Oversubscription criteria

For community schools in Birmingham, Birmingham Local Authority is the admission authority and sets their admission arrangements, including their oversubscription criteria. When a community school receives more applications than it has places available, the places will be offered in the following criteria order:

1. Looked After Children (in public care) or previously Looked After Children
2. Siblings (brother or sister who will still be in attendance in September 2018)
3. Distance (children who live nearest the school)

Within each of these categories, priority is given to those who live nearest the school. This is calculated on the basis of a straight line measurement between the child’s home address and the school. This is usually measured to the centre point of the school unless otherwise stated in the individual school’s information.

For each academy, foundation, grammar, voluntary aided and free school in Birmingham, the school’s Governing Body is the admission authority and sets its own admission arrangements, including oversubscription criteria. Please see schools’ own information for details of the oversubscription criteria of individual academy, foundation, grammar, voluntary aided and free secondary schools and schools which admit pupils at Year 10.

Definitions of key terms used in oversubscription criteria

Looked After Children (in public care) or previously Looked After Children

Looked after children or children who were previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, residence or special guardianship order.

This includes any child or young person who is subject to a Full Care Order, an interim Care Order, accommodated under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989, is remanded or detained into Local Authority accommodation under Criminal Law or who has been placed for adoption.

Birmingham Local Authority’s School Admissions Service will obtain names of all children who are looked after or were previously looked after, within the appropriate age range.

Sibling – academy, community, voluntary aided (non-Catholic), foundation and free schools

Siblings are children with a brother or sister already at the school who will still be in attendance at the time the sibling enters the school.

Siblings (brothers or sisters) are considered to be those children who live at the same address and either:

• have one or both natural parents in common
• are related by a parent’s marriage
• are adopted or fostered by a common parent

Unrelated children living at the same address, whose parents are living as partners, are also considered to be siblings.