Excelsior Academy

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. 1Children who have an Education, Health and Care Plan which names the school will be admi… — Children who have an Education, Health and Care Plan which names the school will be admitted to the school.
2. 2Looked after and previously looked after children — Looked After Children in the care of a local authority or children that were looked after by the local authority and immediately after that became subject to an adoption, child arrangements order or special guardianship order (see definitions). Evidence of the appropriate order must be submitted before the closing date.
3. 3Children who appear to the admissions authority to have been in state care outside of En… — 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.
4. 4Children attending a feeder school — Where the child attends a designated Feeder Primary School or attends a non-Feeder Primary School in Newcastle which is part of Laidlaw Schools Trust (see Appendix A).
5. 5Sibling link — Children not attending a designated feeder, who have a brother or sister (a sibling) who will be on roll at the school on the date that the child will be admitted in September 2027. A sibling can be a brother or sister, half brother or sister, adopted brother or sister, step brother or sister, or the child of the parent or carer’s partner, as long as the children live at the same address. Sixth form students are not eligible as sibling links.
6. 6Exceptional medical or psychological grounds — Children with a specific medical reason needing to go to the school. For example, where the child of one or both parents have a disability, which means that they can only go to one school. Supporting evidence from a doctor, psychologist or other professional involved with the child must be provided. The evidence must relate specifically to the school for which the application is being made and must clearly demonstrate why it is the only school that can meet the child's needs and explain the difficulties that would arise if the child has to attend an alternative school. This evidence must be submitted before the closing date. If the required evidence is not provided, the Admissions Authority will be unable to consider giving the child higher priority.
7. 7Distance from the school — Children living nearest to the school as measured in a straight-line distance from a single fixed central point at the school to a point in the centre of the home address of the child, using the Local Land and Property Gazetteer and British National Grid Easting and Northing co-ordinates. This is an objective measurement, which does not take into account factors such as the safety of routes or the needs for some families to take other children to a different school or schools. Please note that in the event of a tie-break, distance from home to school will be the deciding factor. In the event that more than one child has an equal right to an available place the place will be offered by random allocation. 3.2 Definitions: 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). An Adoption Order is an order made under section 46 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002. A Child Arrangements Order (previously known as a Residence Order) is an order outlining the arrangements as to the person with whom the child will live. A Special Guardianship Order is an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian or guardians: 4 Arrangements for Admission to Post 16 provision • Priority will be given in the sixth form to Looked after Children or children who have been previously looked after (see definitions in (4 (a and b) above) and who meet the entry requirements. • The maximum number of post 16 places is 300. Excelsior Academy expects that over time pupils progressing from within the Academy will take up these places. The Academy will publish specific criteria in relation to minimum entrance requirements for the range of courses available based upon GCSE grades or other measures of prior attainment. However, should there be vacancies, the admission limit for the number of pupils transferring to the Academy from other institutions will be 50. 5 Right of appeal There will be a right of appeal to the Independent Appeals Panel for unsuccessful applicants (refer to the Admissions Appeals Arrangements Policy). 6 Process of application Applications for places at the Academy will be made in accordance with the LA’s coordinated admission arrangements and will be made on the Application Form provided and administered by Newcastle LA. Excelsior Academy will use the following timetable for applications each year (exact dates within the months may vary from year to year): • September - Excelsior Academy will publish in its prospectus information about the arrangements for admission, including oversubscription criteria, for the following September (e.g. in September 2027 for admission in September 2028). This will include details of open evenings and other opportunities for prospective pupils and their parents to visit the Academy. • September/October - Excelsior Academy will provide opportunities for parents to visit the Academy. • 31st October is the closing date for Year 7 transfers. • 1st March offers made to parents for Year 7 transfers. 7 Consideration of applications Excelsior Academy will consider all applications for places. Where fewer applications are received than is stated in the admission numbers set out in sections 3 and 4 of this policy, Excelsior will offer places to all those who have applied. • It will not be possible to change preferences after the closing date for applications. • Late applications will be processed after all those received on time. • Children will be kept on a waiting list for any school ranked higher on their application than the school they have been offered and will be allocated a place if one becomes available. Parents will have two weeks to return an acceptance form. If an acceptance form is not received it will be assumed that a place is no longer required. 8 Operation of waiting list Subject to any provisions regarding waiting lists in the LA’s co-ordinated admission scheme, the Academy will operate a waiting list. Where Excelsior Academy receives more applications for places than there are places available, a waiting list will operate until 31st December. This will be maintained by Excelsior 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. Parents/carers can re-apply through Newcastle LA if they still require a place at Excelsior Academy for their child. Children’s position on the waiting list will be determined solely in accordance with the oversubscription criteria set out in section 3 of this policy. Where places become vacant they will be allocated to children on the waiting list in accordance with the oversubscription criteria. 9 Arrangements for appeals panels Parents will have the right of appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel if they are dissatisfied with an admission decision with regards to Excelsior Academy. The Appeal Panel will be independent of the Academy. The arrangements for appeals will be in line with the Code of Practice on School Admission Appeals published by the Department for Education and Skills as it applies to Foundation and Voluntary Aided schools. The determination of the appeal panel will be made in accordance with the Code of Practice on School Admission Appeals and it is binding on all parties. The Academy should prepare guidance for parents about how the appeals process will work and provide parents with a named contact who can answer any enquiries parents may have about the process. 10 Annual procedures for determining admission arrangements 10.1 Consultation Excelsior Academy shall consult every seven years on its proposed admission arrangements, unless there are changes to the Admission arrangements, in which case a consultation will take place. Excelsior Academy will consult in accordance with the statutory procedure. 11 Determination and publication of admission arrangements Following any consultation, Excelsior Academy will consider comments made by those consulted. Excelsior Academy will then determine its admission arrangements by 28th February of the relevant year and, if necessary due to there having been a consultation, will notify those consulted on what has been determined. Feeder Schools Atkinson Road Primary Academy Bridgewater Primary School Broadwater Primary School Canning Street Primary School Hawthorn Primary School Moorside Primary School St John’s Primary School Westgate Hill Primary School Wingrove primary School St Paul’s C of E Primary School Laidlaw Schools Trust: Non-feeder primary school in Newcastle Thomas Walling Primary Academy

Read 2026-09-12 from the school's own published determined admission policy. The document's host disallows automated clients in robots.txt, so the file was fetched same-origin through the operator's browser; the academic year is taken from the document's own heading. A child with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school must be admitted; that is not an oversubscription criterion.

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.