Admissions Arrangements 2025-26

Information for parents

The Hundred of Hoo Academy is an all-through Academy which caters for boys and girls of all abilities with age ranges
4 -19:

The Hundred of Hoo Academy is structured as follows:

• A primary school
• A secondary school
• A sixth form

The Hundred of Hoo Academy is normally oversubscribed.

To access general information about the Academy please visit the school’s website at www.hundredofhooacademy.org.uk

Application procedure for Primary and Secondary phase

Applications for admission to the Hundred of Hoo Academy should be made on the ‘Common application form’ in accordance with the Medway Co-ordinated Scheme admissions.medway.gov.uk.

General Admission Arrangements

This document sets out the admission arrangements for the Hundred of Hoo Academy, which is an all-through Academy. The academy has a Published Admission Number (PAN) for the following year groups:

The admission arrangements are in accordance with Medway Council’s Co-ordinated Scheme and will follow the Local Authority’s timetable for admissions.

The Academy will comply with the relevant provisions of the Department for Education’s School Admissions Code of Practice 2014, the School Admission Appeals Code of Practice and the law on Admissions. The Academy will, through
the Leigh Academies Trust, consult as may be required and/or necessary.

Please note:

• The Academy is one of a number within a network of Academies overseen by the Leigh Academies Trust.
• The Leigh Academies Trust Board may delegate some functions to the Local Governing Body set up to provide a local oversight of individual academies.
• The Trust Board is responsible for the Admissions Policy, and reserves the right to delegate functions to the Academy’s Local Advisory Committee.

The admission arrangements for the Academy for the academic year 2025/2026 and for subsequent years are set out below.

Primary phase admission arrangements

The Academy will admit ‘rising fives’ i.e. all children with places can be admitted to the Reception year in the September following their fourth birthday but before reaching compulsory school age.

The Academy will decide when to admit four-year-olds in accordance with the Medway guidelines as well as the admissions code as it stands, for intake during the 2025/2026 school year.

Parents may request that their child’s taking up of a place be deferred until later in the school year 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 in which the offer was made.

Note: In respect of a child born late in an academic year after 1 April, the ordinary expectation is that he or she will join Reception at the latest in the term he or she turns five and then progress to Year 1 in the next academic year. If a parent/carer wants their child to join Reception in the September term after their fifth birthday, that decision is strictly subject to the discretion of the Academy.

Primary phase oversubscription criteria

Where the number of applications for admission in the primary phase is greater than the published admission number (PAN), applications will be considered against the criteria set out below, after the admission of pupils with statements of special educational needs where the Academy is named on the statement; and the criteria will be applied in the following priority order:

1. Children in Public Care, Looked After Children and all children who have been previously looked after, but following being looked after became subject to an adoption order, child arrangement order or special guardianship order.
2. Children previously in Care outside of England – Children who appear to Medway council to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. 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 any other provider of care whose sole purpose is to benefit society.
   Parents who believe that they qualify under criterion 2, are advised to send evidence directly to the Local Authority Admissions team, who will decide if they qualify. The Local Authority will then inform the preferred school of the outcome of the decision at the same time that rank lists are made available.
3. Children who, at the time of the admission, have a sibling who attends the Academy’s primary phase.
   For this purpose, “sibling” means a whole, half or step-sister or brother, or an adopted child resident at the same address. The Academy will also include in this criterion children whose parents are married or cohabiting and live together within the same household.
4. Child’s health reasons. Written medical evidence (from a General Practitioner or hospital consultant) must be provided which demonstrates a specific health reason which requires the child to attend The Hundred of Hoo Academy.
5. Children of staff employed by the Academy following the criterion above, priority will be given to the child of a person who is employed by the Academy for 2 or more years at the time when an application to the academy is made and/or a member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post in the academy for which there is a demonstrable skills shortage for the requirements of the post.
6. Children who live closest to the Academy (primary phase). Distance will be based on the shortest distance and safest route from home to school, using the Local Authority Geographical Information System. Those living closer to the Academy will receive the higher priority. Medway Council’s Geographical Information System measures the start point, end point and distance of each route. For the purpose of this criteria it is the child’s permanent residence (proof of residence will be required).
7. Tie breaker: In the unlikely event that two or more children in all other ways have equal eligibility for the last available place at the Academy, the names will be issued a number and drawn randomly to decide which child should be given a place.

There will be a right of appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel for all applicants refused admission. The Trust Board will establish and publish arrangements for appeals against non-admission; including appointing an independent statutory Appeals Panel.

Secondary phase (Year 7) Admission Arrangements

The age of admission is 11 years.

