Bluecoat Wollaton Church of England Academy

The Archway Learning Trust (hereafter referred to as the Trust) in liaison with The Diocese of Southwell & Nottingham, the Department for Education and Nottingham City Local Authority supports Bluecoat Wollaton Academy.  Bluecoat Wollaton Academy offers secondary education from age 11 – 16.  The Academy is both distinctively Christian and inclusive.  It is clear about its Christian ethos whilst welcoming children of other faiths or no faith.

The Trust, which is its own admission authority, has responsibility to ensure that the admission arrangements comply with the School Admissions Code and School Admissions Appeal Code, and is implemented objectively and fairly.

How to Apply:

Admission to Bluecoat Wollaton Academy is carried out as part of the home authority co-ordinated admission arrangements. The deadline for applications for those children applying for a Year 7 place starting September 2027 is 31^st October 2026.

In addition to completing the Local Authority School Common Application Form (Online Preference Form), parents / carers should complete a Bluecoat Wollaton supplementary form available online on the academy website www.bluecoatwollaton.co.uk under the Prospective Parents > How To Apply > Year 7 Intake September 2027 tab or from the academy office. Failure to complete both may result in your application not being considered under all possible criteria.  Notification of school allocation will be made by the home local authority on National Offer Day. For September 2026 entry, the National Offer Day is 1^st March 2027.

For In-year admissions, please contact the Academy on 0115 900 7210 or complete the relevant online In-Year application form available on the academy website www.bluecoatwollaton.co.uk under the Prospective Parents > How To Apply > In-Year Admissions 2025-2026 (Year 7-11) tab.

Admission to schools outside the normal year group:

Bluecoat Wollaton Academy will consider requests for admission outside the normal year group and take account of the circumstances of each case.  Requests must be made in writing as a supplement to the application to the Archway Learning Trust.

All requests to educate a child outside their normal year group must include evidence of the child’s circumstances from a relevant professional detailing the child’s educational need which makes education outside the normal age group necessary. Parents must consider the impact of a child being educated with children of a different age.

Admission Arrangements:

Bluecoat Wollaton Academy has a planned admission number of 210 places in Year 7.

Consideration of applications:

The Trust will consider all applications for places.  Where fewer applications are received than places available, for the relevant year group the Trust will offer places to all those who have applied.

Children, who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), naming Bluecoat Wollaton Academy, will be admitted first, followed by looked after and previously looked after children and then children of staff.  This will reduce the number of reserved places available for other applicants on a pro rata basis.

Oversubscription criteria:

(see notes on page 4 for definitions)

Oversubscription occurs when the academy receives more applications than places. The academy will apply the following criteria in these circumstances.

After the admission of students with a statutory right to a place at the Academy through an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), naming Bluecoat Wollaton Academy, the criteria will be applied in the order in which they are set out below.

Where the number of places reserved in any criteria c-f are not filled that number of places will be added to the number of places available under criterion (g).  If a student is not offered a place in the criteria of their choice they will be considered again under criterion (g).

a) ¹Looked after children or children who were previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, child arrangements, or special guardianship order including children who were previously in state care outside of England and who ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.

b) ²Children of staff, specifically teaching or support staff, full or part-time on the payroll of the Archway Learning Trust working at Bluecoat Wollaton Academy at the time of admission where:

• • the member of staff has been employed at the academy for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made, and/or
  • the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage.

c) Up to 95 places will be offered to applicants who are involved in the ³work and worship of a Church of England Parish or another Christian Church that is a member of Churches Together in England or Evangelical Alliance. In the event of oversubscription within this category, the following criteria will apply:

• • i) whether the child or the child’s ⁴immediate family is at the heart of a Church;
  • ii) whether the child or the child’s ⁴immediate family is attached to a Church;

** Please refer to notes on measurement of attendance on page 4.

d) Up to 14 places will be offered to applicants attending Bluecoat Primary Academy;

e) Up to 12 places will be offered to applicants attending Church of England primary schools;

f) Up to 17 places will be offered to applicants who are involved in, and committed to, the work and worship³ of one of the other world faiths other than Christianity, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Shintoism or Sikhism. In the event of oversubscription within this category, the following criteria will apply:

• • i) whether the child or the child’s ⁴immediate family is at the heart of the Faith Community;
  • ii) whether the child or the child’s ⁴immediate family is attached to the Faith Community.

