Alder Community High School

When there are more applications than places for 2027-28 (Year 7), 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 — Looked after children and all previously looked after children, 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. Previously looked after children are 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 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) at the time of making an application to a school. 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.
2. 2Children and families with exceptional medical or social needs Written evidence must be provided by a suitably qualified — Children and families with exceptional medical or social needs Written evidence must be provided by a suitably qualified professional – e.g. a GP or consultant for medical needs, or a social worker for social needs – the information must confirm the exceptional medical or social need and demonstrate how the specified school is the only school that can meet the defined needs of the child. A panel of officers from Tameside MBC will make a decision as to whether to admit a child under this criterion, using the evidence provided. Parents/carers are responsible for providing all information in support of an application by the closing date, officers of the Council will not ask for additional information. All information provided will be treated in the strictest confidence.
3. 3Sibling — Sibling: This will apply where there are brothers or sisters attending the school as at the closing date for applications, who will still be attending at the time of admission, i.e. in the September when the pupil is admitted to Year 7. Preference will be given to pupils living nearest to the school. The sibling criterion includes; natural sisters/brothers; half-sisters/brothers; step sisters/brothers; adopted sisters/brothers; sisters/brothers of fostered children; children of the parent/carer’s partner, and in each case living at the same address. This allows for the admittance of children whose siblings will still be attending the preferred school. In cases where twins, triplets, other multiple birth siblings, or other siblings whose date of birth falls within the same academic year, are split when allocations take place, siblings will be offered a place at the same school which may not be a preference school named on the common application form.
4. 4Children attending the named partner primary school on the closing date for applications — Children attending the named partner primary school on the closing date for applications. Preference will be given to pupils living nearest to the school.
5. 5All other applications on distance Preference will be given to pupils living nearest to the school — All other applications on distance Preference will be given to pupils living nearest to the school. 5.2 Distance will also be used as a tiebreaker where oversubscription occurs within any of criteria 1 to 4. Preference will be given to pupils living nearest to the school. 5.3 Distance will be measured as a straight line from the child’s home address, using the address point assigned by the National Land and Property Gazetteer, to the main gate to the school property. Measurements will be made using the local authority’s school admissions data mapping software, which uses a Geographical Information System based on Ordnance Survey. 5.4 The address from which distance will be measured will be the permanent residential address, as at the closing date for applications, of the parent with whom the child is normally resident. Where a child lives with parents with shared responsibility, each for part of a week, the home address is the address from which the parent receives the child benefit. 5.5 In the event of distances being the same for 2 or more applications where this distance would

Tameside Council is the admission authority for its community and voluntary controlled schools and determines one set of arrangements per phase. The council serves the same file from both its 2026/27 and 2027/28 index pages, so the year is taken from the document's own cover, which states 2027/28.

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.