Admissions Guidance

1. Admissions Guidance This booklet will provide you with all dates for 2016 School Admissions, giving you information on what you need to do and when.

2. Key Dates • Mon 1st June 2015 11+ Registration opens • Wed 1st July 2015 11+ Registration closes • Thur 10th Sept 2015 Test Date for Kent Primary Schools • Sat 12th Sept 2015 Test date for children in OOC Schools • Wed 14th Oct 2015 Assessment decision sent to parents • Sat 31st Oct 2015 Closing date for SCAFs (Kent allowing until 2nd Nov) • Fri 11th Dec 2015 Preference numbers sent to schools • Wed 6th Jan 2016 Ranking Lists sent to schools • Wed 20th Jan 2016 Schools to return Ranked Lists • Wed 20th Jan 2016 Deadline for schools to inform of PAN increases • Tue 23rd Feb 2016 Secondary schools sent offer lists • Tue 23rd Feb 2016 Primary schools sent destination lists • Tue 1st Mar 2016 National Offer Day Secondary • Thur 17th Mar 2016 Deadline for Late Apps and WL • Thur 17th Mar 2016 Date for places to be accepted/refused by parents • Mon 21st Mar 2016 Reallocation lists sent to schools • Tue 12th Apr 2016 Schools to return Reallocation lists • Wed 13th Apr 2016 Deadline for Appeals • Fri 29th Apr 2016 Reallocation Day for Secondary • Mon 2nd May 2016 Schools to take over Yr 7 admissions and In Year begins

3. Mon 1st June 201511+ Registration opens This is the date when people can start registering for the 11+ online at www.kent.gov.uk/ola Paper forms are also available via www.kent.gov.uk for people to register if they do not have access to a computer. Please encourage all parents of children you feel should be taking part in testing to apply.

4. Weds 1st July 201511+ Registration closes Online registration closes at midnight on Wednesday 1st July 2015. Paper forms must be with us by this date to be accepted. If you have been sent any registration forms by parents please contact us so the child can be included.

5. Tues 1st September 2015Secondary Common Application Forms open This is the date when people can start naming their Secondary school preferences online at www.kent.gov.uk/ola People who have registered for the Kent Test in June can log in to their existing applications and add preferences without having to retype all the data again. Paper forms are also available via www.kent.gov.uk for people to complete if they do not have access to a computer.

6. Mon 2nd November 2015SCAF closing date Online applications close at midnight on Monday 2nd November 2015. Paper forms must be with us by this date to be accepted. Please note this is Kent’s final closing date. The National closing date is Sat 31st Oct 2015 but we have allowed parents some extra time as that is a Saturday and we will not be there to assist them with any final queries.

7. Fri 11th December 2015Secondary schools sent preference numbers by KCC via S2S website. To access go to the S2S website. Once logged in with your school password go to DOWNLOAD – DOWNLOAD GENERIC FILES and save the file on your computer. This file is just the numbers of each preference (eg 1st 140, 2nd 90, 3rd 45 and 4th 23). The numbers are not final but merely an indication of how many people have named you as a preference It will not have details of the applicants those will come out to you on your Ranking List after Christmas

8. Weds 6th January 2016Secondary schools sent Ranking Lists by KCC via S2S To access go to the S2S website. Once logged in with your school password go to DOWNLOAD – DOWNLOAD GENERIC FILES and save the file on your computer. The ranking list will contain the details of every child with a submitted application, either paper or online, that named your school as a preference The only exception to this rule is for children who have named a grammar school but did not sit/pass the grammar test – these children will not appear on the ranking list and will be sent to the school in a separate spreadsheet for information purposes only. The list will not contain the order of the preference, this is not used when Ranking the children. You cannot consider anyone else, only those named on your ranking list. SEN children should not appear on this list as their application process is handled by the SEN department – please contact us if such a child appears on your list. Every child must have a rank number whether you are under or over subscribed.

