Pioneer Secondary Academy

When there are more applications than places for 2027-28 (Year 7), places are offered in this order of priority. Meeting a higher criterion beats meeting a lower one.

1. 1Priority Group A - Sikh Children/Young People in Care & previously in Care — Sikh Children and Young People in Care and previous Children and Young People in Care. ... (a) in the care of the local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of the social services functions (see the definition in Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989) at the time the application is made to school.
2. 2Priority Group A - Previously looked after children — Previously looked after children are children who were looked after but ceased to be so because they were adopted (or became subject to a child arrangements order or special guardianship order) immediately following having been looked after and those children who appear (to the admissions authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.
3. 3Priority Group A - Sikh siblings — Sikh children who have one or more siblings at the school (within Years 7 to 13) on the date they apply. (Sibling means a full brother or sister, a half-brother or half-sister, a stepbrother or stepsister, or an adopted or long-term fostered brother or sister living from cohabiting parents who live at the same address and are going to the same school).
4. 4Priority Group A - Sikh faith commitment (RQ score) — Sikh children whose parents demonstrate their commitment to the Sikh faith; this commitment will be assessed and places will be allocated based on the score achieved in the RQ. Priority will be given to the highest scores over those with lower scores.
5. 5Children of staff (applied after Priority Group A) — SAT gives priority in the oversubscription criteria to children of staff... where 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 the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post at the school for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage. In case of oversubscription this criterion applies after Priority Group A.
6. 6Priority Group B - Children/Young People in Care & previously in Care — Children and Young People in Care and previous Children and Young People in Care... (a) in the care of the local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of the social services functions at the time the application is made to school.
7. 7Priority Group B - Previously looked after children — Previously looked after children are children who were looked after but ceased to be so because they were adopted (or became subject to a child arrangements order or special guardianship order) 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.
8. 8Priority Group B - Siblings — Children who have a sibling attending the school at the time the child is due to start the school. Priority will be given to children from multiple births when applying at the same time. (Siblings mean a full brother or sister, a half-brother or half-sister, a stepbrother or stepsister, or an adopted or long-term fostered brother or sister living from cohabiting parents who live at the same address and are going to the same school).
9. 9Priority Group B - Proximity — Proximity: children who live nearest to the school as measured by the definition below.

If two applications tie: If two or more children have an equal number of points (Group A), the place will be allocated to the Sikh children who live nearest to the school measured in accordance with the definition of 'proximity' below. When children live exactly the same distance from the school an independently supervised random allocation will be used to determine who is admitted. (Same random allocation applies for ties in Group B.)

School operates two 50/50 priority groups (Group A - faith-based, Group B - non-faith) each with its own ordered oversubscription criteria; a separate staff-child priority is applied after Group A. Total school PAN is 600 across 11-16 age range, but per-year PAN stated as 120. Sixth Form (Year 12) admissions use a different, separate ordered priority list.

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.