The Local Authority and 11-18 Schools are committed to providing a fully coordinated admission service for new entry to sixth form Schools. The intention is to make the process easier and more consistent for students and parents.

Under these co-ordinated arrangements, students are required to complete a single application and have the opportunity to express up to three preferences. Full details of the application process can be found here:

https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/schools-childcare/how-apply-school-sheffield 

Students should apply for a place through Sheffield Progress, click on the link below:

Click here to view the entry requirements for each of the courses we run.

The authority will then liaise with the Schools on behalf of the student in order to determine a single offer. The co-ordinated scheme ensures that closing dates and allocation dates are consistent across all Schools. The Local Authority acts as the co-ordinating body for managing applications on behalf of all external students.

The criteria to enter the sixth form is five good GCSEs (Grades 4-9) including english language and maths. Currently, school sixth forms in Sheffield have adopted this common approach and will continue to do so during the admissions process until further review.

There are additional GCSE entrance criteria to meet in order to study most subjects – to be set annually by the School. These are published and are available to prospective students on the Sheffield Progress and the School’s website.

Conditional offer of a place

All students who apply on time will have their school preferences considered equally, looking to offer their highest ranked school available. If there are more applications than available places, distance from home to school (straight line measurement) will be used as the tiebreaker. Applicants will be offered places on courses if they meet the criteria – waiting lists may be created if students apply late. Where possible we will aim to adjust our offer to meet demand (e.g. if we need to run five chemistry A Level classes due to demand, we will try to do this, within staffing and rooming constraints).

Refused applications

If students are not eligible, because of GCSE grades or incorrect subject choice, the application will be refused. Applicants are advised to contact their current school for further guidance about applying for alternative places. If an applicant is eligible, but refused on the distance tiebreaker, they will be placed on the waiting list, in distance order, in case a place becomes available at a later date. All refused applicants whom are eligible and meet the minimum required grades, may request a statutory appeal to have their case considered by the Independent Appeal Panel. The appeal forms will be available from July and the appeals will be scheduled for early September.

Local authority oversubscription criteria

Where there are more applications from external candidates than there are places, places (subject to meeting the entry requirements) will be offered in the following order:

1. Students In care - this category also includes students who were previously in care but ceased to be so because they were adopted or became subject to a child arrangement order or special guardianship order immediately after being in care. The student should meet the minimum entry criteria described below. Exceptional circumstances may be considered
2. All other students who are predicted to meet the minimum entry requirement of 5 subjects at grade 4-9 including english and maths Some subjects will also require a minimum subject grade at GCSE. Please see details in the School prospectus
3. If an entire category cannot be admitted without exceeding the number of places available then places will be offered to those students within the category that live closest to the school. All distances will be measured in a straight line from home to school. Applications received after the closing date will be placed on a waiting list and will be considered after those received on time for any places that become available

Additional information

• The School will provide a curriculum that in addition to A Levels also provides a range of options for students gaining mainly Grade 5s in their GCSEs or BTEC passes. A range of Level 3 BTEC courses and AAQ (Alternative Academic Qualifications) courses are currently included in the offer
• Late applications (after the autumn term has started) will only be considered up to the date of the School census in early October. All students need to be included in this census in order to attract Education and Skills Funding Agency funding
• Students arriving in Sheffield after the October census may be considered for entry into the sixth form but the late start may necessitate a three-year route or Year 14 route
• Changing subjects - once in the School students may only switch to subjects for which they meet the entrance criteria and if there is space in the new class. There are no new subject starts after week five of the academic year as students will have missed too much teaching
• Numbers in some subjects may be capped due to the specialist teaching rooms required e.g. Applied Science BTEC/AAQ course. Criteria will be published to make it clear how students will be selected and how any waiting list will operate
• Priority on all courses will be given to students who have pre-selected their subjects before enrolment day in September. These students will be on the School’s subject lists
• Occasionally, there are timetable clashes meaning that certain subject combinations are impossible. In this situation students will be told as soon as possible after subject selections have been made and alternatives suggested
• Students who do not have a Grade 4 or better in GCSE English Language or Mathematics must attend lessons in these subjects until such point that they achieve a Grade 4 or better. They will be able to retake it during November or June of both Year 12 and Year 13, if necessary. Resit groups will be timetabled during the normal School day for this purpose
• Some students arrive from abroad with international or national qualifications equating to GCSEs (for example iGCSEs). As far as is possible we make a judgement as to the suitability of students to follow specific courses at King Edwards based on these results. These students will need to provide a certificate of comparability of previous qualifications. These are available from https://enic.org.uk/Qualifications/SOC/Default.aspx
• Students have to have equivalent qualifications to GCSE to demonstrate prior attainment in English Language and Mathematics to qualify for funding. See DfE guidance https://www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-funding-maths-and-english-condition-offunding#excempt-funding

Appeals procedure

The initial decision to admit a student to the sixth form will be made by the Assistant Head Teacher for Post 16. If a student has not been offered a place in the Sixth Form an appeal can be submitted to the Assistant Headteacher for Post 16 in writing. See appendix A: Appeal Form Stage 1. This appeal must be submitted within five working days of receiving the decision. The Assistant Head Teacher for Post 16 will respond to the appeal.

If the student or parent wishes to appeal against the Assistant Head Teacher for Post 16’s decision an appeal can be made to the Headteacher. This appeal must be submitted to the Headteacher, in writing, within five working days of receiving the response from the Assistant Head Teacher for Post 16. See appendix B: Appeal Form Stage 2. The Headteacher will make a final decision based on the information that has been presented as part of the appeal process.