Year 6 into 7
Admission to Year 7 in September 2025
At Magdalen College School, we realise that moving from primary to secondary school can sometimes be daunting for children and parents. We have established a year long transition process to make the experience as successful as possible.
Parents or carers will need to complete a Common Application Form by 31 October 2024 with your local county council. All students whose statement of special educational needs (SEN) or Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) name the school as the most appropriate provision will be admitted. The link to West Northamptonshire Council's admission team is: West Northamptonshire Year 7 admission - the applications portal has opened on 9 September 2024. National offer day for successful applications to our school is 1 March 2025.
Places will first be allocated to children who have an Education, Health and Care (EHCP) Plan that names the school as offering the appropriate provision.
To view our current admissions policy - please click:
Oversubscription criteria
When there are more applications for places than there are places available, priority will be given in the following order:
1. Children in public care (looked after children) or; previously Looked After Children (LAC) also known as children in public care, including 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.
2. Students who live in the linked area associated with the school i.e., Astwell, Aynho, Brackley, Charlton, Croughton, Crowfield, Evenley, Falcutt, Halse, Helmdon, Hinton-in-the-Hedges, Newbottle, Radstone, Silverstone, Steane, Syresham and Whitfield
3. Students who will have an older brother or sister continuing at Magdalen College School at the time of admission of the younger child
4. Students attending the designated contributory primary school (e., Bracken Leas, Brackley Junior, Croughton All Saints, Helmdon, Newbottle and Charlton, Radstone Primary School, Silverstone and Syresham) and continuing in attendance until the final offer of places in made
5. Other students
Allocation to PAN
If the admission number is exceeded within criterion 2, priority will be given to those who live furthest from the nearest alternative school.
If the admission number is exceeded within any other criterion priority will be given to those who live closest to the school. Distances are measured on a straight-line basis from the address point of the child’s home address to the address point of the school using Northamptonshire County Council’s Geographical Information System (GIS).
Tie-breaker
If two or more applications cannot otherwise be separated and there is only one place available, a random allocation process will be used to determine who should be allocated the place.
Siblings
A sibling is defined as a child’s brother or sister. A sibling must be living at the same permanent address and as part of the same family unit (one or two parents plus children) to qualify under this criterion. For School Admissions purposes, the term sibling includes:
- half-brothers and half-sisters
- step-brothers and step-sisters
- adopted children
- children in foster care
- children living in the same family unit, even if they are not biological brothers and sisters – for example when the parents are not married/in a civil relationship.
Cousins are not regarded as siblings.
Multiple Birth Groups
In the case of twins or other siblings from a multiple birth, if the last child to be admitted is from a multiple birth group, the applications will be considered together as one application, meaning we will offer places to all children in the group, even if it means exceeding the Published Admission number.
In the case of siblings (see definition above) in the same year group, where there is only one place remaining, these too will be considered as one application.
Home Address (child’s)
The child’s home address is defined as the address at which the child normally resides with their parent/carer at the time of application. If a child lives with parents who are separated, the home address will be treated as the place where the child sleeps for most of the school week (i.e. Sunday night – Thursday night inclusive)
If the child spends equal amounts of time at two addresses, the parents must agree which address they wish to be the child’s main address before we can process the application.
Documentary evidence of ownership or rental agreement may be required together with proof of actual permanent residence at the property concerned.
Transition from Primary School
All students in our local feeder schools will receive an invite to our Year 7 Open Evening.
Once pupils have received their offers, the Leader of Learning, SENCO and Pastoral Support Assistant will visit students in their primary schools to talk to them about life at Magdalen and answer any queries they may have. Our staff will also liaise closely with staff in the primary schools during these visits as well as during regular more formal meetings throughout the year.
Pupils in our feeder primaries will be expected to complete transition work prior to transition days in the summer term in a variety of subjects. Their year 6 teachers will be aware of the projects and will support the students with these.
All pupils who have been allocated a place at Magdalen College School will attend our transition days in the summer term. During these students will work in their tutor groups and meet their form tutors as well as participating in some lessons they will have subjects in for the following September. Although we expect our new pupils to work hard during this time we also provide opportunities for them to become familiar with our split site school, meet a range of different staff, participate in team building activities and a range of competitions. At the end of these days students leave us exhausted but excited to start.
We may hold an information evening for parents with presentations from the Headteacher, Leader of Learning and your child’s new form tutor. Our plans are not finalised yet and all parents will receive information once we know more about the COVID restriction at that time.
We look forward to welcoming your child to Magdalen College School.
