If you would like to fill an application form out for you child please see the link below where you will be directed to an Google Doc form. Once completed please bring your child's birth certificate/ passport and a Baptism certificate if applicable to your child.

Application form


Places for Reception September 2025

Places must be applied for by Wednesday 15th January 2025. This is via the council application form. Information about applications and the application form can be found here
Offers of places will be sent out to those who applied on-time on National Offer Day - 16 April 2025. 

Applying late means you have less chance of getting your preferred school and that we may not send your offer out till after the usual date.

This is because we offer places to on-time applications first, and places at your preferred school may have already been taken by on-time applicants.

Click on the link below to follow the application process if you're living within Manchester City Council areas.

Applying for a school place for Reception classes in Manchester



Admission Arrangements for St Willibrord’s RC Primary School

2024/2025


Introduction 

St Willibrord’s role is to participate in the mission of the Catholic Church by providing a curriculum, including Catholic religious education and worship, which will help children to grow in their understanding of the Good News and in the practice of their faith.  The school will help the children develop fully as human beings and prepare them to undertake their responsibilities as Catholics in society.  The school requires all parents applying for a place here to understand and respect this ethos and its importance to the school community.  This does not affect the rights of parents who are not of the Catholic faith to apply for a place here. 


As the Admissions Authority for St Willibrord’s RC Primary School in Manchester, the Governing Body is required to draft, consult on and determine their admission arrangements. Where there are more applicants than places available the Governing Body will apply the admission arrangements in order to decide which applicants will be offered places. 


Admission arrangements for voluntary aided schools, foundation schools, free schools and academies are set by their Governing Body, who are the Admission Authority for their establishment. They are responsible for drafting, consulting on and determining their admission arrangements. 


Legislation and statutory requirements

This policy is based on the following advice from the Department for Education (DfE):

   School Admissions Code 2021

   School Admission Appeals Code

The school is required to comply with these codes, and with the law relating to admissions as set out in the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.


Definitions

The normal admissions round is the period during which parents can apply for state-funded school places at the school’s normal point of entry, using the common application form provided by their home local authority.

 

Looked after children are children who, at the time of making an application to a school, are:

  In the care of a local authority, or

  Being provided with accommodation by a local authority in exercise of its social services functions

 

Previously looked after children are children who were looked after, but ceased to be so because they:

- Were adopted under the Adoption Act 1976 or the Adoption and Children Act 2002, or

- Became subject to a child arrangements order, or

- Became subject to a special guardianship order

This includes children who appear to have been in state care outside of England and have ceased to be in state care due to being adopted.

 

A child reaches compulsory school age on the prescribed day following his or her fifth birthday (or on his or her fifth birthday if it falls on a prescribed day). The prescribed days are 31 December, 31 March and 31 August.


Application Procedures 

Reception Places for September


All parents/carers are required to apply to their home LA regardless of where the school/academy they are applying is situated. Manchester residents will apply to Manchester LA. The LA will liaise with other Admissions Authorities in Manchester and other LAs where required. Manchester LA will inform parents/carers in writing of the outcome of their application. 


Application forms are available from www.manchester.gov.uk/admissions and can be requested by phone on 0161 245 7166. 


They should be returned to: 

School Admissions Service 

Manchester City Council, 

P.O. Box 532, 

Town Hall, 

Manchester, 

M60 2LA 

Or 

school.admissions@manchester.gov.uk 


These admission arrangements apply to applicants seeking a place in Reception for a school in Manchester. Applications for admission to the nursery of a Manchester school/academy will be dealt with by the school/academy, not by the LA. Applicants should apply directly to the school for a nursery place. 


The school is obliged to include in these arrangements the following provisions that apply to parent/carers making applications for a place in Reception only: 

a) The arrangements do not apply to those being admitted for nursery provision; 

b) Parent/carers of children who are admitted for nursery provision must apply for a place at the school if they want their child to transfer to the reception class; 

c) Attendance at the nursery does not guarantee admission to the school; 

d) Parents/carers can request that the date their child is admitted to the school is deferred until later in the school year or until the child reaches compulsory school age in that school year. Where entry is deferred, admission authorities must hold the place for that child and not offer it to another child. The parent would not however be able to defer entry beyond the beginning of the term after the child’s fifth birthday; 

e) Parents of a summer born child may request that they are admitted out of their normal age group – to reception rather than year 1. 

f) Parents can request that their child attends part-time until the child reaches compulsory school age. 