The arrangements for co-ordinated admissions in Medway will be set out in detail in the Medway LA booklet for parents ‘Admission to Secondary School’. The main points are summarised below:

• Parents complete the Medway common application form (CAF) in accordance with the Medway Co-ordinated Admission Scheme or by using the online facility.
• The Local Authority will then act on behalf of schools for the administration of pupils’ preferences.
• Offers and refusals of places will be communicated to parents by the Local Authority, on behalf of the academy.
• From National Offer Day, any available spaces will be allocated to those children who have provided sufficient evidence to the Admissions Committee.

There will be a right of appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel for all applicants refused admission. The Trust Board will establish and publish arrangements for appeals against non-admission; including appointing an independent statutory Appeals Panel.

Secondary Phase Oversubscription Criteria

Following receipt of parental preferences and where the Academy is named on a pupil’s Statement of Special Educational Needs or Statutory Education, Individual Health and Care Plan. Then, if the number of applications for admission to the Academy is greater than the Published Admissions Number, places will be allocated in the following priority order:

1. Children in public care, Looked After Children and all children who have been previously looked after, but following being looked after became subject to an adoption order, child arrangement order or special guardianship order.
2. Children previously in Care outside of England – Children who appear to Medway Council to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. 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 any other provider of care whose sole purpose is to benefit society.
   Parents who believe that they qualify under criterion 2, are advised to send evidence directly to the Local Authority Admissions team, who will decide if they qualify. The Local Authority will then inform the preferred school of the outcome of the decision at the same time that rank lists are made available.
3. Children who complete Year 6 in The Hundred of Hoo Academy’s Primary phase that wish to continue their education into Year 7, Secondary Phase, at The Hundred of Hoo Academy.
4. Children who, at the time of the admission, have a sibling who attends the Academy’s Secondary phase
   For this purpose, “sibling” means a whole, half or step-sister or brother, or an adopted child resident at the same address. The Academy will also include in this criterion children whose parents are married or cohabiting and live together within the same household.
5. Child’s health reasons. Written medical evidence (from a General Practitioner or hospital consultant) must be provided which demonstrates a specific health reason which requires the child to attend The Hundred of Hoo Academy.
6. Children of staff employed by the Academy following the criteria above, priority will be given to the child of a person who is employed by the Academy for 2 or more years at the time when an application to the Academy is made and/or a member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post in the academy for which there is a demonstrable skills shortage for the requirements of the post.
7. Children that reside within the access area (Secondary phase). See LA admissions information for details of these priority access arrangements for children on the Hoo peninsula)
8. Children who live closest to the academy. Distance will be based on the shortest distance and safest route from home to the academy, using the Local Authority Geographical Information System. Those living closer
9. to the Academy will receive the higher priority. Medway Council’s Geographical Information System measures the start point, end point and distance of each route.
10. Tie breaker: In the unlikely event that two or more children in all other ways have equal eligibility for the last available place at the academy, the names will be issued a number and drawn randomly to decide which child should be given a place

Post-16 Provision Admission Arrangements

Specific criteria in relation to minimum entrance requirements for Year 12 based on GCSE grades or other measures of prior attainment are published on our website.

In addition the Academy publicises academic entry requirements for each course available based upon GCSE grades or other measures of prior attainment. The criterion is the same for both internal and external applications and is also published on our website. Pupils failing to meet the grades for their preferred course option will be offered alternative courses if available. Pupils already on academy roll are entitled to transfer to Year 12 if they meet the published academic standards of entry.

Where the Academy is named on a pupil’s Statement of Special Educational Needs or Statutory Education, Individual Health and Care Plan, and the pupil has fulfilled the entry criteria, the pupil will be admitted by the Academy.

Sixth Form Oversubscription Criteria

If the number of applications for admission to the Sixth Form is greater than the Published Admissions Number, places will be allocated according to the Secondary Phase oversubscription criteria.

Waiting List

In respect of Reception pupils and Year 7, as set out in the co-ordinated scheme, the Local Authority will be responsible for holding a waiting list for parents who request their child’s name to be added and where that parent has stated The Hundred of Hoo Academy on their Common Application Form.

Children will be held on the waiting list by order of the criteria in the Admissions Policy. No account can be taken of the length of time a pupil is on the list. A pupil’s position can change on the list as new applicants join or other applicants come off the waiting list.

Medway Council will be responsible for holding the waiting list for parents who request their child’s name be added until 31st December. After the ‘Council waiting list’ has closed, parents can re-apply for places under the casual (In Year) admission procedures.