Walton High School

When there are more applications than places for 2026-27 (Year 7), places are offered in this order of priority. Meeting a higher criterion beats meeting a lower one.

1. 1Children in care and adopted/arrangements order children — 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. 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 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. It 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. 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. 3Elder sibling attendance — Children who have an elder sibling in attendance at the preferred 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: have one or both natural parents in common; are related by a parents marriage; are adopted or fostered by a common parent or are unrelated children who live at the same address, whose parents live as partners.)
4. 4Catchment area — Children living within the catchment area of the preferred school
5. 5Major contributory primary schools — Children who attend certain primary schools defined as major contributory primary schools. (See Additional Notes below.)
6. 6Children of staff — Children of staff who are employed at the school. Definition of Terms - "Staff will include all those who are permanently employed directly by the school. Staff will need to be employed for 2 years or more at the time when the application for admission to the school is made and/or the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is demonstrable skill shortage. This is set out in paragraph 1.39 of the School Admissions Code (Dec 2014). Staff does not include contractors or peripatetic teachers".
7. 7Distance from school — 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 Local Authority's Geographical Information System.

If two applications tie: If there are a limited number of spaces available and we cannot distinguish between applicants using the criteria listed, such as in the case of children who live in the same block of flats, then the child or children who will be offered the available spaces will be randomly selected.

In accordance with legislation, children who have a statutory statement of special educational need or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) that names a particular school as being the most appropriate to meet the child's needs must be admitted to that school, which will reduce the number of places available to other applicants.

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.