Published Admission Numbers (PAN) 

A Published Admission Number (PAN) is the number of places a school has in the year of entry. Places will normally only be offered up to the published admission number. A child cannot be refused admission to the normal year of entry on the grounds of prejudice to the provision of efficient education and efficient use of resources unless the published admission number has been reached. 

Outside of the year of entry it is expected that the PAN will continue to be applied. However, if circumstances at the school/academy have changed since the year of entry, a place may be refused even if the admission number has not been reached. 


The published admissions numbers (PAN) for entry in the 2024/25 academic year at St Willibrord’s RC Primary School is 30. 


St Willibrord's RC Primary has been commissioned by Manchester Local Authority to have specialist resourced mainstream provision for up to seven children who have a statement for Autism and/or specific language impairment (SLI).  Although the school is responsible for the teaching and learning of these seven children it does not control the admission of places to the provision.  These decisions are made by the Local Authority which has a multi-agency panel to agree placements in the provisions in Manchester. For further information please contact the statutory assessment team on 0161 245 7444

Oversubscription Criteria 

The oversubscription criteria will be applied to all applicants where there are more applicants than places available. All applicants will be placed in a priority order determined by the oversubscription criteria. Places will be offered to the applicants with the highest priority until all places at the school have been offered, after all children whose Education, Health and Care plan names the school. 


There are different oversubscription criteria for entry into: 

  • reception in September (Primary Admissions Round), 
  • reception up to year 6 during the academic year (In Year Admissions). 


Primary Admissions Round – Oversubscription Criteria 

  1. Baptised Roman Catholic Looked After Children and previously Looked After Children. Baptised Roman Catholic Children who were looked after or in state care outside of England. A child is regarded as having been in state care in a place outside of England if they were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation or another professional provider of care; 
  2. A sibling of a child who has been placed in the school’s specialist provision
  3. Baptised Roman Catholic children who will have a brother or sister attending the school at the time of admission to the Reception Class and resident in the former parish of St. Willibrord’s boundary. (this does not include a child in Nursery)
  4. Baptised Roman Catholic children resident in the former parish boundary of St. Willibrord’s.
  5. Baptised Roman Catholic children who will have a brother or sister attending the school at the time of admission to the Reception Class and resident in the wider parish of The Holy Spirit’s boundary. (this does not include a child in Nursery)
  6. Baptised Roman Catholic children resident in the wider parish boundary of The Holy Spirit.
  7. Other baptised Roman Catholic children who will have a brother or sister attending the school at the time of admission to the Reception Class (this does not include the Nursery Class) and are resident in another parish.
  8. Other baptised Roman Catholic children who are resident in another Parish.
  9. Other Looked After Children and previously Looked After Children.
  10. Other children with a brother or sister attending the school at the time of the admission to the Reception Class (this does not include the Nursery Class).
  11. Other children.

Within each category applicants will be prioritised according to the distance between the child’s permanent address and the school. Distance will be measured in a straight line from the centre point of the child’s permanent home address to the centre point of the school as defined by Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG), and using the Local Authority’s computerised measuring system, with those living closer to the school receiving higher priority. 


Notes: 

Baptised Roman Catholic

  • A valid Roman Catholic Baptismal Certificate must be presented to the school. If a certificate is not presented the application will be treated as not being for a Catholic child.
  • ‘Catholic’ means
  • Holding a certificate of baptism signed by a priest of the Latin Catholic Church;
  • Holding a certificate of reception of baptised Christians into the Latin Catholic Church

Sibling 

  • A sibling is defined as a brother or sister attending St Willibrord’s school when the applicant will take up the place and living at the same address. This includes adopted siblings, step siblings and foster children; 
  • Siblings who are in a nursery class of the primary school will not give the applicant a sibling priority. 


