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Admissions Policy And Procedures For Entry In 2009
The policy below is correct as of 15th April 2008 but is potentially subject to revision in the
light of changes in government policy.
The admissions policy of Poole Grammar School aims to reflect the underlying ethos of the school which is to provide a
selective education for boys from the Borough of Poole and its environs.
Parents and prospective pupils are warmly invited to visit the Open Evening on 23 September 2008, from 6-8pm. It is also
possible for parents and their sons to tour the school by appointment during any school day in term time. Parents are
welcome to contact the School Office if they have any queries.
Admissions at 12+
Admission to all Poole schools will be in accordance with the agreed secondary scheme for coordinated admission arrangements
2009. Parents are able to state their school preference without it being taken into account by the schools they are applying
to.
In the case of 12+ Poole Middle/Combined School pupils, application forms should be submitted via the boy's current school.
In all other cases, including Broadstone Middle School, parents should complete an application form and send or take it to
the Admissions Team, Children & Young People's Integrated Services, Borough of Poole, The Dolphin Centre, Poole, BH15
1SA. by the published closing date. Forms can be obtained from Poole Grammar School or the Admissions Team in Children &
Young People's Integrated Services. Applications can also be made on-line at the Borough's website:
www.boroughofpoole.com. DCSF regulations have set a national
date for the issue of letters offering places which will be 2 March 2009.
Admission to Year 8
- The closing date for applications to be received by the Borough of Poole is mid-day Friday 24 October 2008.
- Admission to the school in Year 8 is conditional upon achieving the academic standard required in the school's entrance
tests and on the availability of places.
- To provide appropriate information on which an assessment of a candidate's academic standard can be completed, a series
of tests will be held for which boys will come to Poole Grammar School on Saturday 22 November 2008 from 9.15 a.m. -
2.30 p.m.
- The school's published admission number for Year 8 is 168 for September 2009.
- Boys will take tests in Non Verbal Reasoning, Mathematics and English and write an English essay.
- On the basis of their results, boys will be placed in two groups, Group A (Meets the required standard),or Group B
(Does not meet the required standard).
- The scores for the entrance tests are adjusted (or "standardised") according to age.
- The Governors' admission panel will then consider which students have met our entrance requirements and this information
will be passed to the Local Authority which will allocate places in accordance with the oversubscription criteria. Test
results will also be forwarded to headteachers of Poole Middle Schools ( with an age of transfer of 12+) and independent
schools sited in the Borough of Poole for information only.
- Results will be posted to parents by Poole Local Education Authority on 2 March 2009.
- Parents should respond to the offer of a place by the deadline date specified in the offer letter.
- Test scores will be issued to parents of boys who are not offered a place. Parents of applicants who are not offered a
place will be informed of their right of appeal.
- Parents have the right of appeal when results are known and will be given information on taking up their statutory right
of appeal at that time.
- Academic assessments will not be repeated within 12 months of the last stage of the process e.g. the last panel or appeals
meeting at which the candidate was assessed or reviewed. Any subsequent application will require written confirmation from
the candidate's Headteacher that accelerated progress has been made.
Late Applications for Year 8
A late application is one that is received after the published closing date (mid-day 24 October 2008). Late applications
will not be dealt with until after all applications submitted by the closing date have been considered.
Parents who move into the area or whose sons have for other reasons missed the initial test dates, should make their
application via Children & Young People's Integrated Services as soon as possible. Please note that such tests and any
subsequent offers of places will only take place subject to spaces still being available after the initial series. It is
thus important that parents observe the October closing date noted above.
Years 9-11
Application for admission to these year groups can be made at any time. Assessment of pupils for entry into Year 9, 10 and
11 is carried out on request. If there is a vacancy in the year group and the pupil has reached the required standard in
the school's entrance tests a place will be offered in accordance with this admissions policy. Alternatively if the year
group is full, you may still request that the school tests your son. However, the school will be unable to offer a place
as the school cannot offer places above its published admissions number, but you will have the right of appeal.
Applications for Admissions to Years 8, 9 10 and 11 for Students Outside Their National Curriculum Year Group
A pupil cannot usually be tested or accepted into a year group out of his normal year group unless:
- he is already being taught in that year group in another school;
- he has an unqualified letter of support from his existing headteacher;
- he achieves the academic standard in the admissions tests; and
- there is a place available in the year group
Oversubscription Criteria
In the event of the school being oversubscribed priority will be given in the following order.
- eligible boys who are 'Children in Care'.
- eligible boys attending a Poole Middle or Combined School, or an Independent School sited in the Borough of Poole
- eligible boys attending schools outside the Borough of Poole, who do not meet criteria (a) or (b) above, in rank order
of their average score across the admissions tests.
Notes
- In the event of over subscription in any of the criteria (a) to (c), priority will be given up to the Published Admission
Number to the boys whose domicile is nearest to Poole Grammar School as determined by the Borough of Poole's Geographical
Information System which uses the shortest safest and practicable walking route using the centre of the pupil's home
address to a point opposite the nearest school gate that is for the use of pupils. If applicants live in a block of flats
the allocation of places will be made by drawing lots. Applicants in this position will have their names drawn as lots to
see who should be offered a place.
- 'Eligible' means achieving the academic standard required in the school's admission tests.
- In criterion (a) 'Children in Care' means any child who is in the care of a Local Authority in accordance with Section
20 of the Children Act 1989.
Admission to the Sixth Form
Prospective Sixth form pupils are encouraged to visit the school in the Autumn Term. Application details, including a
prospectus, can be obtained via the school office. Prospective Sixth Formers will be invited to attend a half-day visit to
the school in the Spring term. Students should complete the appropriate application form and return it to Poole Grammar
School and an academic reference will be sought from the student's current school.
The School offers Advanced Level courses only. Places on AS (Advanced Subsidiary) courses can, subject to available places,
normally be offered to applicants who meet the minimum course requirements. Our Sixth Form entry requirement is usually based
on the candidate's best 8 GCSEs including English and Mathematics with a minimum of 344 points, with an A*, A or B in the
subjects chosen or in a related discipline. The points used are the Department for Education (DfES) points - 58 A*, 52 A,
46 B, 40 C, 34 D, 28 E. (Maximum = 8 A* = 464 Points).
Progression onto the second year of the course (A2) is dependent on successful completion and passing of two or more AS levels.
Late applicants can be considered any time up to September.
Up to 30 students can be accepted into the Sixth form from other schools.
Published Admission Number
The published admission number for September 2009 is 168. The number of first preference applications received by the closing
date, October 2007 was 324.
Although priority is given to pupils from Poole feeder schools, pupils applied from a total of 45 schools at 12+ in 2007.
Boys with Statements of Special Educational Needs
Boys with a Statement of Special Educational Needs issued by a local authority naming Poole Grammar School as the school
where the pupils should receive their education and who have achieved the academic standard required in the admissions
tests will be admitted to the school before preferences are considered for admission in September.
Home Address
The home address where a child lives is considered as the address at which he is ordinarily resident during the school week.
Where a child spends time with parents with shared parental responsibility at more than one address the local authority will
consider the home address as being where the prime carer resides. The 'prime carer' shall be determined as the parent in
whose name Child Benefit payments for the individual child are made.
Applications from Separated Parents
Only one application can be considered for each pupil. Where parents are separated it is essential that agreement is reached
by both parties concerning the nominated preferred schools. If agreement cannot be reached the admission authority will only
consider the application from the parent who is the prime carer for the child. The prime carer is the parent in whose name
Child Benefit payments for the individual child are made.
The Governors of Poole Grammar School
April 2008
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