Admissions to Primary school September 2025

This admission policy is used for the following schools:

Barley Mow, Bede, Bill Quay, Birtley East, Blaydon Wets, Brandling, Brighton Avenue, Caedmon, Carr Hill, Chopwell, Clover Hill, Crookhill, Dunston Hill, Emmaville, Falla Park, Fell Dyke, Fellside, Front Street, Glynwood, Greenside, Harlow Green, Highfield, High Spen, Kells Lane, Kelvin Grove, Kibblesworth Academy, Larkspur, Lingey House, Lobley Hill, Oakfield Infant, Oakfield Junior, Parkhead, Portobello, Ravensworth Terrace, Riverside Academy, Roman Road, Rowlands Gill, Ryton Infant, Ryton Junior, South Street, Swalwell, The Drive, Wardley, Washingwell, Whickham Parochial, White Mere, Windy Nook, Winlaton West Lane.

We allocate places at Gateshead primary, infant and junior Schools using this policy and co-ordinate admissions to Gateshead schools using the coordinated admission scheme. 

The policy is as follows: 

• children start school at the beginning of the academic year in which they will reach the age of five

An academic year lasts from 1 September in one year to 31 August the following year. Children are entitled to a full-time place as soon as they start school, however in most schools, the first term will include an induction period, (a period for children to get used to school life gradually, generally from September to October). Although, you may request that your child attends school part-time until later in the school year, but not beyond the point that your child reaches compulsory school age.

In addition, parents may request that their child is admitted to school later in the school year following September 2025, but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age, and not beyond the beginning of the final term of the school year. 

• we will accept pupils up to the schools agreed Planned Admission Number for the year group unless we feel there are lawful grounds not to do so

Oversubscription criteria

We will consider applications from parents who have named the school as any ranked preference on their application form this is called the equal preference system. If there are more applications for the number of places available at a school, we will than allocate places by using the following order of priority: 

*see definitions of our criteria in priority 1, 3 and 5 above in Notes and definitions.

Point 1

We can consider exceptional individual applications, particularly in cases involving medical or social needs. If you wish to apply on medical or social grounds, you must provide written evidence from relevant registered health professionals such as a doctor or social worker. The evidence must demonstrate why the chosen school is more appropriate and what difficulties would be caused if they were to travel to and attend alternative schools. We will not consider such applications if the relevant professional evidence is not provided. No assumption should be made that submission of the relevant evidence will be sufficient to allocate a place. 

Whickham Parochial Church of England Controlled Primary School 

This school has the same oversubscription criteria as priorities 1 to 6 above except that criteria 3 and 4 above are reversed. Priority 1, 2, 5 and 6 remain in the same order however for this school their oversubscription criteria places priority 4 children above those children in priority 3. 

Oakfield Junior School 

The school has the same oversubscription criteria as priorities 1 to 5 above, however, they have an additional criterion (7 in total). Please see below. 

Criteria 1 to 5 same as criteria 1 to 5 above.
Criteria 6 children that attend Oakfield Infant School.
Criteria 7 all other children.

Admission of children outside their normal age group 

Parents may request a place for their child outside their normal age group, for example gifted and talented children, children that have suffered ill health or parents of summer born children (children born from 1 April 2021 to 31 August 2021). All cases of admission of children outside their normal age group must be discussed with the Council and relevant school Head Teacher prior to the application being made. Such requests must be made on the Common Application Form which is available from 9 September 2024. Parents must detail the circumstances of their request and include any supporting information form relevant professionals. 

The Council will consider each case individually and parents will be notified of the outcome of their request before 16 April 2025. Please refer to Additional information regarding deferred entry and admission of children outside their normal age group. 

Address 

For the purposes of deciding whether a child lives in the catchment area of a school we will use the parent or legal guardian's address or the address of a relevant adult who has parental responsibility, as defined under the 1989 Children's Act, for the child. 

Tie breaker 

If, within any of the above criteria, there are more applicants than places available priority will be given to those children based on the distance they live from the school, measured 'as the crow flies' i.e., in a straight line from the central of the home residence to the school's main entrance. Children living nearest to the school will have priority. We measure the distance using a geographical information system (GIS). Where two or more applicants share the exact same distance, a random allocation process will be used to determine the ranked order of the applications in question. 

Waiting list 

If places become available, we will consider all relevant applications based on a waiting list. The waiting list will be maintained by the council from the start of the academic year and be kept for the rest of the academic year. All applicants on the waiting list are placed according to the admission criteria and priorities set out above. However, children who are the subject of a direction to admit by the LA or who have been referred for admission and have been allocated a place through the Fair Access Protocol will take precedence over any child on the waiting list. 

Application dates 

From 9 September 2024 Gateshead residents can apply online. Online applications must be submitted by 15 January 2025. Alternatively, parents can request a paper application from the School Admissions Team on 0191 433 2757. Paper applications must be returned to the following address by 15 January 2025:

The School Admissions Team
Floor 2
Civic Centre
Gateshead
NE8 1HH

If you live outside Gateshead and want to apply to a Gateshead school, you must obtain an application form from your home Council and return it to them by their closing date, even if the schools you want to apply to are in Gateshead. However, you must still consider Gateshead Council's 'Admission to Primary School' information provided here, so that you know what the admission arrangements are to Gateshead schools. Your own Council will send us notification of your application and they will let you know the final allocation of a school place for your child. 

Offer Date - 16 April 2025

A letter will be sent to parent's resident in Gateshead on or around 16 April 2025 informing them of the school they have been offered for their child. Gateshead residents who apply on-line are also informed by e-mail on 16 April 2025. 

General information and definitions

This policy should be read in conjunction with the local authority's primary school admissions guidance for parents.

Gateshead's co-ordinated admission scheme and catchment areas referred to in this policy can also be viewed online or at the Civic Centre.