Admissions

The policy for admission to Therfield and other local schools has been set by the LEA. The County Council agreed the following Admissions Arrangements for Surrey’s Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools:

1 All Surrey schools will operate an Equal Preference System. Parents will be given the opportunity to state 3 ranked school preferences.

2 The admission arrangements remain unchanged for the majority of Surrey’s Community and Voluntary Controlled schools as follows:

First priority: looked after children
Children who are registered as being in the care of a Local Authority (LA) (for example, fostered or
living in a children’s home).

Second priority: exceptional arrangements
Occasionally there will be a very small number of children for whom exceptional arrangements will
apply. Evidence from a consultant doctor will be required for medical cases or documented evidence
from any support services involved for other sensitive family circumstances will be required. These
exceptional arrangements may override other admissions priorities and the LA may apply them when
they first offer places. The LA may also ask schools to admit over their Published Admission Number
at other times under this category.

Third priority: brothers and sisters (siblings)
After ‘exceptional arrangements’, places are then offered to siblings. A sibling is a child who will
have an older brother or sister still at the school concerned at the time of the younger sibling’s
admission.

A sibling is a brother or sister (that is, another child of the same parents, whether living at the same
address or not), or a half-brother or half sister or a step-brother or step-sister, living at the same
address, or foster children living at the same address.

Please note: this does not apply if the older brother or sister joined the school at sixth-form level.

Fourth priority: children for whom the school is the nearest to their home
Currently the nearest school is defined as the school closest to the home address admitting pupils of
the appropriate age-range, as measured by a straight line. The nearest school may be either inside or
outside the county boundary.

Fifth priority: any other applicant
If there is oversubscription in any of the above criteria priority will be given on the basis of nearness
to school measured in a straight line from the address point of the pupil’s house, as set by ordnance
survey to the nearest school gate for pupils to use. This is calculated using the Admission and
Transport team’s Geographical Information System.

If there are two applicants from the same block of flats the applicant with the lowest door number
will be given priority.

In the case of multiple births where only one place remains the parents will be asked to decide which
child will be offered a place. (The remaining siblings will be placed at the top of the waiting list.)

Occassionally places become free in year groups mid-term. Should you wish to place your son/daughter at Therfield at any point in the school year please contact us to enquire as to whether we have spaces available.