Whitecliffe Academy

When there are more applications than places for 2026-27 (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 — Looked after children in local authority and previously looked after children- Children who are looked after; or who were previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, residence or special guardianship order. 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 (Section 22(1) of the Children's Act 1989). This category includes children who are in care / previously in care from other countries.
2. 2Residence in the school's admission zone — Children who are permanently resident in the admission zone defined for the school (the admission zone can be found on parent / guardian ordinarily resides and with whom the child normally lives will be taken into account. If parents are separated and the child lives for periods of time with both parents, the address used will be of the parent who receives child benefit for the child (if eligible). If neither parent is eligible for child benefit, the address used will be that on the child’s medical registration card (proof may be required). Short term tenancies entered into with the prime objective of securing admission for a child at a particular school will not qualify as places of ordinary residence. The local authority will take action should false information be submitted in order to secure a place at a particular school.
3. 3Sibling link — Children not living in the admission zone who have elder brothers or sisters attending the school in the 2024/25 school year- Brothers and sisters and step brothers and sisters will qualify under this criterion as long as they both live at the same permanent address and the elder sibling is still attending the preferred school in the 2023/24 school year. ‘Sibling’ refers to brother or sister, half brother or sister, adopted brother or sister, step brother or sister, or the child of the parent / carer’s partner where the child for whom the school place is sought is living in the same family unit at the same address as that sibling.
4. 4Exceptional medical or psychological grounds — Children not living within the admission zone who have exceptional social and/or medical reasons for attending a particular school, professionally supported by an independent third party and sustained by the Authority’s professional advisors- Social reasons generally do not include domestic circumstances such as parents’ working commitments, childcare arrangements, or separation from friends in the case of medical reasons, evidence would need to demonstrate the exceptional long-term nature of the condition. All mainstream schools are able to cater for a wide range of medical needs which may be encountered by children. You are strongly urged to provide independent third party information (e.g. from a professional person who knows or is involved with your child) in support of any exceptional long-term medical or social reason why you think your child should be given special consideration for placement in a particular school. This written support must make clear why the preferred school is the only school which could meet your child’s needs. The submission of independent information will not automatically guarantee a place under this criterion. However, the evidence will be carefully considered by the local authority’s professional advisors as to whether or not your application falls into this category.
5. 5If the academy becomes oversubscribed within a single criterion, it will prioritise on t… — If the academy becomes oversubscribed within a single criterion, it will prioritise on the basis of the proximity of the *normal address to the academy closest first. The distance, which determines how close a student lives to the academy, is the measurement from the main entrance of the student’s normal address to the main entrance of the academy. The distance will be measured in a straight-line using Route Finder, a computerised mapping system which measures from the centre of the home address point to the designated centre of the main entrance to the academy. *(Normal address: 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 school week i.e. Sunday night to Thursday night inclusive. Child care arrangements involving relatives’ addresses do not qualify as normal family addresses for this purpose unless there is a court Residence Order in place. The qualification date is the closing date for applications under the coordinated admissions scheme. Where families change normal address after the closing date but before the allocation process has finished, this can be considered under the LA’s co-ordinated scheme.)
6. 6Children of staff — Children of staff in either or both of the following circumstances: i) Where the member of staff has been employed by the trust for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the academy is made; and/or ii) The member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage. f) Children whose normal address is outside the catchment area, based on distance from the academy, using the distance calculation and approach set out in point

Transcribed verbatim from the criteria column of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's A Guide for Parents – Primary Admissions (page 36), which reproduces each school's determined oversubscription criteria beside an explanatory-notes column. A child with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school is placed first; that is not an oversubscription criterion. 'Admission zone' is the council's term for the school's catchment area.

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.