Church Stretton School

When there are more applications than places for 2025-26 (Year 7), 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 will be given to Looked after Children and children who were looked after but ceased to be so because they were adopted. a. Looked after children and children who were previously looked after in England (being provided with accommodation by a local authority in England in the exercise of their social services functions) but immediately after being looked after became subject to adoption, a child arrangements order, or special guardianship order. b. Children who appear to the Admissions Authority to have been in state care outside of England (accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation or any other provider of care whose sole purpose is to benefit society) and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted, subject to a child arrangements order, or special guardianship order.
2. 2Exceptional medical/social need for this specific school — Very exceptionally, priority may be given to a child who has a particular health reason requiring them to attend a specific school. This will only be allowed if parents/carers can provide written evidence from a medical professional that in the view of the Admissions Authority confirms that attending that particular school is essential to the medical well-being of the child. The Admissions Authority reserves the right to contact medical professionals to ascertain the relevance of the medical condition.
3. 3Children living inside the catchment area (sub-ordered by sibling) — Children living inside the designated catchment area will have priority of admission. If there are not enough places for all the children in the catchment area, then the following criteria for admission will apply in order: 3a. Priority will be given to children living within the catchment area who will have an older sibling at the school on the day they are due to start school. 3b. After that, priority will be given to the other children who live within the catchment area.
4. 4Children of staff members — Children of staff members who have been continuously employed at Church Stretton School, on a permanent contract, for at least two years at the time of application.
5. 5Catchment children with an older sibling of compulsory school age at the school — Children living inside the catchment area who will have an older sibling of compulsory school age (11 –16) at the school on the day they are due to start there.
6. 6Out of area children who attended a primary school within catchment — Out of area children who have, for one year prior to transfer, attended a publicly funded primary school which lies within the catchment area of the secondary schools.
7. 7All other children living outside the catchment area — After that all other children who live outside the catchment area.

If two applications tie: If, in any of the above categories, there are more applications than there are places available, priority will be given on the basis of distance measured as a straight line on a computerised mapping system between the home address and the nearest appropriate entrance gate of the school by pinpointing their eastings and northings. The shortest distance will be given priority. Where two addresses are within the same block of flats, the lowest number of flat or nearest the ground floor will be deemed to be the nearest in distance. In the event that two individual applications are exactly the same after all other criteria have been taken into account a tie breaker will be used. This will be by random allocation and overseen by an independent party not connect with the admissions process.

Children who have an Education Health and Care Plan naming the school will be offered places before other children (statutory duty, precedes ranked criteria). Cohort start year determined from council label '2025-26' entry year. CATCHMENT: Priority 3: Children living inside the designated catchment area will have priority of admission. Transcribed from the school's own determined admission arrangements as published by Shropshire Council. Children with an EHCP naming the school are admitted first; that is a statutory duty, not an oversubscription criterion. | Previously recorded here: How places were allocated: council publication (Telford distances in metres; Shropshire none).

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.