9. by Weds 20th January 2016Secondary schools to return Ranking Lists to KCC via S2S To return the file follow these instructions, please rename the original file to…… 886Your 4 digit DFEnumber_886ADMS_Ranking For example if we had a DFE number of 9999 we would rename the file 8869999_886ADMS_Ranking Then log in to S2S with your school password, go to UPLOAD – UPLOAD GENERIC FILES and find the file saved on your computer and send it. Please remember Every child must have a rank number whether you are under or over subscribed. When moving data on the spreadsheet move the entire row/column The Pupil ID and Rank number are what we use to import into our database so please make sure the Pupil ID that was sent with the list originally is the same number that comes back! If you are unsure on how to rank or have a query please contact the team at kentonlineadmissions@kent.gov.uk For more information please consult the Ranking Guide for Secondary schools on KELSI

10. by Weds 20th January 2016Deadline for Secondary schools to inform KCC of intention to offer in excess of PAN. What to do…. 1) Inform your AEO of your intention 2) Email Craig Chapman at craig.chapman@kent.gov.uk to let us know how many offers you wish to make in excess of your PAN. Please also confirm the total number of offers you are expecting to make. E.G – PAN 150 - In Excess 30 - Total 180

11. Tues 23rd February 2016Secondary schools sent list of pupils to be offered on 1st March (Offer Day) To access go to the S2S website. Once logged in with your school password go to DOWNLOAD – DOWNLOAD GENERIC FILES and save the file on your computer. What to do…. • Check the list of pupils to see how many and who we are offering – if you feel there is a problem please contact us at kentonlineadmissions@kent.gov.uk Please remember due to Kent operating an equal preference scheme a child may have been ranked highly on your list but may not be offered if they can be offered a school that they named as a higher preference. If you are oversubscribed you will not be offered all your 1st preference children as you have not ranked them as such. Children were ranked according to your over subscription criteria not by their order of preference.

12. Tues 1st March 2016Secondary National Offer Day Online applicants (who provided a email address) will be emailed AFTER 4pm advising them of their child’s offer. Paper applicants will receive a letter that was posted 1st class on the morning of 1st March.

13. Thur 17th March 2016Deadline for late applications and Waiting List requests to be included in Secondary Reallocation of Fri 29th Apr 2016 Anybody who missed the original deadline can send a late application to us to be included in the Secondary Reallocation of Fri 29th Apr 2016. Anybody who wants to join the Waiting List for a school they could not be offered has to get the form back to us by this date to be included too. A child who did not pass the Kent Test cannot go on a Waiting List for a Grammar school.

14. Thur 17th March 2016Deadline for parents to Accept or Refuse to Secondary schools Parents need to get their Acceptance or Refusal to the school by this date. Parents are sent a form with their offer letter to send back to schools. We would ask that if a parent wants to accept the place you can take that verbally or in an email. If a parent refuses we would advise asking for this in writing so there is some audit trail as that place may be offered to another child in Reallocation.

15. Mon 21st March 2016Reallocation Lists sent to Secondary schools To access go to the S2S website. Once logged in with your school password go to DOWNLOAD – DOWNLOAD GENERIC FILES and save the file on your computer. The Reallocation list will contain the details of every child that named your school as a preference. This will be new applicants and people who have filled in a Waiting List form. The list will not contain the order of the preference, this is not used when Ranking the children. You cannot consider anyone else, only those named on your Reallocation list. SEN children should not appear on this list as their application process is handled by the SEN department – please contact us if such a child appears on your list. Every child must have a rank number whether you are under or over subscribed and all children must be ranked according to your over subscription criteria.

