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Admissions Arrangements

When becoming an academy in 2012, the Elizabethan made a commitment to remain an inclusive school, which serves its local community.  Academies manage their own admissions but are still required to work to the same Admissions Code as maintained schools so that the system is fair and parents can choose for their child to come to a good school.

We have become increasingly popular in recent years, with more applications for Year 7 places and a large number of parents applying mid-year (either because they have moved to the area and have chosen the Elizabethan as their school of choice or because they are dissatisfied with their current school).

Please click on the link below to take you to our Policies section where you can see our Admission Policies for each year and details of Admission Appeal Hearings:

Joining us in Year 7

Whilst we have chosen to become our Own Admissions Authority to streamline and speed up the process of transferring schools mid-year, "admissions to school as part of the normal admissions round" (in this case, children transferring from Year 6 to Year 7) are handled through the local authority's coordinated scheme.  Details of the Year 6 to 7 admissions process can be found here: http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/learning/schools/admissions

Applications must be made by 31 October.  After that, you most likely will not hear anything until the beginning of March, when the Local Authority writes to all parents to say where they have been allocated a place.

We will write to all our new parents at the start of March and invite you back to the Elizabethan to find out more about your new school and ask any initial questions you may have.

Many of our students come from our linked schools, although we are receiving increasing numbers of applications from outside our catchment.  In fact, some year groups draw students from as many as thirty different primary schools!

Students will have the chance to get to know one another during Transition Week at the start of July, when we welcome all our new students to our school.  We also offer a thriving Summer School, which is another very good opportunity to make new friends, and details of this are usually sent out during the summer term.

As an ArtsMark school, we have included a talent in the performing arts as one of our criteria.

Joining mid-year

The In-Year Admission Application form is available from our Policies and Documents section. We have chosen to become our Own Admissions Authority for in-year admissions, as this generally speeds the process up considerably. 

If you are interested in transferring your child mid-year, please contact the school office who will gather relevant information in order that the Senior Leadership Team can meet to consider your request.  Following this, the Vice Principal will contact you with an outcome. 

If we are in a position to make an offer of a place you will be invited to meet with the Vice Principal and look around the school.  For this meeting you will be requested to bring a copy of your child’s most recent report. 

Once the offer of a place has been made, we ask all students to attend for a morning to do a series of tests, primarily in the core subjects of English, Maths and Science.  We use this information help allocate your child to a teaching group and also inform teaching when they arrive.

Students choose their options in Year 8 and start GCSE subjects in Year 9.  Unless you are new to the area, we would discourage you from applying to transfer schools after this date: often we cannot offer students their preferred options or they miss important chunks of work when moving schools.

If, educationally, we think transferring your child to us is the wrong thing to do, we will not offer them a place.  Details of the right of appeal are included in our Admissions Policy, in the policies and documents section.

ArtsMark Auditions

In January 2016, we were awarded ArtsMark status by Arts Council England in recognition of our excellence in this area.  This is a prestigious award and follows a rigorous selection process.

We have therefore changed our admissions criteria to make it easier for those with a talent in the Performing Arts to gain places at the Elizabethan.  We can offer up to 10% of the places available at criteria 6 of the schools admissions arrangements.

We invite applications for auditions in the summer term of Year 5.  Applicants are asked to perform a musical piece, a dance routine or a monologue or, alternatively, to present a portfolio of art or photography.  In addition, there is a short interview, where we assess applicants’ commitment to and passion for the Performing Arts.

As well as preferential treatment during the admissions process, we put some time and resources into mentoring successful applicants under our Gifted and Talented scheme to help them to develop their talents further and support theatre visits etc.  Therefore, it is worthwhile auditioning even if you feel that your child meets some of the other over-subscription criteria.

Example Monologues from Tara Meddaugh