Late Applications 


The closing date for applications will be 15th January 2024. Any applications received after the closing date will be processed as late applications. This means an offer of a place will be made after all on time applicants have been processed. Late applications may result in parents/carers not being offered a place. 


The LA will only process applications received after the deadline date as on time applications if there is a good reason for late submission. Such applications are valid late applications. A valid late application will include situations where children move into Manchester after the closing date. Late applications with reasons for late submission will only be considered up to the 31 January 2024. This is the date when application information is exchanged with other LA’s. 


Where possible late applicants will be sent an offer letter on 17 April 2024. 


Applications received after 17 April 2024 will be notified of the outcome of their application as soon as possible. 


In Year Admissions


In Year applications will be made directly to the school. All children whose Education, Health and Care plan names the school must be admitted. 


An application form can be obtained by either:


If there are available places in a class then a child will be admitted to the school following an application for a place. A decision regarding an application for a school place will be made within 15 school days. All children whose education, health and care (EHC) plans name the school will be admitted before any other places are allocated.

Decisions on requests for admission outside the normal age group will be made on the basis of the circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the child concerned. In accordance with the School Admissions Code, this will include taking account of:

  •    Parents’ views
  •    Information about the child’s academic, social and emotional development
  •    Where relevant, their medical history and the views of a medical professional
  •    Whether they have previously been educated out of their normal age group
  •    Whether they may naturally have fallen into a lower age group if it were not for being born prematurely
  •    The headteacher’s views

Wherever possible, requests for admission outside a child’s normal age group will be processed as part of the main admissions round. They will be considered on the basis of the admission arrangements laid out in this policy, including the oversubscription criteria listed. Applications will not be treated as a lower priority if parents have made a request for a child to be admitted outside the normal age group.

Parents will always be informed of the reasons for any decision on the year group a child should be admitted to. Parents do not have a right to appeal if they are offered a place at the school but it is not in their preferred age group.

If the admission of a further child would prejudice the provision of efficient education or efficient use of resources within a year group then a refusal of a place may be given. Written reasons for this refusal would be provided within 15 school days of the application. 

We will not refuse to admit a child on behavioural grounds in the normal admissions round or at any point in the normal year of entry. We may refuse admission in certain cases where the specific criteria listed in the School Admissions Code (paragraph 3.8) apply, i.e. where section 87 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 is engaged. 

We may refuse admission for an in-year applicant for a year group that isn’t the normal point of entry, only in such a case that we have good reason to believe that the child may display challenging behaviour that may adversely affect the provision we can offer. In this case, we will refer these pupils to the Fair Access Protocol. We will not refuse admission on these grounds to looked after children, previously looked after children and children with EHC plans listing the school. 


Appeals

If your child’s application for a place at the school is unsuccessful, you will be informed why admission was refused and given information about the process for hearing appeals. 

If you wish to appeal, you must set out the grounds for your appeal in writing and send it to the following address:

Email - contact@st-willibrords.manchester.sch.uk

Post - St. Willibrord’s RC Primary School, Vale Street, Clayton, Manchester. M11 4WR

You can find details of the school’s appeals timetable on the following webpage:

www.st-willibrords.manchester.sch.uk

We participate in Manchester LA’s Fair Access Protocol. This helps ensure that all children, including those who are unplaced and vulnerable, or having difficulty in securing a school place in-year, get access to a school place as quickly as possible.


Oversubscription Criteria

If the school has available places in a class, but receives more applications for places than are available then the oversubscription criteria as detailed below will be applied.

