Meir Heath 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 in care / previously in care (adopted, CAO, SGO) — Children in care and children who ceased to be in care because they were adopted (or became subject to a child arrangements order or special guardianship order), including those children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted
2. 2Child arrangements order definition — Child arrangements orders are defined in s.8 of the Children Act 1989, as amended by s.12 of the Children and Families Act 2014. Child arrangements orders replace residence orders and any residence order in force prior to 22 April 2014 is deemed to be a child arrangements order.
3. 3Special guardianship order definition — Section 14A of the Children Act 1989 defines a special guardianship order as an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child's special guardian (or special guardians).
4. 4Siblings currently attending the Academy — Children who (at the time of application) have an elder sibling in attendance at the Academy and who will still be attending at the proposed admission date. Siblings are considered to be those children who live at the same address and either: Have one or both natural parents in common OR Are related by a parent's marriage or related by parents living as partners at this address OR Are adopted or fostered by a common parent OR Children not adopted, fostered or related by a parent's marriage or with one natural parent in common, who are brought together as a family by a same sex civil partnership and who are living at the same address, are also considered to be siblings. We do not include cousins within our definition of siblings.
5. 5Children residing in the catchment area — Children who reside in the catchment area of the Academy.
6. 6Distance from home to school (straight-line) — Other students arranged in order of priority according to how near their home address point is to the main gate of the Academy, determined by a straight-line measurement as calculated by the local authority's Geographical Information System. Distances is measured in miles and calculated using Ordnance Survey (OS data). The co-ordinates of an applicant's home address is determined and provided by the Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) and OS Address Point data.

If two applications tie: if the Academy is unable to distinguish between applicants using the criteria listed, such as in the case of children who live in the same block of flats, the children or children who will be offered the available spaces will be randomly selected. This process will be independently verified.

EHCP: children with a statement of SEN/EHC Plan naming the Academy are admitted under a separate statutory procedure (S.324 Education Act 1996) before oversubscription criteria are applied. Waiting list operates until cohort leaves Year 2. Infant class size legislation limit of 30 pupils per class applies, with exception for multiple birth siblings. CATCHMENT: Children who reside in the catchment area of the Academy. Transcribed from the school's own determined admission arrangements as published by Staffordshire County Council. Children with an EHCP naming the school are admitted first; that is a statutory duty, 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.