Welcome to the admissions builder. This tool offers options for your school admission arrangements that are compliant while letting you take into account your school's character and local context. Church of England schools must consult with the diocese, as the religious body for the school, about proposed admission arrangements before any public consultation; and must have regard to any guidance from the diocese when constructing faith based admission arrangements. The text contained with the admissions builder tool is designed to reflect the range of policies used nationally, however please note that some aspects of the text (for example in relation to church criteria) may not be supported by individual dioceses, and users are required to have regard to the individual policy position of the diocese in each context.
The Church of England vision for education is to be deeply Christian, serving the common good. Our schools serve their community which is the purpose for which they were founded. Admissions arrangements should ensure that we continue to generously serve that community, in ways that make each school an inclusive and welcoming place for all. Parents who are Christian, and those who follow another faith, value schools that will take their faith seriously and schools will reflect that in their admissions arrangements in ways appropriate to their local circumstances. Where a school uses faith-based oversubscription criteria, that school must reflect carefully on the way in which these are expressed and how the school using such criteria fulfils its educational purpose to its local community.
As you work through this tool we will occasionally ask you for data about your school and admissions.
When you have finished working through the admissions builder, a PDF of your admission arrangements will be generated which you can download or ask us to send to you by email. As well as the text you have selected the final PDF will contain additional standard provisions so that parents are informed about matters such as admissions outside the normal round, appeals and other waiting lists.
The purpose of the tool is to help the most common school admissions arrangements be compliant and clear by generating the core admissions arrangements. This tool may be used to create new admission arrangements, review your current arrangements or consider how those admission arrangements reflect your school's vision and mission as a Church of England school, serving the common good. Church of England schools are called to bring life in all its fullness to their pupils and the wider community. They seek to offer wisdom, hope, community and dignity to those they serve. The admission arrangements are the beginning of that service.
Your admission arrangements should work for the benefit of all children and parents/guardians in your area. It should be simple to use and assist parents/guardians to take the best decisions on the preferred school for their children. It should contribute to improving standards for all pupils.
In drawing up the admission arrangements, schools must ensure that the arrangements used to decide the allocation of school places are fair, clear and objective. Parents should be able to look at a set of arrangements and understand easily how places for that school will be allocated.
- Do your admission arrangements reflect the ethos and mission of your school?
- Do your admission arrangements suggest that you are a welcoming space?
- Are there any groups that may be excluded (directly or indirectly) by your admission arrangements?
- How will you show your commitment to being deeply Christian while serving the common good through your admission arrangements?
- Are your admission arrangements suitable to the local context?
- Has the local context changed since you last reviewed your admission arrangements?
- How does your approach to admissions support a positive interaction between your school, your church and wider local communities?
If you want to reflect further on these points, please read the Church of England Vision of Education and Unpacking the Vision - Ethos Enhancing Outcomes.
School Admissions Code School Admissions Code 2021.
Summer-born children: school admission guidance Summer-born children: school admission.
Notes
Please note that you must consider your previous admissions arrangements when completing the Admissions Builder Tool, this is to avoid inadvertently displacing pupils through any changes made. There is no requirement to select all or any of the options provided.
Please ensure that you consult your Diocesan Board of Education and that the information included in your finalised text is relevant to your local circumstances and school context.
Other information you will need to have ready to hand complete the form include:
- Data Validation:
- The school’s ethos statement
- The number of pupils that were admitted to faith-based places (in the previous admissions year)
- The Number of days from date of letter refusing a place within which parents can bring an appeal (must be at least 20)
- PAN
- Year of last consultation and time frame for this consultation
- School admissions arrangements:
- If you wish to use a catchment area for the school as one of the criteria, attach a map and/or list of post codes/street names to indicate the extent of that catchment area.
- You will need to prepare and attach your SIF and any other evidence (such as social and medical need) separately.