Admissions Arrangements 2026-27

Leigh Academies Trust (LAT) is the Admissions Authority of the Academy. Applications for places will be made in accordance with Kent County Council’s co-ordinated admissions scheme and timetable. 

Arrangements for Admission to 11-16 Provision

Admissions Number

Sir Geoffrey Leigh Academy has a Published Admission Number (PAN) of 300 students. The academy will accordingly admit up to 300 students in the relevant age group each year if sufficient applications are received. All applicants will be admitted if 300 or fewer apply.

Admission Process

All applicants will be required to sit a fair banding test. This is to ensure the academy admits a fully comprehensive range of abilities. It is not possible to pass or fail the test, but those not sitting the test at all, will only be prioritised after those children who have sat the test. The date of the test will be published widely, including on the academy website. Parents wishing to apply for this academy should do so to the local authority in the usual way and register for the test by completing a Supplementary Form, available from the academy website or via email to be received by 31st October 2025. Paper copies are available to collect on request and must be returned to the academy reception by the above date. 

Applicants who do not sit the test on the published date will be allocated an alternative date and time to sit the test. These applicants will not receive details of the fair banding test results until after the 31st October 2025 application deadline to submit a Common Application Form (CAF) to their home local authority. 

Outcomes of the fair banding test will be available upon request from the academy after the date published on Sir Geoffrey Leigh Academy website. 

Oversubscription Criteria 

Before application of the oversubscription criteria students with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) where Sir Geoffrey Leigh Academy is named on the EHCP will be admitted and the PAN will be reduced accordingly.

Those applicants who have undertaken the fair banding test will then be split into 5 equally sized bands, based on the results of the fair banding test. This is to ensure that students across a broad range of abilities are admitted. If the number of applicants is not divisible by five the following process will apply: 

1. If there is one extra applicant when the number of applicants is divided by five there will be an additional applicant placed in Band 2;
   
2. If there are two extra applicants, there will be one additional applicant placed in Band 3 and one in Band 4;
   
3. If there are three extra applicants there will be one additional applicant placed in Band 5, one in Band 1 and one in Band 2;
   
4. If there are four extra applicants there will be one additional applicant placed in Bands 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively.
   
5. If when the groups are split there are two children who have scored the same in the test, the academy priority criteria will be used to identify which child would go in which band. 

Where the total number of applications for admission is greater than the PAN for any relevant age, applications will be considered against the following criteria. 

Once students have been allocated to their relevant band, priority within each band will be given in the following order:

1) Children in Care or 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 academy. A previously looked after child means children who were adopted (or subject to child arrangements orders or special guardianship orders) immediately following having been looked after and those children who appear 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. A child is regarded as having been in state care outside of England if they were in the care of or were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation, or any other provider of care whose sole or main purpose is to benefit society.

2) Sibling 

Students whose sibling(s) currently attends the academy and will continue to do so at the time of entry. For this criterion brother or sister means children who live as brother and sister in the same house, including natural brothers or sisters, adopted siblings, step brothers or sisters, foster brothers or sisters. Children residing in the same households as part of an extended family, such as cousins, will not be treated as siblings. If siblings from multiple births (twins, triplets, etc.) apply to the academy and the academy would reach its PAN after admitting one or more, but before admitting all of those siblings, the academy will offer a place to each of the siblings, even if doing so takes the academy above its PAN. 

The academy reserves the right to ask for proof of relationship.

3) Children of Sir Geoffrey Leigh Academy Staff 

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

In this criteria son or daughter means a child who lives in the same house as the member of staff and is their natural son or daughter, step child, or fostered or adopted child.

4) Health and Special Access Reasons 

Medical and social reasons will be applied in accordance with the academy’s legal obligations, in particular those under the Equality Act 2010. Priority will be given to those students whose medical or social reasons mean they have a demonstrable and significant need to attend Sir Geoffrey Leigh Academy. Equally this priority will apply to students whose parents’/guardians’, medical or social needs means that they have a demonstrable and significant need to attend Sir Geoffrey Leigh Academy. Such claims will need to be supported by written evidence from a suitably qualified medical or social worker, and submitted at the time of application.

5) Students of LAT Primary Academies 

Applications will only be given priority in this category if the LAT secondary academy to which they are applying is closest to their home.  If oversubscribed in this category, it will be the 40 closest to the academy that will be admitted.

A maximum of 8 places will be offered in each band under this criterion if there are insufficient qualifying applications, remaining places will be offered to other students within the band. Inner and outer catchment areas have been defined (see appendix 1) and 70% of the remaining places will be offered to those in the inner catchment and 30% will be offered to those in the outer catchment.

6) The Remaining Places 

The remaining places in each band will be offered by random selection to applicants until the inner: outer mix of 70:30 is achieved. If any places remain unfilled, the remaining places in each band will be offered by random selection to applicants living outside the catchment area. 

We use the distance between the child’s permanent home address (defined in KCC’s annual admissions prospectus) and the academy, measured in a straight line using the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) address point data. Distances are measured from a point defined as within the child’s home to a point defined as within the academy as specified by NLPG. The same address point on the academy site is used for everybody. When we apply the distance criterion for the academy, these straight-line measurements are used to determine how close each applicant’s address is to the academy. Where applications are made from properties or abodes that are not registered to the NLPG, including new build properties, KCC may be required to use planning sites or other relevant co-ordinates. In exceptional circumstances where alternative co-ordinates are not available, measurements will be determined by a Senior Admissions Officer and confirmed by the Head of Service.

In instances where more than one applicant lives in a multioccupancy building the offer of a place will be decided by random allocation. 

