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Admissions and Enrolment
If you would like your child to attend our school, please see full details of our enrolment and admissions below.
Enrolment
Enrolment in a new school is a simple and quick process. When parents decide to move their child, we ask them to let their current school know. This will ensure that a child doesn't go missing and the current school will also be prompted to send the pupil information electronically.
When you enroll your child into our school we will ask you to fill out the forms below so we can update the information on our system.
Enrolment forms
Admissions
The documents above contain information and application form for admission to Borrowdale CE School. Applications for a place at the school should be made online to the Local Authority website: https://www.cumberland.gov.uk/schools-and-education/apply-school-place-or-change-schools. The closing date for September applications is 15th January.
Borrowdale CE Primary School
Admissions Policy 2026/27
Introduction
This document sets out admission arrangements of Borrowdale Church of England Primary School. For the purposes of this policy, the Governing Body is the Admission Authority.
Admission procedure
Nursery Admissions
We welcome children to the Nursery Group after their third birthday. To apply for a place, we ask parents to fill in our application form. Once we have received your application, we will ask you to bring your child’s Birth Certificate into the office as proof of identity.
The maximum total number of pupils in our Nursery Class is 13. All children will be admitted unless there are more applicants than places, in which case applications will be ranked using the school’s oversubscription criteria below.
Borrowdale School’s Nursery offer 30 hours funded Nursery places. We are an Ofsted approved childcare provider which, therefore, entitles you to the support which may be in the form of tax credits or childcare vouchers. Parents who are entitled to just 15 hours may also consider paying for ‘Extended Nursery Provision’. Information on the entitlement, procedures for payment and organisation of our nursery places can be found on the Borrowdale School website.
Admissions for Reception and Year 1 to Year 6
Borrowdale Church of England Primary School has a published admission number of 7 pupils for entry into Reception. The school will accordingly admit 7 pupils each year if sufficient applications are received. All applicants will be admitted if 7 or fewer apply.
Applications for a place in reception should be made on the Local Authority Common Application Form by the national closing date of 15th January. The Local Authority will inform parents of the offer of a place on behalf of the Governing Body on the national offer date 16th April.
Parents not offered a place at their preferred schools will be informed of the reason, offered the right of appeal against this decision and allocated an alternative school by the Local Authority.
The school will admit any pupils with an Education, Health and Care plan naming the school.
All children will be admitted unless there are more applicants than places, in which case priority will be given to those children who met the following criteria. These are listed in order of priority.
Oversubscription Criteria
Looked After Children, Previously Looked after Children and Internationally Adopted Looked After Children Looked after, Previously Looked After for and Internationally Adopted Previously Looked After Children. A “Looked After Child” is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (see the definition in Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989) at the time of making an application to a school. A “Previously Looked After Child” (PLAC) is a child who was looked after but ceased to be so because they were adopted or became subject to a child arrangement order or special guardianship order immediately following having been looked after. An “Internationally Adopted Previously Looked After Child” is a child who appears (to the Admission Authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.
In exceptional circumstances, priority will be given to a small number of children with social and medical needs (or in some cases a close relative of the child) whose mental or physical impairment means they have a demonstrable and significant need to attend this school over any other. Supporting evidence in the form of a letter from a doctor or social worker or other relevant qualified, independent professional, would be required. Medical, health, social and special access reasons will be applied in accordance with the school’s legal obligations and does not guarantee that a child will be given priority as each decision will be made on the merits of the individual case.
Children living within the catchment area having a brother or sister attending our school at the time of their admission giving priority, if necessary, to those children with the youngest siblings. Brothers and sisters are those living at the same address including step, adopted and foster children.
Children living within the catchment area.
Children living outside the catchment area having brothers and sisters attending our School at the time of their admission giving priority, if necessary, to those children with the youngest siblings. Brothers and sisters are those living at the same address including step, adopted and foster children.
Children living outside the catchment area. The catchment area of the school is determined by the Borrowdale Parish boundaries. A map of these boundaries can be found in school.
Tie Break
In categories where there are more applicants than places available, proximity will be the determining factor except in categories 2 and 5 where age is specified as the determining factor.
This will be measured by the shortest walking distance by road or maintained footpath or other public rights of way from the pupil’s home to the main entrance point of the school using a GIS computerised mapping system.
In the event that two or more children live the same distance from the school (as can happen with families living in blocks of flats), random allocation, where supervised drawing of lots by an independent responsible person of good standing will be used to decide which child(ren) will be allocated the remaining place(s) (in accordance with 1.34 and 1.35 of the School Admissions Code 2021).
Late applications
Applications received after the closing date and before the Admission Authority’s admission meeting will be placed last in the criteria in which they fall unless the Admission Authority is satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances which reasonably prevented the application from being submitted on time. Supporting evidence should be provided to explain the late application. In the absence of such supporting evidence, the allocation of places will be made on the basis of the application alone.
In Year Admissions
In year admissions are those which occur outside the “normal” admission time. If you wish your child to attend Borrowdale Church of England Primary School we would advise that you visit our school, and admission details will be provided if we have a vacancy in the relevant year. If your child is refused a place you will be informed of your right to appeal.
In determining whether there is a vacancy the school will seek to ensure that the number in each year does not exceed 7 or the total number of pupils in each class (normally two year groups taught together) does not exceed 14. The allocation of places is in accordance with the admissions criteria. Preference will be given to children moving into the area from outside the Local Authority area who do not have a school place. Evidence will need to be provided that the child has recently moved in.
