Presdales School

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. 1Children Looked After / Previously Looked After — Girls in public care (Children Looked After) and girls who were previously looked after, including those girls 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 (or became subject to a Child Arrangements Order or a Special Guardianship Order).
2. 2Medical or Social need — Girls for whom it can be demonstrated that they have a particular medical or social need to go to Presdales. A panel of officers will determine whether the evidence provided is sufficiently compelling to meet the requirements for this rule. The evidence must relate specifically to Presdales and must clearly demonstrate why Presdales is the only school that can meet the child's needs.
3. 3Sibling — Girls who have a sibling at the school at the time of application, unless the sibling is in the last year of the normal age-range of the school. A sibling must be expected to be on roll at Presdales at the time the younger child starts.
4. 4Children of Staff — Girls who have either a) a parent employed by the school as a member of staff on a permanent contract for a continuous period of two or more years at the date of application, or b) a parent who has been recruited to a vacant post at the school for which there is a demonstrable skills shortage.
5. 5Priority area - nearest qualifying school — Girls who live in the priority area for whom Presdales is their nearest Hertfordshire maintained school or academy that is non-faith and non-partially selective and makes provision for girls. If more girls qualify under Rule 5 than places, the tiebreak would be those that live nearest to the school.
6. 6Priority area - not nearest qualifying school — Girls who live in the priority area for whom Presdales School is not the nearest Hertfordshire maintained non-faith, non-partially selective school or academy that makes provision for girls. If more girls qualify under Rule 6 than there are places available, places will be allocated to those who live closest to the school.
7. 7Outside priority area — Girls outside the priority area on a random basis.

If two applications tie: When there is a need for a tie break where two different addresses are the same distance from a school, in the case of a block of flats for example, the lower door number will be deemed nearest as logically this will be on a lower floor and therefore closer. If there are two identical addresses of separate applicants, the tie break will be random. Every child entered onto the HCC admissions database has an individual random number assigned, between 1 and 1 million, against each preference school. When there is a need for a final tie break the random number is used to allocate the place, with the lowest number given priority.

Places within the priority area are allocated according to published parish/town percentages (e.g. Hertford 39%, Ware 30%, etc.), based on average applications 2023-2025, applied after Rules 1-4. In-Year admissions follow a modified rule order (Rules 1-4, then Rule 5 as above, Rule 6: nearest within priority area, Rule 7: outside priority area random). The school also operates a co-educational Sixth Form admitting up to 40 external students, with its own oversubscription rules (1: CLA/Previously CLA; 2: Sibling; 3: Children of Staff; 4: Distance from home to school) and subject-specific entry requirements, but this is a separate entry point not part of the main Year 7 admission arrangements captured above.

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.