These straight line measurements are used to determine how close each applicant’s address is to the academy with those living closest being given priority. Where parents live at separate addresses, and have joint custody, the address used will be the one where the child spends the main part of the academy week (i.e. Sunday night to Thursday night inclusive). Applications must be made by those with parental responsibility.

Appendix 1

The catchment area comprises the following postal areas: DA1 to DA11, DA13, DA14, BR8 and West Kingsdown in TN15. (Please note that proof of residence may be required if a place is offered.) The home address is considered to be where the student resides as their only or principal residence. If the student resides equally between both parents, the principal home address will be considered as being the address at which the student is registered whilst attending primary school, with a GP and, if applicable, the address of the parent who is in receipt of Child Benefit or Child Tax Credits for the child.

Applications must be made by those with parental responsibility.

In instances where more than one applicant lives in a multioccupancy building the offer of a place will be decided by random allocation. 

Inner Catchment Area

After the admission of Educational Health Care Plan children, Children in Local Authority Care and Previously Looked After Children, 70% of the remaining places will be offered to students resident in the above postal areas and who attend the following Primary/Junior Schools which are within 3.5 miles distance from Sir Geoffrey Leigh Academy:

1. Bean Primary School
2. The Brent Primary
3. Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard
4. Craylands Community Primary School
5. Dartford Bridge Community Primary School
6. Leigh Academy Dartford
7. Ebbsfleet Green Primary School
8. Fleetdown Primary School
9. The Gateway Primary School
10. Greenlands Primary School
11. Hextable Primary School
12. Holy Trinity CE Primary School
13. Horton Kirby CEP School
14. Joydens Wood Primary School
15. Knockhall Community Primary School
16. Manor Community Primary School
17. Maypole Primary School
18. Oakfield Primary Academy
19. Our Lady’s RC Primary School
20. River Mill Primary School
21. St Anselm’s Catholic Primary School
22. St Paul’s CEP School
23. Stone St Mary’s CofE Primary School
24. Sutton-at-Hone CofE Primary School
25. Temple Hill Primary School
26. Wentworth Primary School
27. Westgate Primary School
28. West Hill Primary School
29. Wilmington Primary School

Outer Catchment Area

After the admission of Educational Health Care Plan children, Children in Local Authority Care and Previously Looked After Children, 30% of the remaining places will be offered to students resident in the above postal areas and who attend other schools.

7) Applicants who did not undertake the Fair Banding Test 

Those applicants who did not undertake the Fair Banding Test will then be considered. Priority will be given using criteria 1-6

Tie breaks 

If the academy is oversubscribed and it is therefore necessary to use a tie-breaker to distinguish between two or more applications in any of the criteria 1- 7 above a ‘Remaining Places’ criterion will be used as above in criterion 6. 

In the unlikely event that two or more students in all other ways have equal eligibility for the last available place at the academy, the names will be issued a number and drawn randomly to decide which child should be given the place. This process will be overseen by someone independent of the academy trust.

Fair Access Protocols 

The academy works in accordance with the in-year Fair Access Protocols held by the Local Authority. Should a vulnerable child within the protocols require a place at the academy, they will take precedence over any child on the waiting list. 

Deferred Entry

Requests for admission outside of the normal age group should be made to the Principal as early as possible in the admissions round associated with the child’s date of birth. This allows the academy and admissions authority sufficient time to make a decision before the closing date. Parents are not expected to provide evidence to support their request, however where provided it must be specific to the child in question and may include medical or Educational Psychologist reports. There is no legal requirement for this medical or educational evidence to be secured from an appropriate professional, however, failure to provide this may impede the academy’s ability to agree to a request for admission outside of the normal age group. Parents are required to complete an application for the normal point of entry at the same time, in case their request is declined. Deferred applications must be made via paper CAF to the Local Authority, with written confirmation from the academy Principal attached. Deferred applications will be processed in the same way as all applications for the cohort in the following admissions round, and offers will be made in accordance with the academy’s oversubscription criteria.

Arrangements for Admission to Post-16 Provision

Students currently in Year 11 at Sir Geoffrey Leigh Academy, as well as external candidates applying for admission to Year 12, are required to meet the minimum academic entry criteria outlined in the table below:

All internal applicants who meet the criteria will be admitted to the Sixth Form, even if this number is greater than its capacity. In addition to the sixth form’s minimum academic entry requirements students will need to satisfy minimum course requirements to the courses for which they are applying. If either internal or external applicants fail to meet the minimum course requirements they will be given the option of pursuing any alternative courses for which they do meet the minimum course requirements. Course requirements are published annually in the school’s prospectus and on its website. 

If 150 or more students from within Sir Geoffrey Leigh Academy meet the admissions criteria and wish to enter Year 12 of the 6th form, no external applicants will be considered. If fewer than 150 of the academy’s own year 11 students transfer into year 12, additional external students will be admitted until year 12 meets its capacity of 150.

Where there are more external applicants for any available Sixth Form places than places available, after the admission of students with an EHCP where the academy is named on the EHCP, the oversubscription criteria 1-4 and 5 above will be applied to determine who is admitted. 

Operation of waiting lists for all student admissions 

Subject to any provisions regarding waiting lists in the coordinated admission scheme, the academy will operate a waiting list. Where in any year the academy receives more applications for places than there are places available, a waiting list will operate until the final day of the academic year. This will be maintained by the academy and it will be open to any parent to ask for his or her child’s name to be placed on the waiting list, following an unsuccessful application. Places from the waiting list will be offered in the priority order set out above, not in order of the date applications are made. The waiting list will be re-ranked each time a child is added or removed and before the offer of any place. 

Appeals for all student admissions

If you have not been offered a place, the law entitles you to appeal against that decision to an Independent Appeal Panel. This panel is completely independent of the academy and the Local Authority. You can access an online form to appeal via the academy’s website.