Infant Class Size
If your child was refused a place in a reception or key stage one class because of Government limits on infant class size, the grounds on which your appeal could be successful are limited. You would have to show that the decision was one which no reasonable governing body would have made or that your child would have been offered a place if the governors’ admissions policy had been properly implemented.
Additional children may be admitted under limited exceptional circumstances. These children will remain an ‘excepted pupil’ for the time they are in an infant class or until the class numbers fall back to the current infant class size limit. The excepted children are:
children admitted outside the normal admissions round with Education, Health and Care Plans specifying the school;
looked after children and previously looked after children admitted outside the normal admissions round;
children admitted after initial allocation of places, because of a procedural error made by the admission authority or local authority in the original application process;
children admitted after an independent appeals panel upholds an appeal;
children who move into the area outside the normal admissions round for whom there is no other available school within reasonable distance;
children of UK service personnel admitted outside the normal admissions round;
children whose twin or sibling from a multiple birth is admitted otherwise than as an excepted pupil;
children with special educational needs who are normally taught in a special educational needs unit attached to the school, or registered at a special school, who attend some infant classes within the mainstream school.
Waiting lists
The school will operate a waiting list for each year group. Where in any year the school receives more applications for places than there are places available, a waiting list will operate until the end of 31st December 2026.This will be maintained by the Admission Authority, and it will be open to any parent to ask for their child’s name to be placed on the waiting list, following an unsuccessful application.
A child’s position on the waiting list will be determined solely in accordance with the oversubscription criteria. Where places become vacant, they will be allocated to children on the waiting list in accordance with the oversubscription criteria. The waiting list will be reordered in accordance with the oversubscription criteria whenever anyone is added to or leaves it.
School age
A full-time place in the Reception class is available for children from the September following their 4th birthday, etc.
Deferred entry to reception
Parents offered a place for their child have a right to defer entry, or to take a place up part- time, until the start of the term beginning immediately after their child has reached compulsory school age of 5. However, places cannot be deferred until the next academic year.
Admission of children outside their normal age group
Parents may request that their child is admitted to a year group outside their normal age range, for instance where the child is gifted or talented or where a child has suffered from particular social or medical issues impacting on their schooling. All such requests will be considered on their merits and either agreed or refused, on that basis. If a request is refused, the child will still be considered for admission to their normal age group.
The process for requesting such an admission is as follows.
With the application, parents should request that the child is admitted to another year group (stating which one), and the reasons for that request. Parents should submit any evidence in support of their case with the application, for instance from a medical practitioner, headteacher etc. Some of the evidence a parent might submit could include:
information about the child’s academic, social and emotional development;
where relevant, their medical history and the views of a medical professional;
whether they have previously been educated out of their normal age group; and
whether they may naturally have fallen into a lower age group if it were not for being born prematurely.
The school will consider each case on its merits, taking into account the individual circumstances of the request and the child’s best interests. We will also ensure the parent is aware of whether the request for admission out of age group has been agreed before final offers are made, and the reason for any refusal. Requests for admission out of the normal year group will be considered alongside other applications made at the same time.
Children of UK service personnel and crown servants
For families of service personnel with a confirmed posting, or crown servants returning from overseas, we will:
allocate a place in advance of the family arriving in the area (as long as one is available), provided the application is accompanied by an official letter that declares a relocation date.
use the address at which the child will live when applying their oversubscription criteria, as long as the parents provide some evidence of their intended address.
not reserve blocks of places for these children.
ensure that arrangements in their area support the Government’s commitment to removing disadvantage for service children.
Address of Pupil
The address on the application form must be the current one at the time of application. Where a child can live at more than one address the home address is to be the one where the child sleeps and thus wakes up for all or the majority of the school week. Where there is any doubt the governors reserve the right to verify the information provided by the parent(s), for example, through the GP or the child benefit address.
Fraudulent applications
If the Governors of Borrowdale Church of England Primary School discover that a child has been awarded a place as a result of an intentionally misleading application from a parent, for example, an incorrect address and as a result it effectively denies a place to a child with a stronger claim then the Governors will withdraw the offer of a place. The Governors will reconsider the application and the right of appeal offered if a place is refused.
Multiple births
The Governors of Borrowdale Church of England Primary School will ensure as far as possible that twins, triplets or those children born in the same year are not separated. This means that in such cases, where one sibling is offered a place according to our oversubscription criteria, then their sibling(s) may also be offered a place even if this exceeds the PAN, but only if there is capacity in the school
Nursery
If you have a child in our Nursery Class then you must make a separate application for the Reception Class. A place in our Nursery Class does not guarantee a place in our Reception Class.
Appeals Procedure
If the Governors are unable to offer your child a place because of over subscription, you as a parent have a right of appeal to an independent appeal panel constituted and operated in accordance with the School Admission Appeals Code. Appellants should notify the Clerk to the Governors of Borrowdale Church of England Primary School within 20 days of the date of the letter which will give the grounds for refusing a place.
As a parent you will have an opportunity to submit your case to an independent (of the Governors) appeals panel. You must set out your grounds for the appeal in writing. You will normally receive at least 20 days’ notice of the time and venue for the appeal hearing where you will be able to present your case in person. This right of appeal does not prevent you from making an appeal in respect of any other school.
Enquiries
Please address any enquiries to:
Mr. R. Smits
Headteacher
Borrowdale Church of England Primary School
Stonethwaite, Keswick
head@borrowdale.cumbria.sch.uk