Catmose College is the first choice for many parents. In recent years, we have been oversubscribed; we have more applicants for places than we have available in each year group. To find out more about the College, please view our online prospectus.

YEAR 7 ADMISSIONS FOR SEPTEMBER 2024
The deadline for parents to apply for a place at the College is 31 October 2023 for admission into Year 7. Applications which are received after that date will be viewed as late and can only be considered after all other places have been allocated on national offer day. We are usually oversubscribed with late applications only being considered on second or subsequent offer rounds. Applications must be made to your home local authority e.g. Rutland or Leicestershire and not to the College.

The College’s Admissions Policy can be found here and is used to allocate places. The College does not have a catchment area; we have in the past accepted applications from Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire and our home county of Rutland with students travelling up to 30 miles to attend Catmose College. The policy for admissions for September 2024 was determined by the governing body in December 2022 and was consulted upon in 2022.

The order of priority if we are oversubscribed is:

1. Looked after children.
2. Sibling link.
3. Attends Catmose Primary School.
4. A child of staff at the Federation.
5. Children who live nearest the College by distance.

The meaning of these terms can be found within the Admissions Policy.

The distance from the College we accept places, however, will vary from year to year depending on the other applications we receive. There are children who attend the College having applied successfully in recent years from as far afield as Leicester, Stamford and Grantham. The distance from the College varies depending on: how many people live locally who apply for a place, the number of siblings who apply, the number of staff who apply and the number from our feeder primary who apply. There is no set distance from the College for which an application will definitely be turned down or be successful. A significant number of students walk to College but over half will travel by car or public transport. We offer a bus service from Melton Mowbray, Tilton, Hallaton, Cottingham and Uppingham due to the significant proportion of students who travel from there.

If your child is initially declined a place due to the College being oversubscribed, they may be offered a place subsequently by the local authority in subsequent offer rounds. If your initial application is unsuccessful, please contact the admissions team at the College who can advise you on the next steps including the appeals process.

An application to a school will always be considered on the basis of its Admissions Policy and never the preference it was placed on the application. A number of parents have queried how the waiting list is determined; this is based on the oversubscription criteria in our Admissions Policy. The Admissions Policy for places in Year 7 for September 2024 can be read by clicking here.

You can find out about the school’s admission arrangements through the local authority by clicking here.

HOW TO APPLY VIA YOUR LOCAL AUTHORITY

Parents of children who are due to start secondary school in September 2024, must submit an application to their ‘home’ local authority.  This means that an application must be submitted to the Council where you live, even if you want to apply for a place at a school in another local authority area. Further information from a number of local authorities can be found below.

APPEAL TIMETABLE 2024

Parents have the right to appeal if a place cannot be offered at the College.  If you wish to appeal you should complete an appeal form and provide all appropriate supporting evidence before the deadline of 15 April 2024. You should put your intention to Appeal in writing to Valda Austin, Admissions Manager at the College.  An independent appeal panel will be convened to hear the appeal.

If you are considering moving your child from another secondary school we advise you to visit the College and arrange a meeting to discuss the move to help ensure we are the right school for your child. This is not part of the admissions process but it is a good way for you to find out more about our ethos, provision and learning environment. It is our experience that students who move from one secondary school to another often struggle with the transition unless it is carefully managed.

If you wish to make an in-year application, please read our Admissions Policy before completing and returning the application form which is detailed within the policy, this can be viewed here.

We usually have no places available to accept in-year admissions and have waiting lists for places.

This would not prevent you from making a formal application. We maintain a waiting list if we receive an application for a year group which has more than 210 students already on roll. The order of this waiting list is determined by our Admissions Policy; it is not first come, first served.

The order of priority for the waiting list if we are oversubscribed in a particular year group is currently:

1. Looked after children
2. Sibling link
3. Attends Catmose Primary School
4. A child of staff at the College
5. Children who live nearest the College by distance

Please read the Admissions Policy for an explanation of these terms and a more detailed explanation of the admissions process. It is this policy that we follow, in order that student admissions to the College are determined in a fair and objective way. If a child is refused a place there is a right of appeal; this process is also described in the policy. The Admissions Committee meet to consider all applications received and will respond to applicants within 15 College days.

If your application is unsuccessful you have a right to appeal this decision. Should you wish to appeal please write to the Principal, detailing your grounds for making an appeal.  An independent appeal panel will formally hear your appeal and you will have an opportunity to present your supporting evidence.  The deadline for you to lodge your appeal is 20 school days from the date of the letter.

You can find out about the College’s admission arrangements through the local authority by clicking here.