  1. Baptised Roman Catholic Looked After Children and previously Looked After Children. Baptised Roman Catholic Children who were looked after or in state care outside of England. A child is regarded as having been in state care in a place outside of England if they were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation or another professional provider of care; 
  2. Children with exceptional medical/social needs
  3. A sibling of a child who has been placed in the school’s specialist provision
  4. Baptised Roman Catholic children who will have a brother or sister attending the school at the time of admission to the Reception Class and resident in the former parish of St. Willibrord’s boundary. (this does not include a child in Nursery)
  5. Baptised Roman Catholic children resident in the former parish boundary of St. Willibrord’s.
  6. Baptised Roman Catholic children who will have a brother or sister attending the school at the time of admission to the Reception Class and resident in the wider parish of The Holy Spirit’s boundary. (this does not include a child in Nursery)
  7. Baptised Roman Catholic children resident in the wider parish boundary of The Holy Spirit.
  8. Other baptised Roman Catholic children who will have a brother or sister attending the school at the time of admission to the Reception Class (this does not include the Nursery Class) and are resident in another parish.
  9. Other baptised Roman Catholic children who are resident in another Parish.
  10. Other Looked After Children and previously Looked After Children.
  11. Other children with a brother or sister attending the school at the time of the admission to the Reception Class (this does not include the Nursery Class).
  12. Other children.

Within each category applicants will be prioritised according to the distance between the child’s permanent address and the school. Distance will be measured in a straight line from the centre point of the child’s permanent home address to the centre point of the school as defined by Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG), and using the Local Authority’s computerised measuring system, with those living closer to the school receiving higher priority. 


Notes: 

Baptised Roman Catholic

  • A valid Roman Catholic Baptismal Certificate must be presented to the school. If a certificate is not presented the application will be treated as not being for a Catholic child. 
  • ‘Catholic’ means
  • Holding a certificate of baptism signed by a priest of the Latin Catholic Church;
  • Holding a certificate of reception of baptised Christians into the Latin Catholic Church

Sibling 

  • A sibling is defined as a brother or sister attending St Willibrord’s school when the applicant will take up the place and living at the same address. This includes adopted siblings, step siblings and foster children; 
  • Siblings who are in a nursery class of the primary school will not give the applicant a sibling priority.

Category 2 - Exceptional medical/social needs 

  • A panel of Local Authority officers will consider Category 2 applications on behalf of the Director of Children’s Services. 
  • If a parent has chosen a particular school because the child has exceptional social or medical circumstances or the parent is disabled, this should be indicated with the reasons for choosing the school. Parents must also provide a letter from a doctor or social worker as supporting evidence. The LA will then send a category 2 application form allowing the parent to state in full the exceptional social/medical reasons why the child should attend this school. 
  • If supporting evidence is not supplied with a category 2 application the application will be refused. 

Tie Break

  • In the case of 2 or more applications that cannot be separated by the oversubscription criteria outlined above, the school will use the distance between the school and a child’s home as a tie breaker to decide between applicants. Priority will be given to children who live closest to the school. Distance will be measured in a straight line from the child’s home address to the school’s front gates on Vale Street, Clayton, M11 4WR. A child’s home address will be considered to be where he/she is resident for the majority of nights in a normal school week.
  • Where the distance between 2 children’s homes and the school is the same, random allocation will be used to decide between them. This process will be independently verified. 


Waiting Lists 

Waiting lists will be held in criteria order according to the oversubscription criteria. Waiting lists will not be operated on a “first come, first served” basis. The amount of time an applicant is on a waiting list will not affect their position on it. 


For In Year applications, waiting lists will be held for the term in which the application was made. At the end of the term all applicants will be contacted to be asked if they wish to remain on the school’s waiting list. Details of the waiting list process will be on the application forms and on the offer letters sent to applicants. 


This Admission Policy will have the full agreement of Salford Diocese and the governors of St Willibrord’s RC Primary School and will follow all relevant procedures for consultation. 


NOTES

  1. All applicants will be considered at the same time and after the closing date for admissions 
  2. “A ‘looked after child’ has the same meaning as in section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989, and means any child who is (a) in the case of a local authority or (b) being provided with accommodation by them in the exercise of their social services 6 functions (e.g. children with foster parents) at the time of making the application to the school. “A ‘previously looked after child’ is a child who was looked after, but ceased to be so because he or she was adopted, or became subject to a child arrangements order or special guardianship order. Previously looked after children also includes those children who appear (to the governing body) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted”
  3. For a child to be considered as a Catholic evidence of a Catholic Baptism or reception into the Catholic Church is required.  Written evidence of reception into the Catholic Church can be obtained by referring to the Register of Receptions, or in some cases a subsection of the Baptismal Registers of the Church in which the Rite of Reception took place.  If, for example, a child has been baptised in the Church of England and the parents are subsequently admitted to the Catholic Church through the RCIA programme, the child must also be admitted to the Church by the Rite of Reception. 

