Bedfield Church of England Primary School

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. 1Looked after and previously looked after children — Children in care (looked after children) and children who were previously in care (children who were looked after, but ceased to be so because they were adopted or became subject to a child arrangements order or special guardianship order, immediately following having been in care, including those 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. 2Sibling link — Sibling: where the child has a sibling in the school or a sibling has already been offered a place at the school, and where the sibling will still be attending the school at the time of admission. Priority will be given, where necessary, to applications where there is the smallest age gap, measured in calendar days between the child’s date of birth and the date of birth of any sibling already attending the school, or who has been offered a place at the time of application. The term ‘sibling’ includes: natural, half, step, and adopted brothers and sisters; a child of the partner of the parent; and children who are fostered into the family. In all these cases, the child and their sibling will both be living at the same address (that is where the child is ordinarily resident) in a single family unit. This means that children from different family units, where those separate families are living together at the same address, are not considered siblings under this criterion.
3. 3Residence in the school's catchment area — Children who are ordinarily resident in the catchment area who live nearest to the school. We will measure the distance by a straight line (‘as the crow flies’). All straight line distances are calculated electronically by Suffolk County Council using data provided jointly by the Post Office and Ordnance Survey. The data plots the coordinates of each property and provides the address-point between which the straight line distance is measured and reported to three decimal places. Where there is more than one home within a single building (for example apartments) we will measure to a single point within that building irrespective of where those homes are located.
4. 4Distance from the school — Children who live outside the school’s catchment area who live nearest to the school. We will measure the distance by a straight line (‘as the crow flies’) as set out in criterion 3 above. Notes: Parent For the purposes of education law, Section 576 of the Education Act 1996 defines a 'parent' as: ▪ all natural (biological) parents, whether they are married or not; ▪ any person who, although not a natural parent, has parental responsibility for a child or young person (this could be a step-parent, guardian or other relative); ▪ any person who, although not a natural parent, has care of a child or young person. A person has care of a child or young person if they are the person with whom the child lives and who looks after the child, irrespective of what their relationship is with the child. Children in care (looked after children) A ‘child in care’ or a 'looked after child' is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (see the definition in Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989). Children previously in care (previously looked after children) Children previously in care (previously looked after children) includes children who were adopted under the Adoption Act 1976 (Section 12 adoption orders) and children who were adopted under the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (Section 46 adoption orders). Child arrangements orders are defined in Section 8 of the Children Act 1989, as amended by Section 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. Children adopted from state care outside of England A child is regarded as having been in state care outside of England if they were in the care of or were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation, or any other provider of care whose sole or main purpose is to benefit society and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. Catchment area Please see map below or Catchment area maps are available online at www.suffolk.gov.uk/catchmentmaps. If you live near to a boundary line on the map, please check your address against the catchment area and/or street lists at www.suffolk.gov.uk/admissions. A list or copy of a map can also be obtained from contacting the Admissions Team on 0345 600 0981. Sibling tie-breaker Priority will be given, where necessary, to applications where there is the smallest age gap in calendar days between the child’s date of birth and the date of birth of any sibling already attending the school, or who has been offered a place at the time of application. In the unlikely event that two applicants competing for a single place at a school have the same number of days difference in age from their closest aged sibling, the place will be offered to one applicant on the basis of lots drawn by the Schools’ Administrator, supervised by a member of Diocesan staff. Distance tie-breaker It is possible that the PAN of the school will be reached in any one of the categories set out above. For this reason, all applications will be prioritised according to the criteria described. Decisions will be made about the offer of places in accordance with those priorities. If it is necessary to use a tie- breaker to distinguish between two or more applications, a distance criterion will be used. We will give priority to the applicants who live nearest to the school as measured by a straight line. In the unlikely event that two applicants competing for a single place at a school live the same distance from the school, the place will be offered to one applicant on the basis of lots drawn by the Schools’ Administrator, supervised by a member of Diocesan staff. Twins, triplets and other multiple births If the final place available at a school is offered to a twin, triplet or other multiple birth and the remaining sibling/s would ordinarily be refused, school will offer places to the remaining sibling/s at the same school. The law requires that this will apply even in those primary schools where this would mean that more than 30 pupils would be admitted to an infant class. Where a sibling of a twin, triplet or other multiple birth has a school named on their EHC plan, school will from the date of issue of the EHC plan treat their twin, triplets or other multiple births under the sibling oversubscription criterion for the named school. This does not apply to siblings of children in a specialist unit or a specialist resource base for Hearing Impaired provision or a nursery, because they do not meet the sibling definition in the oversubscription criteria. Ordinarily resident By ordinarily resident we mean the place where your child usually lives. We consider this to be where they sleep overnight. We may need proof of this address. If you use another address to give the impression that your child lives at a different address to where they are ordinarily resident, such as a second home or a grandparent’s address, so that you have a higher priority for a place at the school; we consider this to be a fraudulent application. Where a child lives at two or more addresses, each for part of the week, the address at which the child is ordinarily resident will be considered to be the address that the child lives at for most of the week (excluding weekends and school holidays). Separate evidence in writing from each parent or carer must be provided to confirm the child’s living arrangements at the time of application. In cases where the child spends an equal proportion of the school week at two or more different addresses, evidence of which is to be considered the main contact address will be required to support the application. Agreement in writing by the parents/carers will be required to state which address is to be used as the ordinarily resident address. If we are aware of a parental dispute affecting the application, we may not be able to deal with the application and you may need to seek independent legal advice in order to resolve the matter. Moving House If you are moving to a new address and you want to use that address as your child’s ordinarily resident address for your application, you must provide written evidence that you are legally committed to the move. The evidence must be one of the following: proof of exchange of contracts for your new address, or a signed letting/tenancy agreement confirming your new address. For on entry applications evidence should be received by the relevant closing date and confirm that the move it will happen before the start of the school year you have applied for. For in year applications written evidence should be provided with the completed application form and show that the move will take place before the start of the term that you are applying for. Waiting list (on entry applications to Reception only) Names are placed on the waiting list in the priority order set out in our admissions oversubscription criteria. The order of the waiting list can change each time a child’s name is added or the circumstances of a child already on the list changes. As a result, a child’s place on the list can go up or down (for example due to withdrawals or late applications). If you change your address while your child is on a waiting list, you must let us know. Please be aware that this may change your child’s position on the waiting list. Written evidence of this will be required. Having your child’s name on a waiting list will not affect your right to appeal. Late applicants will be added to any waiting lists in oversubscription priority order. If a place becomes available at a school, it will be offered to the child who is ranked highest on the waiting list. Places are not offered based on the date on which names were placed on the list. The waiting lists will close on 31 December 2027. The school does not hold a waiting list for in-year applicants.

Read 2026-09-12 from Suffolk County Council's published list of school details, admission policies and supplementary information forms for 2027/2028, which hosts every Suffolk school's policy on the council's own site. CORRECTION 2026-09-13: this row was written on 12 September with the right admission number, notes and source but an empty rule list — every rule came out blank. The rules below were re-read from the same published document. The rules were re-read from the same published policy this row already cites.

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.