Orchard Primary School

When there are more applications than places for 2027-28 (Reception), places are offered in this order of priority. Meeting a higher criterion beats meeting a lower one.

1. 1Looked after and previously looked after children — Priority is given to children in public care (looked after children) and children previously looked after immediately before being adopted or subject to a child arrangements order or special guardianship order. This includes children who were adopted (or subject to child arrangements orders or special guardianship orders) immediately following having been looked after, as well as 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. To qualify for this priority, children must fall within the definition of ‘looked after’ as in section 22 (1) of the Children Act 1989 and Paragraph 1.7 of the 2021 School Admissions Code.
2. 2Medical or social need — This is given to children with a medical condition such that it is essential, on medical grounds, for the child to attend the preferred school. Equally, this priority will apply where either the disability or medical condition of a parent or sibling would cause significant hardship if the child did not attend the preferred school. The London Borough of Bexley’s own medical adviser may be asked for a professional opinion on the case presented. Priority will normally only be given if the school applied for is the closest school to the home address unless the medical adviser considers that an alternative school is essential for medical reasons.
3. 3Siblings — This is given to children with a brother or sister who will still be on roll at the school of parental preference at the time the child is placed on roll at that school. This will also be given to children due for admission to the infant school whose brother or sister will be attending the associated junior school at the time of admission or vice versa. This priority does not include brothers or sisters due to transfer to secondary school in the next academic year. For this priority, brother or sister includes a full, step, half or adopted brother or sister living at the same address.
4. 4Children of staff — Priority will be awarded to children with a parent employed at the preferred LA-maintained school where; a) the member of staff has been employed at the school for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made, and/or b) the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage.
5. 5Distance — This gives priority to children living nearest to the school based on the distance from the home address to the nearest school entrance measured as a straight line in accordance with the London Borough of Bexley’s policy on the measurement of home-to-school distance. Home will be taken as the address at which the child lives with the parent or registered guardian who is the main carer (the parent eligible to receive Child Benefit and/or Child Tax Credit) at the time of application.

If two applications tie: Where one or more applicants live exactly the same distance from the school applied for and all would qualify for the last available place, the allocation of the last place will be made by drawing lots. The first child drawn will be offered the place, and the remaining children placed on the waiting list in the order of the draw.

Local-authority coordinated default oversubscription criteria for London Borough of Bexley's community and voluntary-controlled schools (the council is the admission authority). Some community/voluntary-controlled schools in this authority apply catchment-area, feeder-school or priority-area variants — check the individual school for its exact arrangements. Document also sets separate infant/junior transfer priorities (Priority A: looked after children; Priority B: pupils attending associated infant school, then Priorities 1-5; Priority C: all other applicants, then Priorities 1-5). EHCP/statemented children are given precedence outside the ranked oversubscription criteria. Some individual schools (voluntary aided, academies, free schools) set their own different criteria.

Published by the admission authority. Meeting a criterion never guarantees a place — it sets the order places are offered in. Full detail, other entry points and previous years are on the Admissions tab.