16. Tues 12th Apr 2016Deadline for Secondary schools to return ranked Reallocation Lists to KCC via S2S To return the file follow these instructions, please rename the original file to…… 886Your 4 digit DFEnumber_886ADMS_ReAlloc For example if we had a DFE number of 9999 we would rename the file 8869999_886ADMS_ReAlloc Then log in to S2S with your school password, go to UPLOAD – UPLOAD GENERIC FILES and find the file saved on your computer and send it. Please remember Every child must have a rank number whether you are under or over subscribed. When moving data on the spreadsheet move the entire row/column The Pupil ID and Rank number are what we use to import into our database so please make sure the Pupil ID that was sent with the list originally is the same number that comes back! If you are unsure on how to rank or have a query please contact the team at kentonlineadmissions@kent.gov.uk For more information please consult the Ranking Guide for Secondary schools on KELSI

17. Thurs 17th March 2016Deadline for Secondary schools to return Acceptance/Refusal spreadsheet to KCC via S2S. To return the file follow these instructions, please rename the original file to…… 886Your 4 digit DFEnumber_886ADMS_Accept For example if we had a DFE number of 9999 we would rename the file 8869999_886ADMS_Accept Then log in to S2S with your school password, go to UPLOAD – UPLOAD GENERIC FILES and find the file saved on your computer and send it. Please only use the following codes Accept – if a parent has accepted the place (either verbally or written) Refused – if a parent has given you a written refusal If a parent has neither accepted or refused the place please leave the field blank We will not offer that place out on reallocation and will have further time to chase them for a response

18. Weds 13th Apr 2016Deadline for lodging of appeals. Parents need to get their appeals form in to the Admissions authority of the school by this date. Appeals for most Foundation, Aided Schools and Academies are processed by the school or academy’s own Admission Authority. Appeals for other schools are handled by the Appeal Panel Administrator in KCC's Legal and Democratic Services section. Please note that, although this is a County Council department, it is outside the Education and Young People’s Services Directorate, and needs to be so to maintain the integrity of the appeal process. Admissions staff will present the LA’s case at appeal hearings for Community schools, but they are not instrumental in the making of appeal decisions.

19. Fri 29th April 2016Secondary Reallocation Day All applicants in the round will be sent a letter. There is no online for this process so no emails are sent

20. Mon 2nd May 2016KCC to send Secondary schools children left on Waiting Lists via S2S To access go to the S2S website. Once logged in with your school password go to DOWNLOAD – DOWNLOAD GENERIC FILES and save the file on your computer. Any child who was not successful for a place on Reallocation or who was not offered a higher preference will be sent to the school to form your Waiting List. The lists for ease will be sent back in Community School criteria order. From this point in the process if anyone comes to you who wants a place they can be added to the list. Your Waiting List should be kept in over subscription order not first come first served. At this point the admissions process has concluded and In Year takes over

21. Misc Information

22. In Year Admissions • For all year groups where the child should already be in school Kent schools will handle applications. • Any parent making an enquiry should be given a IYCAF and asked to fill out the top section….the remainder of the form should be filled out by the school. • The form should be returned to KCC once the application is completed…either with an offer or no offer. Please remember to fill in all details on the form so we can update our records.

23. Useful Email Contacts 11+ Enquiries – Secondary Appeals kent.admissions@kent.gov.uk Ranking, Reallocation, S2S file queries kentonlineadmissions@kent.gov.uk In Year Admission Enquires kentinyearadmissions@kent.gov.uk Primary Appeal Queries primaryadmissions@kent.gov.uk Transport homeschooltransport@kent.gov.uk

24. Distance Requests If you need to have distances measured for In Year applications please email kentonlineadmissions@kent.gov.uk We need the full address including postcode and the school name and DFE number We will provide you with a measurement from our software that will normally be accurate to 4 decimal places. Please do not use internet measuring tools to work out distances as most use a postcode to postcode system. We use a piece of software that measures from an address point in the house to an address point in the school.

25. S2S • S2S is a DFE website that is used for file transfers of Generic and Admissions files. • It is not run by KCC and we have no admin rights on the website. • If you have any problems with your account please contact the DFE