Oldham Council operates an equal preference system for school admissions which means all preferences are considered.
Each school application should be discussed with all those with parental responsibility for the child as only one application per child can be accepted.
Parents should indicate up to a minimum of three preferred schools on their application, listed in order of preference. Preference is not the same as choice. The law does not give parents the right to choose a particular school for their child and have that choice met.
Applications for all the preferred schools will be sent to and considered by the relevant council or the governing body of the school depending on who is the admission authority.
If there are more applications than places available, all applications will be ranked according to the oversubscription criteria, regardless of which preference it is.
The full ranked list for all schools will be processed by computer and places allocated.
If only one of your preferred schools can offer a place, that school will be offered. If more than one school can offer a place, the offer will be for whichever school is the highest preference on the application. This may not be your first preference school.
If it is not possible to offer a place at any of your preferred schools, a place will be allocated at the nearest school to your address with places still available after all other applications have been processed. This may not be your nearest school.
Independent Schools
If you want your child to attend an independent school, it is not the policy of Oldham Council to pay the fees or any other expenses. You will, therefore, need to make your own arrangements for your child to attend this type of school. Parents are advised to submit an application for a pupil in an Oldham school even if you have applied for an independent school place separately.
Home Education
It is a parental right to educate a child at home. The council would seek to assess and approve the provision being made by the parent.
Considering Your Preferred Schools
It is very important that you consider the likelihood of your child being offered a place at one of your preferred schools. The information on statistics tells you how many applications were received by each school last year and the number of children the school can admit. The information also includes details of the criterion applied to the final pupil who was offered a place.