Admissions

We aim to make the transition from home life to school a natural and enjoyable process for both children and parents. In common with other schools in the area, Desford Community Primary School admits children, subject to LEA approval, at the beginning of the Autumn term after their fourth birthday.

LiFE is a Multi Academy Trust and we are the Admission Authority for our schools, which means we are responsible for setting and applying the admission arrangements. We are committed to ensuring that our admissions process is fair, clear, and objective. Our policies comply with the School Admissions Code and the School Admission Appeals Code, as well as other relevant legislation like the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998.

The Schools within the Trust are –

Secondary

Ashby, Nottingham Road, Ashby-De-La-Zouch, LE65 1DT

Bosworth, Leicester Lane, Desford, Leicester, LE9 9JL

Countesthorpe, Winchester Road, Countesthorpe, LE8 5PR

Ibstock, Central Avenue, Ibstock, LE67 6NE

Ivanhoe, North Street, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, LE65 1HX

The Winstanley, Kingsway North, Braunstone Town, Leicester, LE3 3BD

Primary

Braunstone Frith, Cuffling Drive, Leicester, LE3 6NF

Desford, Kirkby Road, Desford, Leicester, LE9 9JH

Dove Bank, Bagworth Road, Nailstone, Warwickshire, Nuneaton, CV13 0QJ

Kingsway, Kingsway North, Braunstone Town, Leicester, LE3 3BD

Information on our Trust & School Websites – as a Multi Academy Trust we must publish information on our school’s website by the 31st August each year detailing how in-year applications will be handled for further information please go to Section 2 below.

Review our Admission Arrangements/Policy – as the admission authority, we must set and publish our Admission Policy annually. This policy outlines how children will be admitted, including our oversubscription criteria if we receive more applications than available places a copy of the policy is available HERE. The arrangements within the policy must be fair, clear, and objective and comply with all relevant legislation, including equalities legislation. The key priorities in our oversubscription criteria are –

1. Children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) that names our school must be admitted.
2. Looked after children and previously looked after children in line with the Children Act 1989 definitions are given the highest priority.
3. Our policy includes an effective, clear, and fair tie-breaker,  distance from school,  to decide between applications that cannot otherwise be separated.
4. We do not use prohibited criteria, such as placing conditions on applications, giving extra priority based on ranking preferences (‘first preference first’), or interviewing children or parents (with limited exceptions for sixth form).
5. Proof of Address/Birth Date – we may request proof of address if it is unclear whether your child meets our oversubscription criteria. Once a place has been offered, we may ask for proof of birth date.

Our full admission arrangements, including our Published Admission Number (PAN) available here, are part of the local authority’s composite prospectus. Desford’s PAN is currently 60 pupils.

For the main points of transfer (e.g., starting Reception or Year 7), there is a nationally coordinated approach to applications that all state-funded schools, including academies, participate in.

Apply to Your Home Local Authority (LA):

• Parents must apply for a school place through their own local authority (LA), where you actually live, regardless of whether our academy school is in that geographical area.
• The home LA provides a Common Application Form (CAF) that enables parents to express a preference for a place at any state-funded school. You can express a preference for at least three schools*in rank order, giving reasons for your preferences.

For our schools (with the exception of Braunstone Frith) the Local Authority is –

Leicestershire County Council this is the link(opens in new tab) to their school admissions page.

For Braunstone Frith the Local Authority is Leicester City Council this is the link(opens in new tab) to their school admissions page.

Adherence to Deadlines:

• The national closing date for secondary school applications is the 31st October or the next working day. .
• The national closing date for primary school applications is the 15th January or the next working day. .

National Offer Day:

• Your home local authority will make the offer of a place on National Offer Day: 1 March for secondary schools and 16 April for primary schools.
• If our school is undersubscribed, any parent who applies will be offered a place unless a child has been twice permanently excluded or whose behaviour may be classed as challenging at a mid year application point.

Right to Appeal:

• If your child is refused a place at our academy, you have an absolute right to appeal once each academic year.
• As the admission authority, our Academy Trust is responsible for arranging an Independent Appeal Panel to hear the appeal.
• The refusal notification will include the reason for refusal, information about the right to appeal, the deadline for lodging an appeal, and contact details.

An in-year admission is when a child needs to move schools outside the standard main points of transfer (e.g., during the school year). Local Authorities are not required to coordinate in-year applications for their own admission authority schools like academies. Therefore, our Academy Trust, as the Admission Authority, manages its own in-year admissions, to contact the admissions team within the Trust and its schools please email – admissions@lifemultiacademytrust.org.uk.  

Direct Application to Academy Trust:

A parent can apply for a place at any school at any time (outside of the main point of transfer window), however only one application will be processed each academic year unless there is a significant change in circumstances. A copy of the application form is available HERE(opens in new tab)

Application Processing

• Upon receipt of an in-year application, we aim to notify parents of the outcome in writing or email within 10 school days but must do so within 15 school days.
• If a place is offered and accepted, we will make arrangements for your child to start school as soon as possible, especially if they are currently out of school.
• We also notify the Local Authority of every in-year application and its outcome as soon as reasonably practicable, to help them maintain up-to-date figures on place availability.

Admission Criteria for In-Year

• If our academy has places available, we must offer a place to every child who has applied, except a child who is twice permanently excluded or fits within the criteria of displaying challenging behaviour as set out in the School Admission Code.
• If we are dealing with multiple in-year admissions and do not have sufficient places for every child, we must allocate places based on our published oversubscription criteria.

Waiting Lists

• We must maintain a clear, fair, and objective waiting list for at least the first term of the academic year of admission (until at least 31 December).
• Any child added to the list will require the list to be ranked again in line with our published oversubscription criteria. Looked after children and previously looked after children take precedence on waiting lists.
• No Waiting list is maintained beyond 31 December for any school in the Trust.

Right to Appeal:

• If your in-year application is refused, we must set out the reason for refusal and provide information about your right to appeal.
• Our Academy Trust is responsible for arranging this appeal via an Independent Appeal Panel.