** Please refer to notes on measurement of attendance on page 4.

g) After the allocation of places in the above criteria the remaining (at least 72) places will then be allocated to applicants in the order in which they are set out below:

• • i) places will be offered to children that have a ⁵sibling who will be attending the Bluecoat Wollaton Academy at the time of the applicant’s admission;
  • ii) Places will then be offered to children who live the shortest *distance from their home to the main entrance of Bluecoat Wollaton Academy, Sutton Passeys Crescent, Nottingham, NG8 1EA. In the event that such a measure is identical to the nearest metre for two or more children and there are insufficient places available for both or all of them, the remaining place/s will be awarded by random allocation using lots drawn by a person independent of the Trust.

In the event of oversubscription within any criteria c-g the following criteria will apply in this order:

• • i) whether the child has a ⁵sibling who will be attending the Bluecoat Wollaton Academy at the time of the applicant’s admission;
  • ii) *the nearness of the child’s home to the main entrance of Bluecoat Wollaton Academy, Sutton Passeys Crescent, Nottingham, NG8 1EA;
  • iii) In the event that such a measure is identical to the nearest metre for two or more children and there are insufficient places available for both or all of them, the remaining place/s will be awarded by random allocation using lots drawn by a person independent of the Trust.

*Distance will be measured in a straight line from the centre of the pupil’s main home to the main entrance, of Bluecoat Wollaton Academy, Sutton Passeys Crescent, Nottingham, NG8 1EA using the Nottingham City Local Authority computerised measuring system. For shared properties e.g. Flats, the centre will be taken from the centre of the building.

In-Year Admissions:

Applications for places after the usual entry point (e.g., after Year 7) should be made directly to the academy. If places are available and there is no waiting list, unless there is prejudice determined an offer will be made to the applicant. If there are more applicants than available places in the relevant year group, the oversubscription criteria will apply. In the event of oversubscription, parents/carers whose application is unsuccessful have the right to appeal to an independent appeal panel, and their child’s name will be placed on a waiting list.

Applications can be submitted via the Bluecoat Wollaton Academy website or by contacting the academy directly. Parents/carers will be notified of the application outcome within 15 school days of submission.

Waiting list:

In accordance with the Nottingham City Secondary Co-ordinated Admissions Scheme, when the number of applications received during the normal admissions round exceeds the number of available places in Year 7, the Nottingham City Local Authority will maintain a waiting list in conjunction with the Trust from the offer day until the start of the academic year. After that, the Trust will manage the waiting list until 31st December 2027.

Children will automatically be added to the waiting list for a place if they were refused entry and their application was ranked above the secondary where they were offered a place. Where the academy was ranked lower than the secondary where they were offered a place, Parents/Carers must make a written request to the LA for their child’s name to be added to the waiting list.

For in-year applications, if the Trust receives more applications than available places, a waiting list will be maintained until the end of the term in which the application was received. If places become available in any year, they will be allocated to children on the waiting list in accordance with the oversubscription criteria

Arrangements for appeals panels:

Where a parent/carer has been refused a place for their child at Bluecoat Wollaton Academy, they have the right to appeal to an independent appeal panel. The appeal process will be in accordance with the School Admission Appeals Code published by the Department for Education. The decision of the appeal panel will be made in line with the School Admission Appeals Code and is binding on all parties.

Appeals should be submitted to the Independent Appeals Clerk, c/o Archway Learning Trust, Aspley Lane, Nottingham, NG8 5GY, within 20 school days of the refusal. Information on the timetable for the appeals process is on our website www.bluecoatwollaton.co.uk  under Prospective Parents > Appeals.

Notwithstanding these arrangements, the Secretary of State may direct the Trust to admit a named student to the Academy upon application from any Local Authority. Before doing so, the Secretary of State will consult with the Trust.

Late Applications:

Late applications received after the closing date of 31^st October 2026 will be dealt with after those made on time. Under exceptional circumstances the local authority may be willing to accept applications which are received late and consider them as on time however, this will be on a case-by-case basis. All other late applications that are received after the Nottingham City Council deadline date will be dealt with after the national offer day.

