscribed.

Applications in the normal admissions round

Northumberland County Council is responsible for coordinating the allocation of school places in the normal admissions round for children living in Northumberland. Parents should apply to Northumberland County Council (or to their home local authority if they live outside Northumberland) using its (or the home local authority’s) common application form before the published deadline. In allocating school places, priority will be given to those children where the application was submitted and received before the published deadline.

Late Applications

If an application is received after the closing date, the application will be treated as late unless exceptional circumstances apply. The Headteacher and Governors will consider whether any exceptional circumstances apply, taking account of any evidence you may provide, provided that such evidence is received before 31 January and, if the Headteacher and Governors determine that exceptional circumstances apply, the Headteacher will consider the application alongside those applications received on time.

Examples of what may be considered as exceptional circumstances may include a family who has just moved into the area, in which case the Headteacher may require proof of ownership (e.g. a tenancy or lease agreement or a contract for sale) or, in the case of members of Armed Forces, confirmation of the posting (e.g. an official letter stating the relocation date and a postal address or quartering area address applicable to the child).

If the Headteacher determines that exceptional circumstances do not apply, the application will not be processed until the first round of school offers have been made. Parents/carers should note that applying late is likely to reduce the chance of being offered a place at the school.

Equal Preference

The school operates an equal preference system for the processing of applications. This means at the first stage there will be no distinction between first, second or third preference applications. Therefore, all applications will be considered equally against the school’s Admissions Policy and oversubscription criteria. If a child qualifies for a place at more than one school, the parent/carer’s highest ranked preference will be offered, and any lower ranking offers will be disregarded.

Offers

In the normal admissions round parents/carers will be notified of the outcome of their application on national offer day. If you applied online, you will be sent an email; if you completed a paper application, a letter will be sent by 2nd class post.

Withdrawing an offer

The school may withdraw an offer if it has been offered in error, a parent/carer has not responded within a reasonable period of time or the offer was obtained through a fraudulent or misleading application. Where the parent/carer has not responded to the offer, the school will give the parent/carer a further opportunity to respond and explain that the offer may be withdrawn if the parent/carer does not do so. Where an offer is withdrawn on the basis of misleading information, the application will be re-considered and a right of appeal offered if an offer is refused.

HBHS will not withdraw a place once a child has started at the school except where that place was fraudulently obtained. In deciding whether to withdraw the place, the school will take account of the length of time that the child has been at the school.

Waiting lists

If your child has not been offered a place at the school, the school will put your child’s name on a waiting list. Children are given a position on the waiting list according to the oversubscription criteria regardless of when the child’s application was made or received.

If pupil numbers subsequently fall below the school’s PAN, a place may be offered to the child at the top of the waiting list at that point except that priority is always given to looked after children, previously looked after children, and those children allocated a place at the school in accordance with Northumberland County Council’s Fair Access Protocol. This means that a child who is on the waiting list will move down the list if another child subsequently applies for a place at the school and has greater priority under the oversubscription criteria or in accordance with Fair Access Protocol.

The school will hold a waiting list for one term in that academic year ending on 31 December; no list will be held by the school after this date and new in-year applications will need to be submitted.

In year admissions

The school’s Governing Body, as its admission authority, and Northumberland County Council have agreed that the Council will coordinate in-year applications for places at the school; parents/carers should therefore make in-year applications via the Council. The school as the admissions authority will make the decision and notify the local authority who will then notify parents/carers. Parents/carers will be notified of the outcome of their in-year applications and, where a place is not offered, informed of their statutory right of appeal.

The in-year admission number will be based upon the size of the year group, including the size of teaching groups already in the school and the curriculum model that has been implemented to most effectively provide for the education of students. If the year group is full or the curriculum model is such that it is not possible to offer a child a place, then waiting lists will be held by the school.

Fair access protocol

The school is committed to trying to provide a place for children who are vulnerable and/or for whom it can be hard to allocate school places because of their specific circumstances, as set out in locally agreed protocols. Accordingly, outside the normal admission round the admission authority may prioritise a child where admission is requested by Northumberland County Council under the locally agreed protocols. The school may offer a place in such circumstances even if it would result in the number of pupils exceeding the PAN or may determine that a place cannot currently be offered.

Admission of children outside their normal age group

It is expected that the majority of children will join the school at the age of 11 in Year 7. Parents/carers may wish to seek a place for their child outside of the child’s normal age group, for example, if the child is gifted and talented or has experienced problems such as ill health. If so, parents/carers should contact the school to discuss the child’s specific circumstances.

The admission authority will then make a decision about admitting the child outside the child’s normal age group in the light of the relevant circumstances and in the best interests of the child, taking account of (amongst other things) the parent’s views; information about the child’s academic, social and emotional development; where relevant, the child’s medical history and the views of any medical professional or psychologist; whether the child has previously been educated out of their normal age group; and whether the child may naturally have fallen into a lower age group if it were not for being born prematurely; the views of the school and its Headteacher. When informing a parent/carer of its decision on the year group the child may be admitted to, the admission authority will set out clearly the reasons for its decision.

