Admissions and Appeals
Admissions
If you are interested in joining us, we warmly welcome you to visit the school and discuss the values and ethos we share at Watling Lower School.
If you decide that you would like to apply for a place, please note that all admissions are dealt with through Central Bedfordshire Council and not through the school directly.
To apply for a place, please use the following link Central Bedfordshire School Admissions or call 0300 300 8037.
All admission decisions are made by the Local Authority and the school has no influence in the decisions made. Please note: children already attending our nursery are not automatically offered entry to our Reception year and so it is very important that you apply for a place at our the school. The criteria that the council use to make their decisions are set out in our Admissions Criteria (see link above). In the event that we are oversubscribed, the following criteria will be used:
The oversubscription criteria for Watling Lower School is as follows:
1) All looked after children and all previously looked after children, including those children who appear to the Council to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.
2) Children of staff
3) Children living in the catchment area with siblings at the school
4) Children living in the catchment area
5) Children living outside the catchment area with siblings at the school
6) Any other children
Tiebreaker
Straight line distance will be used as a tiebreaker in each criterion where required to determine the allocation of places. The distance the pupil lives from the school, which is measured in a straight line, using the Local Authority’s computerised measuring system, with those living closer to the school receiving the higher priority. The Local Authority will measure the distance from the address point of the pupil’s home to a point on the school site agreed with the governing body of the school, which is known as the designated measuring point. In the event of (a) two or more children living at the same address point (e.g. children resident in a block of flats) or (b) two addresses measuring the same distance from the school, the ultimate tie-breaker will be random selection, using the Synergy Admissions database to allocate the place.
The full document is available to view at:
Central Bedfordshire Admission Arrangements
The closing date for applications to join our Reception Class in September 2025 is to be confirmed.
Appeals
All parents have the right to appeal if they are not offered a place at the school(s) that they would like their child to attend (their preferred school(s).
Like our admissions, appeals are heard by the Local Authority. Central Bedfordshire's School's Admissions Guidance for Parents can be found here:
Appeals - Guidance for Parents
For more information and to lodge an appeal, please click here.
On-time intake or transfer appeals for the middle and primary round
The published closing date for on-time intake or transfer appeals is Wednesday, 15 May 2024. Appeals received on or before this date will be heard within 40 school days.
Late intake or transfer appeals for the middle and primary round
If you miss the published closing date, your appeal will be heard at a later date after appeals received on or before the deadline date.
In-year (mid-year) appeals
All in-year appeal applications will be heard within 30 school days of the from receipt.
In-Year Admissions
All of our in-year admissions are managed by the Central Bedfordshire Admissions Team. They operate our waiting list for places and you must apply for a place in the school through them.
Your position on the waiting list is determined by the oversubscription criteria outlined above. This means that it is not determined by the order in which people apply. You may also find that your position changes if more people are added to the waiting list and they satisfy one of the higher selction criteria.
Defering or delaying entry to Reception year
If you wish to consider delaying or deferring a place for the Reception year, more details can be found on the Central Bedfordshire admissions website here.