Ifield Community College

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 — Priority will be given to students in the care of a local authority at the time of application and also students who were looked after, but ceased to be so because they were adopted or became subject to a child arrangement order or special guardianship order, immediately after being looked after; this includes those children who appear to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. An application made under this category must be supported by a letter from the relevant Local Authority's Children's Department and / or relevant documents including a copy of adoption, child arrangement or special guardianship order where applicable.
2. 2Medical Reasons — Places may then be offered to children whose parents are able to provide medical evidence, from a registered health professional, that entry to Ifield Community College rather than any other school or academy is essential. Such applications will be considered by members of the Local Governing Committee on behalf of the admissions authority.
3. 3Children of staff at Ifield Community College — A member of staff is defined as: a) Someone who has been employed by The Collegiate Trust at Ifield Community College for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to Ifield Community College is made, or b) Someone who has been recruited to fill a vacant staff post at Ifield Community College for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage.
4. 4Sibling within the catchment area — Priority will then be given to siblings who live within the catchment area, as identified using the school catchment finder tool. The word sibling refers to all blood, half, foster, step and adoptive brothers and sisters (not cousins) who are on roll at the date of admission of the younger sibling and who live at the same home, in the same family unit as the child on a permanent basis. A sibling connection does not apply for children whose older siblings will / may be attending the Sixth Form in Years 12 & 13 unless that sibling previously attended Ifield Community College in Year 11. Should the number of sibling applications take the number of offers past 210, the tie-break will be distance from Ifield Community College, measured in a straight line from the child's home address to the designated entrance of the school using a computerised measuring system (GIS). Those living closer to the school will receive higher priority.
5. 5Other children (non-sibling) within the catchment area — Priority will then be given to other children (non-sibling) who live within the catchment area. Should the number of non-sibling applications take the number of offers past 210, the tie-break will be distance from Ifield Community College, measured in the same way as set out in paragraph 4 above.
6. 6Sibling outside of the catchment area — Priority will then be given to siblings who live outside of the catchment area. The definition of sibling is the same as in paragraph 4 above. Should the number of sibling applications outside of the catchment area take the number of offers past 210, the tie-break will be distance from Ifield Community College, measured in the same way as set out in paragraph 4 above.
7. 7Other children (non-sibling) outside the catchment area — Any remaining spaces will then be allocated to children outside of the catchment area on the basis of distance from Ifield Community College, measured in the same way as set out in paragraph 4 above.

If two applications tie: Distance from Ifield Community College, measured in a straight line from the child's home address to the designated entrance of the school using a computerised measuring system (GIS). Those living closer to the school will receive higher priority. If a child lives in a shared property such as flats, the geographical references will determine the start point within the property boundaries to be used for distance calculation purposes. In the event of a tie, priority will be given to the child whose journey to school via public transport is the shortest distance.

Children with an EHCP are allocated before other applicants under section 324 of the Education Act 1996, reducing available places. The document also includes separate Sixth Form (Year 12) admissions criteria with a PAN of 60 and its own oversubscription criteria (Looked After Children, Medical Reasons, Proximity); the Year 7 criteria are listed above.

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.