Mary Howard Church of England Primary School

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 (LAC), all previously looked after children (PLAC), including those children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England (IAPLAC), and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted, or became subject to a residence order or special guardianship order, as defined by the Children Act 1989.
2. 2Medical or exceptional circumstances with hardship — Children who satisfy both of the following tests: Test 1: the child is distinguished from the great majority of other applicants either on their own medical grounds or by other exceptional circumstances. Medical grounds must be supported by a medical report (obtained by the applicant and provided at the point of application). This report must clearly justify, for health reasons only, why it is better for the child's health to attend the preferred school rather than any other school. Exceptional circumstances must relate to the choice of school and the individual child, i.e. the circumstances of the child, not the economic or social circumstances of the parent/carer. They should be supported by a professional report (obtained by the applicant and provided at the point of application), e.g. social worker. This report must clearly justify why it is better for the child to attend the preferred school rather than any other school and Test 2: the child would suffer hardship if they were unable to attend the preferred school. Hardship means severe suffering of any kind, not merely difficulty or inconvenience, which is likely to be experienced as a result of the child attending a different school. Applicants must provide detailed information about both the type and severity of any likely hardship at the time of application.
3. 3Catchment area — Children living within the catchment area.
4. 4Sibling — Children who have an elder sibling in attendance at the preferred school (or in the case of an infant school, the affiliated Junior school) and who will still be attending the school at the proposed admission date. For admission purposes, a brother or sister is a child who lives at the same address and either: has one or both natural parents in common; is related by a parents marriage; is adopted or fostered by a common parent or has unrelated children who live at the same address, whose parents live as partners.
5. 5Church of England or affiliated church attendance — Children whose parents regularly attend a Church of England church, or a church in communion with the Church of England, or of a church which is affiliated to the Churches Together in Britain and Ireland or the Evangelical Alliance. Evidence of such attendance will be required in the form of a letter from a minister of the Churches concerned (only certain Voluntary Controlled Schools use this criterion, see additional notes below). Regular attendance is defined as attendance at a church service (or an explicitly defined church activity) on a Sunday or weekday on at least two occasions per month for at least two years.
6. 6Other Christian worship — Children who regularly attend a place of Christian worship other than the Church of England. Evidence of such attendance will be required in the form of a letter from a minister of the Churches concerned (only certain Voluntary Controlled Schools use this criterion, see additional notes below). Regular attendance is defined as attendance at a church service (or an explicitly defined church activity) on a Sunday or weekday on at least two occasions per month for at least two years.
7. 7Distance — Other children arranged in order of priority according to how near their home addresses are to the main gate of the school, determined by a straight-line measurement as calculated by the Trust's Geographical Information System.

If two applications tie: Where it is not possible to accommodate all children applying for places within a particular category then the Trust will allocate the available places through random selection. This process will be supervised by someone independent of the Trust, and a fresh round of random allocation will be used each time a child is offered a place from a waiting list.

PAN is 9 for both compulsory school age children and Foundation Stage children. The document notes this criterion applies only to certain Voluntary Controlled Schools for faith criteria (ranks 5 and 6). Random selection is used as tie-breaker within any category.

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.