Norfolk Schoolfinder

School admission policy : 2026/27 (Agreed)

Show School admission policy : 2027/28 (Agreed)

School admission policy : 2027/28 (Agreed)

Banding in Year 7

Jane Austen College uses banding in the allocation of places in Year 7 in the normal admission round in September.

Banding is used to ensure the admission of a proportionate spread of children of different abilities (according to the national average) at their normal point of entry. It is not designed to enable the selection of high ability pupils.

All children for whom a place is sought in Year 7 (including looked after and previously looked after children and children with an EHC plan) will take a non-verbal reasoning test which will be standardised against the national distribution of abilities. The test has no pass or fail mark.

When the results are known, all of the children will be placed in rank order according to their mark and will then be allocated to one of nine groups (known as bands) ranging from highest to lowest ability.

The number of places allocated to each band is determined by the national distribution of abilities, by applying national percentages in each band to the number of places available within the published admission number. This essentially means that there will be more places available in the middle bands than in the outer bands where the highest and lowest ability bands are.

Once all children have been placed in their applicable band, places will be allocated to children in each band by applying the criteria in this policy.

Children with an EHC plan will be allocated their places first, and then the oversubscription criteria set out in this policy will be applied to each band, using the tie breaker where necessary.

Where there are still places left in a band after all children in that band have been allocated a place, the remaining places will be allocated to children in adjacent bands, starting with the lower ability band first and then alternating between lower and upper.

Children who apply for a place and then do not turn up for the test, unless they have an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan or are Looked After Children, will be considered for a place after all those children who have sat the test.

Full details about the banding process and tests, including the dates that the tests are scheduled and how standardisation works, will be published alongside this policy and all other admission related documents on Jane Austen College's website.

The table below shows the allocation of places to each band:

Oversubscription Criteria for Year 7

All children whose education, health and care (EHC) plan name Jane Austen College will be admitted before any other places are allocated.

In the event that Jane Austen College receives more applications than the number of places it has available, the order in which places will be allocated will be as follows:

1. Looked after children and all previously looked after children. Applications in this category may need to be supported by documentary evidence confirming the child's status. Ideally any evidence should be received by the application deadline in the normal admission round.
2. Children with siblings on roll at Jane Austen College at the point of application for the new pupil. Siblings include full siblings (sharing both parents), half siblings (sharing one parent), step siblings (one child's parent married to the other child's parent), foster siblings, adopted siblings or children of their parent's cohabiting partner. In all cases the sibling must live at the child's home address (as defined by this policy). Priority will not be given to children with siblings who are former pupils of Jane Austen College. The sibling's full details must be provided in the application form.
3. Children of staff members based at Jane Austen College, in either of the following circumstances:
   • The member of staff has been employed at Jane Austen College for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made.
   • The member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage.

   For the purposes of this criterion:

   • Staff members means any person employed by Inspiration Trust and based at Jane Austen College on a permanent or fixed term contract for 0.5 FTE (full-time equivalent) or more, including teaching staff, support staff and leadership staff.
   • Children of staff members includes the staff member's natural child, adopted child, stepchild, or child of the staff member's partner where the child lives with the staff member as part of their family unit for the majority of the school week.
   • Based at Jane Austen College means their primary place of work where they spend the majority of their contracted working time. It is not possible for a staff member to have priority at more than one academy within the Inspiration Trust. Where a staff member works across multiple academies within the Inspiration Trust, they may only claim priority at the academy where they spend the majority of their working time.
   • A demonstrable skill shortage will be determined by the Inspiration Trust at the point of recruitment based on factors such as:
     • Difficulty in recruiting suitable candidates for the role.
     • National or local shortage of qualified professionals in that field.
     • Specialist qualifications or experience required that are in short supply.

   The determination of a demonstrable skill shortage must be documented in the recruitment process and confirmed in writing by the Inspiration Trust Chief People Officer.

   Parents/carers wishing to claim priority under this criterion must indicate this on the Common Application Form and provide written confirmation on Inspiration Trust headed paper from the Chief People Officer, confirming:

   • The staff member's name and role.
   • Their start date of employment at Jane Austen College.
   • That they meet one of the two qualifying circumstances (employed for 2+ years or recruited to fill a demonstrable skill shortage).
   • The relationship of the child to the staff member.

   This confirmation must be submitted to the school by the application deadline. The school reserves the right to verify this information with the Inspiration Trust HR department.

4. Children who attend named feeder schools. The named feeder schools are Charles Darwin Primary and Norwich Primary Academy.
5. All other children who do not fall into any of the oversubscription categories above.

Show School admission policy : 2026/27 (Agreed)

Show School admission policy : 2027/28 (Agreed)

Show School admission policy : 2026/27 (Agreed)