Admission Arrangements
Admission Arrangements for Eccleston Lane Ends Primary School 2023-24
Eccleston Lane Ends Primary School is Voluntary Aided primary school. We follow St Helens Local Authority admission arrangements.
Tours of the School
Tours of the school for prospective parents for the September 2025 Reception intake will be on:
Monday 21st October 2024 - 5:00pm
Tuesday 7th January 2025 - 9:30am
There is no need to book, just turn up :) We look forward to meeting you.
The Admission Number for the 2025 reception year intake at Eccleston Lane Ends Primary School is 35.
Making an Application
Applications for reception year in September 2025 should be made on the applicant’s home local authority common application form. Copies of St Helens Primary Education Information for Parents Booklet can be viewed and applications made on-line via the St Helens Council’s web-site from September 2024.
Click here for a link to the Local Authority Admissions page.
Click here for a link to the Primary Admissions Booklet 2024-25.
Applications must be submitted by 15 January 2025.
All applications will be considered at the same time and after the closing date.
Decision letters will be sent to parents on 16th April 2025.
Late Applications
Applications submitted after the closing date will only be considered alongside those who applied on time when they are received before the allocation procedures begin. However, as this date cannot be predicted, parents have no guarantee that any application received after the closing date will be included.
Oversubscription Criteria for Eccleston Lane Ends Primary
If more applications are received than the number of places available, the Local Authority will use the following criteria, in order of priority, for deciding how places will be allocated:
1. Looked after children and children who were previously looked after but then became subject to adoption, a child arrangements order, or special guardianship order. (1) This includes children who appear to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted; (2)
2. Children who have a brother or sister at the school at the time of likely admission. This includes full, half or stepbrothers and sisters, adopted and foster brothers and sisters, or a child of the parent/carer’s partner and, in every case, who is living at the same address and is part of the same family unit;
3. Children who live within the catchment area (see map below);
4. Other children.
(1) A looked after child is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (see the definition in Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989).
(2) A child is regarded as having been in state care outside of England if they were in the care of or were
accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation, or any other provider of care whose sole
or main purpose is to benefit society.
Tie-Break
In the event of any oversubscription in the number of applications made under any of the categories above, the Local Authority will offer places first to children whose family home is nearest to the school. The measurement shall be done by the Local Authority in a straight line using a Geographical Information System (GIS) based on Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) data and the National Grid co-ordinates for the family home and the school. Where the tie-break does not distinguish between applicants, e.g. children living in the same block of flats, random allocation will be used. This will be done by drawing lots and supervised by someone independent of the school.
Special Conditions for Twins (etc.)
Where the final place in a year group is offered to one of twins or triplets etc., the Local Authority will not apply the tie-break as it will admit the other twin etc. too, even if that means going above the admission number for the school concerned.
Waiting-lists and Appeals
Where there are more applicants than places for a particular school for the Reception Year intake, the Authority will keep a waiting-list and inform parents about how they can appeal.
Catchment Area for Eccleston Lane Ends Primary School
In Year Transfers
If you wish to transfer your child to Eccleston Lane Ends, you need to complete an in-year transfer application form.
You can list up to three St Helens schools in order of preference and St Helens will liaise with the relevant admission authority. All first, second and third preferences will be treated as equal regardless of parents' ranking. If your child qualifies for a place at more than one school, the local authority will offer the school that you have ranked highest on the application form.
How places are allocated
All schools have an admission limit based on the physical capacity of their buildings and class organisation. The number of places available is called the Published Admission Number (or PAN for short). If more applications are received than the number of places available, the relevant admission authority will apply their oversubscription criteria.
If there are no available places, your application will be refused - see 'Waiting list' and 'Appeals' below. In such cases, the local authority will normally offer a place at the next nearest suitable school with available places, if you are a St Helens resident.
The PAN for Eccleston Lane Ends is 35 pupils per year group.
Fair Access Protocol
The local authority has a Fair Access Protocol, the main purpose of which is to ensure that unplaced children, especially the most vulnerable, are offered a place at a suitable school as quickly as possible. For such applicants, schools may be required to admit above their PAN or if the Fair Access Panel agrees; it is also possible that a school with available places may refuse admission.
Further details will be provided if your child's application is to be considered under this Protocol. The School Admissions Code states that those allocated a place at a school, in accordance with the local authority's Fair Access Protocol, must take precedence over those on a waiting list.
Decision letters
You will normally receive a written response to your application within 15 school days.
Applications for the start of the school year
If you wish to transfer your child to a new school at the beginning of the autumn term, you should complete an application form early in June and return it as soon as possible.
Applications received during the summer holidays
Applications received during the summer holidays will be dealt with when schools re-open.
Waiting list
If your preference for a St Helens school is refused, your child's name will be kept on the school's waiting list for the remainder of the academic year. If you wish your child to be added to the waiting list for the following academic year, you will need to re-apply at the beginning of June 2024.
The waiting list will be kept in oversubscription criteria (not date) order. Looked after children, previously looked after children and those allocated a place at the school in accordance with the local authority's Fair Access Protocol, will (in accordance with the School Admissions Code) take precedence over those on a waiting list.
Appeals
If your child is not offered a place at your preferred school, you have the right, under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, to appeal against that decision to a panel independent of the school and the local authority.
Details of this procedure will be sent to you with the decision letter explaining the outcome of your application.
More help and information
If you wish to discuss the in-year transfer application process, please do not hesitate to contact the school admissions team at schooladmissions@sthelens.gov.uk