Parents/carers will not be given any lower priority for making any such request. Children who have attended local middle schools will have the right to apply for a place and the admission criteria as set out will apply. Please note although parents/carers have a statutory right to appeal against the refusal to offer a place at the school, this right does not apply if the school has offered the child a place at the school albeit not in the parent/carer’s preferred age group.

Right of appeal

Parents/carers have a statutory right of appeal if, following an application, the admission authority does not offer the child a place at the school. Parents/carers will be given more information about how to appeal when they are informed of the decision not to offer their child a place by the local authority. Applicants have the right to appeal to an independent panel. The deadline for lodging an appeal is 20 days after the notification of unsuccessful application.

Please see the agreed timeline below for hearing any admission appeals:

Date	Stage Milestone
02 March 2026	Parents and carers will be notified of their child’s allocated school.
March 2026	Parents and carers should notify the school of their intention to appeal and request a Notice of Appeal form. The completed Notice of Appeal form should be submitted to the School Administrator.
27 March 2026	Deadline for lodging appeals with the school.
15 May 2026	Deadline for the Admission Authority to provide the Clerk with a statement giving reasons for the decision to refuse admission.
15 May 2026	Deadline for appellants to submit further evidence not included with initial appeal.
Advance Notification	Written notification of the hearing to be sent no later than 10 school days before the hearing.
June 2026	Appeal hearings.
Post-Hearing	Appellants to receive notification of the Panel’s decision no later than 5 school days after the Appeal Hearing.

Contact Details

• Telephone Number: 01434 684422

• Email address: hbhs@hbhs.co.uk

 

 

NOTES AND DEFINITIONS

• EHCP: An EHCP made by a local authority under Section 37 of the Children and Families Act 2014 specifying the special educational provision required for a child.

• Looked After Child: A ‘looked after child’ is a child who is:

  • (a) in the care of a local authority, or

  • (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (see the definition in Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989) at the time of making an application to a school.

• Adoption: Includes reference to children who were adopted under the Adoption Act 1976 (see section 12 adoption orders) and children who were adopted under the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (see section 46 adoption orders).

• Child Arrangements Orders: Defined in section 8 of the Children Act 1989, as amended by section 12 of the Children and Families Act 2014. Child arrangements orders replaced residence orders and any residence order in force prior to 22 April 2014 is deemed to be a child arrangements order.

• Special Guardianship Order: See Section 14A of the Children Act 1989 which defines a ‘special guardianship order’ as an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian or special guardians.

• Supporting Medical/Psychological Evidence: Strong supporting evidence must be provided from a professional body or a medical professional, psychologist or equivalent professional involved with the family or the child. The professional body or the medical professional, psychologist or equivalent professional must be independent of both the family and the school. The evidence must relate specifically to the school and the child or family and must explain in detail why the school is the only school or the best school (as opposed to any other school) which can meet the particular needs of the child or family.

• Catchment Area Details: For details of the school’s catchment area please contact Northumberland County Council or the school’s office.

• Sibling: For these purposes, a ‘sibling’ means:

   

  • (a) natural siblings, half siblings, step siblings, adoptive siblings and foster siblings, whether or not they are living at the same address; and

  • (b) any child of a parent’s partner where that child lives for at least part of the week in the same family unit at the same address.

  • Note: We do not include cousins in the term siblings. Where the school has available places for some but not all siblings from a multiple birth (including twins), the admission authority will exercise its discretion to offer all those children a place even where the total number of offers would then exceed the published admission number.

• Feeder Schools Conditions: Children attending the school’s feeder schools will not automatically be offered a place in Year 9. Parents/carers must make a separate application for the child to transfer to the school’s Year 9. The school cannot guarantee that all children attending its feeder schools will be offered a place at the school.

• Home Address: For these purposes the child’s home address, as stated in the common application form, shall be the residence where the child usually lives. Where a child’s parents live apart and the child lives part of the week with each parent, the child’s home address, as stated in the common application form, shall be the home of the parent who claims child benefit (or, if neither parent claims child benefit, the child’s primary residence on the child’s NHS records). The admission authority may require evidence (e.g. a council tax bill, a tenancy or lease agreement or a contract for sale) showing that a child’s parent lives or is due to live at the child’s home address stated in the common application form.

• Parent: For these purposes ‘parent’ has the meaning given in Section 576 of the Education Act 1996 i.e. natural parent, an individual who is not a parent but has parental responsibility (as defined in Section 3 of the Children Act 1989) for a child, or an individual who has care of a child (i.e. the child lives with and is looked after by that person).