The Governing Board will require written evidence in the form of a Certificate of Reception before applications for school places can be considered for categories of ‘Baptised Catholics’.  A Certificate of Reception is to include full name, date of birth, date of reception and parent(s) name(s).  The certificate must also show that it is copied from the records kept by the place of reception.

Those who have difficulty obtaining written evidence of baptism for a good reason, may still be considered as baptised Catholics but only after they have been referred to the parish priest who, after consulting with the Episcopal Vicar of Education or officers of the DDFE will decide how the question of baptism is to be resolved and how written evidence is to be produced in accordance with the law of the Church.

  1. Before accepting an application for a place in school, the school requests that proof of address is shown.  This would be in the form of a utility bill, council tax or benefits letter. The Governing Body reserves the right to withdraw the offer of a school place where false evidence is received in relation to baptism, sibling connections or place of residence.
  2. Home Address is considered to be the address where the child normally lives.  Where care is split and a child moves between two addresses, the household in receipt of the child benefit would normally be the address used but the admission authority body reserves the right to request other evidence as fit the individual circumstance. Applicants should not state the address of another relative or person who has daily care of the child. 
  3. It is the duty of governors to comply with regulations on class size limits for children aged between rising five and seven.  The Governing Board may exceed the regulations for twins and children from multiple births where one of the children is the 30th child admitted.  This also applies to in-year applicants who are Looked After/previously Looked After Children of UK service personnel or children who move into the area for whom there is no other school available within a reasonable distance.
  4. If in any category there are more applications than places available, priority will be given on the basis of distance from home to school.  Distance will be measured in a straight line from the front door of the child’s home address (including the community entrance to flats) to the main entrance of the school using the Local Authority’s computerised measuring system with those living nearer to the school having priority.  If the distance is the same for two or more applicants where this would be the last place/s to be allocated, a random lottery will be carried out in a public place.
  5. Sibling is defined as a brother or sister, half brother or sister, adopted brother or sister, step brother or sister, or the parent/carer’s partner where the child for whom the school place is sought is living in the same family unit at the same address as that sibling.
  6. A waiting list for children who have not been offered a place will be kept and will be ranked according to the Admission Criteria.  The waiting list does not consider the date the application was received or the length of time a child's name has been on the waiting list. This means that a child's position on the list may change if another applicant is refused a place and their child has higher priority in the admissions criteria.
  7. For ‘In Year’ applications received outside the normal admissions round, if places are available they will be offered to those who apply.  If there are places available but more applicants than places, then the published oversubscription criteria will be applied.
  8. If a child is a “summer born child”, parents may request that the date their child is admitted to school is deferred to later in the school year.  However, the child must start school before the end of that school year.  If a parent wishes their child to be educated out of their normal school year (kept back a year), they must discuss this with the school before applying.  However, the final decision on this rests with the Headteacher. 
  9. Parents may request that their child attend school part-time until he/she reaches his/her fifth birthday.
  10. Requests for places in school will be responded to within a maximum of fifteen school days. This will be a response as to whether a place will be offered. These will be considered by at least two school governors supported by a member of staff from school. Written reasons for the decision taken will be recorded. 
  11. If an application for admission has been turned down by the Governing Body, parents can appeal to an Appeals Panel.  Parents must be allowed at least twenty school days from the date of notification that their application was unsuccessful to submit that appeal.  Parents must give reasons for appealing in writing and the decision of the Appeals Panel is binding on all parties. The Appeal Panel will consist of at least two governors from the school who were not part of the decision process to reject the application for a school place. The Appeal Panel will be held no more than fifteen days following the receipt of the appeal in writing. The date of receiving the appeal will be acknowledged by the school in writing. 


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