Fair access protocol:

The 2009 School Admissions Code required all local authorities to establish in-year fair access protocols to ensure that access to education is secured quickly for children who have no education place, and to ensure that all schools and academies in an area admit their fair share of vulnerable and challenging children and young people. The code requires that all educational settings and academies must participate in their local authority’s protocol in order to ensure that unplaced children are offered a place at a suitable educational setting as quickly as possible. This includes admitting children above the published admission number to schools and academies that are already full. Bluecoat Wollaton Academy and the Trust will participate fully in the Nottingham City Council’s fair access protocol.

Notes:

1) Children in Public Care – A looked after or previously looked after child is:

(a) in the care of a local authority or being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions in accordance with section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989, at the time of making an application to a school.

(b) or a child who has been *adopted, placed under a **special guardianship order, or subject to a ***child arrangements order after being in care. This also extends to children who are considered to have been in state care outside of England if they were in the care of, or accommodated by, a public authority, a religious organisation, or any other care provider whose primary purpose is to benefit society.

*an adoption order refers to an order under the Adoption Act 1976 (see section 12, adoption orders), as well as children adopted under the Adoption and Children’s Act 2002 (see section 46, adoption orders).

**Section 14A of the Children Act 1989 defines a ‘special guardianship order’ as an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian (or special guardians).

***child arrangements orders are defined in Section 8 of the Children Act 1989, as amended by Section 12 of the Children and Families Act 2014. Child arrangements orders replace residence orders and any residence order in force prior to 22 April 2014 is deemed to be a child arrangements order.

2) Children of Staff – The term staff child includes:

• • a biological child of staff members;
  • an adopted child of staff members;
  • a stepchild living in the same household as the member of staff, where the staff member’s spouse or civil partner is the child’s parent / legal guardian.

3) Faith Criteria – All applicants seeking places under criteria c) or f) must provide the name and address of their parish priest, minister, or equivalent religious leader. This person will be contacted to confirm the level of commitment to the church or religious group of the child and/or parent(s)/carer(s). The reference must be signed by two officers or leaders of the Church/Religious Group.

The Trust will only contact the named referee once. Parents/carers should inform the referee to expect the reference, ensuring that the referee receives, completes, and returns the form to the Trust within the specified timeline for consideration under the above criteria.

i) An applicant ‘at the heart of the church / religious group’ Refers to a frequent worshipper (e.g., someone who attends worship twice a month or more).

ii) An applicant ‘attached to the church / religious group’ This refers to a regular but less frequent worshipper, such as someone attending services monthly or participating in weekday activities with an element of worship.

While the examples given maybe typical of a worshiper of the Church of England or other Christian denominations, it also acknowledges that the worship patterns may differ for members of other faiths. In these cases, guidance from the Religious Leader of the specific faith should be considered to determine what qualifies as frequent and regular worship for that faith. To accommodate challenging work and family schedules, week-day worship should also be considered.

4) Immediate Family – refers to the worshipper as one or both parent(s), carer(s) or legal guardian(s).

5) Sibling – The term sibling includes:

• • a brother or sister who share the same parents;
  • a half-brother or half-sister, where two children share one common parent, living at the same address;
  • a stepbrother or stepsister, who are related by a parent’s marriage or civil partnership, living at the same address,
  • adopted or fostered children or children living at the same address under the terms of a child arrangements or special guardianship order.

Where applications are received for twins, triplets, or other children of multiple births, if one child from the multiple birth is allocated a place, all children from the same multiple birth will be offered a place. This may result in the Academy admitting above the published admission number.

How to Respond

Comments can be submitted in the following ways:

Online Consultation Form: Archway Learning Trust – Admission Arrangements Consultation 2027/28 – Online form

Email: admissions@archwaytrust.co.uk

Post: Admissions Services Lead, Archway Learning Trust, Aspley Lane, Nottingham, NG8 5GY

Please clearly state on your response that it relates to Bluecoat Wollaton Academy. All responses must be received by 5:00pm on 19 January 2026.