Gnosall St Lawrence Coe Primary Academy

When there are more applications than places for 2025-26 (Reception), places are offered in this order of priority. Meeting a higher criterion beats meeting a lower one.

1. 1Looked After Children and all previously Looked After Children, including internationally adopted previously looked after children (IAPLAC) — A 'Looked After Child' is a child who is: 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. If the child has previously been in the care of a local authority or provided with accommodation by them and has subsequently been adopted, or is subject to a child arrangements order or special guardianship order, this must be indicated on the common application form and evidence (e.g. adoption certificate/copy of court order) to support this claim must be submitted with the common application form. For children in state care outside of England who ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted, the relevant legal document(s) must be supplied.
2. 2Medical/Social — Whether there are specific medical or social circumstances that can be met only by the child's attendance at the preferred school. If parents/carers believe there are specific reasons, medical or social, for claiming priority for their child to attend a particular school these special factors must be indicated on the application form and evidence (e.g. a letter from a registered health professional such as a doctor or a social worker) to support this claim must be submitted to the School Admissions Team, Staffordshire County Council. The information submitted must state clearly the effects of the condition/illness and why the preferred school is the only school that can meet their child's needs.
3. 3Children with a sibling already attending the school at the time of admission — For admission purposes, a sibling is a child who resides permanently at the same address as the child for whom a place is being requested, and is one of the following: brother/sister, half-brother/sister (i.e. share one common parent), or stepbrother/sister (i.e. related by a parent's marriage), any other child for whom it can be demonstrated that s/he is residing permanently at the same address (e.g. under the terms of a Child Arrangement Order). The sibling connection only applies where the child concerned has a sibling attending the school at the time of the application as well as at the time of admission, (i.e. for normal year of entry applications siblings are expected to be attending the same school in September 2025. A sibling connection will not be accepted if the original place was obtained by using fraudulent or false information.
4. 4Children whose parent/carer is a member of staff employed at the school — This applies where the parent/carer has been employed by the school for two or more years at the time at which the application of admission to the school is made, and/or where the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post at the school for which there is demonstrable skills shortage. This criteria applies to all permanent staff members, and excludes staff employed on a casual/temporary contract. This criteria only applies to staff that are employed specifically to work at the school and does not apply to staff that work at other schools within the multi-academy Trust, or within the central team.
5. 5Children living within the catchment area of the preferred school — The catchment areas are defined by Staffordshire Local Authority and are detailed on the Staffordshire County Council website.
6. 6Children who live closest to our school — How close the child lives to the school requested, with those living closest to the school getting the highest priority. The distance from the applicant's home and school is taken in a straight line between the respective school and the child's home address. The distance is measured using the Staffordshire County Council's software, with those living closest to the school receiving the highest priority.

If two applications tie: If there are an insufficient number of places to accommodate all the children of a particular criterion, the next criterion will be used to assess the applications concerned in order to prioritise applications. If there are a limited number of spaces available and we cannot distinguish between applicants using the above criteria, children who live in the same block of flats will be offered the available spaces randomly selected by drawing lots.

A child with an Educational Health and Care Plan (EHCP) which names the school will be admitted. Remaining places are allocated as detailed in the criteria. Multiple births: all children will be allocated together if there is insufficient space for all. Waiting lists maintained until 31 December 2025, ranked in admission criteria order. Children subject to Fair Access Protocol take precedence over those on waiting 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.