Admissions Arrangements 2025-2026

Admissions

City of London Academy Highbury Grove, in partnership with Islington Council and part of the City of London family of schools, is an inclusive, co-educational, non-denominational school that welcomes all children and families, including those with special needs.

The school will have the key ambition to achieve student progress equivalent to the best 5% of secondary schools in the country.

City of London Academy Highbury Grove’s Year 7 intake in September 2025 will comprise of both girls and boys.

Published Admissions Number (PAN)

City of London Academy Highbury Grove has an admission number of 180 year 7 places in September 2025. City of London Academy Highbury Grove will accordingly admit this number of pupils each year if there are sufficient applications. Where there are fewer applications than the published admission number for the relevant year group received, places will be offered to all those who have applied.

Oversubscription criteria

A child with an Education, Health and Care Plan which names a school must be admitted to the school in accordance with section 324 of the Education Act 1996. This is a separate process from the coordinated Admission Arrangements set out below. In the event of there being more applications than places available, places will be allocated in the following order of priority:

1. Looked After Children or previously looked after [see note a].
2. Children with siblings who are already on roll at the City of London Academy Highbury Grove and will still be on roll at their date of entry [see note b]
3. Children with exceptional medical, social or psychological needs, where it is agreed by theAcademy Trust that these can best be addressed at the City of London Academy Highbury Grove [see note c]
4. Children living nearest to the Academy as measured by a straight line from the child’s home to the centre of the school grounds [see note d]

Notes

1. 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 definition in Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989) at the time of making an application to a school. Also children who were previously looked after children who were looked after but ceased to be so because they were adopted (or became subject to a Child Arrangements 2
   Orders order or special guardianship order) immediately after being looked after, including those who appear to have been in state care outside of England.
2. Sibling includes full, half, step, foster and adopted brother or sister living in the same family unit and at the same home address as the child. Siblings at the same address who will still be attending the school in September 2025. Siblings who attend the City of London Academy Islington (Secondary), City of London Academy Highgate Hill (Secondary) or City of London Primary Academy Islington, will not be treated as a sibling.
3. Supporting evidence from a suitable professional to substantiate that the child has a medical, social or psychological need must be provided at the time of application. The evidence must be in a written format and should set out the reasons why, in their view, City of London Academy Highbury Grove is the most suitable and the difficulties that would be caused if the child had to attend another school. This evidence must be current and either from the child’s registered general practitioner or any other suitably qualified professional that the child has been referred to and/or who is providing direct care / support / treatment to the child on an ongoing basis in their professional capacity e.g. a child or educational psychologist, a child psychiatrist, an orthopaedic consultant or a social worker.
4. Distance from the City of London Academy Highbury Grove will be determined from the centre of the school grounds. Nearness to schools is measured on a computerised mapping system using a straight line distance measurement. Routes will be calculated from the home address (as defined by the Land and Property Gazetteer) to the centre of the school grounds (as determined by the London Borough of Islington). If a child lives in a block of flats where a communal entrance is used, the centroid for the block and not the individual flat is used for calculation purposes.
5. Tie break – Distance will be used as a tiebreaker for criteria 1, 2 and 3. If only one place is available and two or more children qualify for that place, the child who is offered the place will be determined by independent random allocation using Islington LA’s computerised system.
6. Multiple births – if only one place is available at the school and the next child who qualifies for a place is one of multiple birth siblings, the Academy will admit all of the other multiple birth siblings as ‘excepted pupils’ by going over their published admission number.

Late Applications

All applications received by the Islington Council after the deadline will be considered to be late applications. Late applications will be considered after those received on time.

Admission of children outside their normal age group

Parents may request that their child is admitted outside their normal age group. When such a request is made, the Academy Trust will make a decision on the basis of the circumstances of the case and in the best interests of the child concerned, taking into account the views of the Principal and any supporting evidence provided by the parent and will set out clearly the reasons for their decision.

Proof of Address

Islington LA, as part of the pan-London co-ordination group takes responsibility for verifying eligibility to apply for a school place.

Shared parental responsibility – If both parents live separately but the child lives equally with both, then it is the parents’ responsibility to make this clear at the time of the application and to provide supporting evidence in respect of both addresses, for example, a Child Arrangements Orders from a court. Only one address can be used for school admission purposes and the final decision will rest with Islington LA.

Photocopies copies of the following documentation will be required;

1. Council Tax reference number (This can be found on the Council Tax bill).
2. If these are obtainable, at least two alternative documents. For example: utility bill; GP, hospital, dentist or optician letter.
3. Also for proof that the child lives at the same address, at least two documents, for example: a letter from the child’s GP, dentist, hospital, optician; NHS Medical Card; or the page within the child’s health record book that has his/her name and address.

All documents are to be no older than one year.

Waiting Lists

Islington Council will continue to co-ordinate admissions beyond the offer date. Islington Council will hold the Academy’s waiting list until 31st December. After this date, the City of London Academy Highbury Grove will maintain its own waiting list. Waiting lists will be re-ordered in accordance with the oversubscription criteria whenever a child joins or leaves the waiting list.

Appeals

All applicants refused a place have a right of appeal to an independent appeal panel constituted and operated in accordance with the School Admission Appeals Code. Appellants should contact the Admissions Officer, City of London Academy Highbury Grove for information on how to appeal. Applications for appeals must be lodged by the 1 April 2025.

In Year Admissions (Year 8, 9, 10 and 11)

Applications for in-year admissions are made directly to the school. If a place is available and there is no waiting list, then the Governing Body will offer the place. If more applications are received than there are places available, then applications will be ranked in accordance with the oversubscription criteria. Applicants will be offered the opportunity of being placed on a waiting list which will be maintained by the Governing Body in the order of the oversubscription criteria and not in the order in which the applications are received. When a place becomes available the Governing Body will make an offer to the applicant who is at the top of the list.

Children of UK service personnel and crown servants

For families of service personnel with a confirmed posting, or crown servants returning from overseas, the school will allocate a place in advance of the family arriving in the area (as long as one is available), and provided the application is accompanied by an official letter that declares a relocation date and so long as some evidence of their intended address is provided for a unit or quarter address to be used.

City of London Academy Highbury Grove – Post 16 Admissions

1. All students who apply before the published deadline will be contacted by the Academy to attend a consultation meeting regarding their application at which they will be provided with advice on options and entry requirements for particular courses. Applications are made directly to the Academy.
2. Following the consultation meeting, offers of a place on a specific course will be conditional on GCSE results and attendance at enrolment in August.

Oversubscription criteria:

In the event that there are more applications than places available, the following criteria will apply;

1. Looked after children: This refers to children who are in the care of a local authority and children who have been adopted (or made subject to a child arrangements order or special guardianship order) immediately after being looked after. (see footnote 1)
2. Students in Year 11 who attend the City of London Academy who meet the entry requirements for their chosen course of study.
3. External students who meet the entry requirements for their chosen course of study.

In the event of more applications than places available within any given criteria, preference will be given to students who are nearest to the Academy. This will be determined by a computerised mapping system using a straight line distance measurement. Routes will be calculated from the child’s home address (as defined by the Land and Property Gazetteer) to the centre of the school grounds (as determined by the London Borough of Islington).

Proposed admission numbers for September 2025:

A maximum of 110 students in Year 12 ; with a maximum of 90 students in Year 13 will be offered places for September 2025.

The Admissions policy is reviewed annually.