How to apply for Year 7 in September 2025
An application must be made online at www.birmingham.gov.uk/schooladmissions or by using a Local Authority Preference Form. Boys will be admitted at age 11 without reference to ability or aptitude. The number of intended admissions for the year commencing September 2025 will be no less than 160. We are currently in discussion with Birmingham City Council to confirm admission numbers.
Criteria
- Looked after or previously looked after boys.
- Boys with a brother already at the school who will still be in attendance in September 2025.
- Boys who live nearest the school.
Children with a statement of special educational needs/EHC Plan
Any boy with a statement of special educational needs/Education Health and Care Plan is required to be admitted to the school that is named in the statement/plan. This gives such boys overall priority for admission to the named school. This is not an oversubscription criterion.
Looked after or previously looked after children
A Looked After Child is a boy who is in the care of a local authority or is being provided with accommodation by a local authority as set out in s22(1) of the Children Act 1989. A Previously Looked After is a boy who immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, special guardianship or child arrangements order.
Previously looked after children in England and outside of England have the same entitlement at LAC students. This includes child arrangements and special guardianship orders. Whether a student falls under IAPLAC regulations will be determined by Birmingham Virtual School.
Sibling
Siblings (brothers) are considered to be those children who live at the same address and either:
- have one or both natural parents in common;
- or, are related by a parents’ marriage;
- or, are adopted or fostered by a common parent.
Unrelated children living at the same address, whose parents are living as partners, are also considered to be siblings.
Boys not adopted or fostered or related by a parent’s marriage or with one natural parent in common, who are brought together as a family by a same-sex civil partnership and who are living at the same address, are also considered to be siblings.
Distance
Distances are calculated on the basis of a straight-line measurement between the applicant’s home address and the main school gates. The Local Authority uses a computerised system, which measures all distances in metres. Ordnance Survey supply the co-ordinates that are used to plot an applicant’s home address and the address of the school.
Shared responsibility
Where parents have shared responsibility for their son, and their son lives with both parents for part of the week, then the main residence will be determined as the address where the child lives the majority of the week. Parents may be requested to supply documentary evidence to support the address used.
Final Qualifier
In a very small number of cases it may not be possible to decide between the applications of those students who are the final qualifiers for a place, when applying the published admission criteria.
For example, this may occur when children in the same year group live at the same address, or if the distance between the home and school is exactly the same, for example, blocks of flats. If there is no other way of separating the application according to the admissions criteria and to admit both or all of the children would cause the Published Admission Number for the child’s year group to be exceeded, the Local Authority will use a computerised system to randomly select the child to be offered the final place.
In the event of this occurring with twins or other multiple birth applicants, the school will be asked to admit over their Published Admission Number to accommodate the students.
Waiting lists
Waiting lists will not be fixed following the offer of places. They are subject to change. This means that a child’s waiting list position during the year could go up or down. Any applicants will be added to the schools list in accordance with the order of priority for offering places. Waiting lists will be maintained until the end of each academic year.
Appeals for Admission for Year 7 places in 2025
Appeals are administered by an independent panel for this school. Parents who wish to appeal against the decision to refuse their child admission should contact the Appeals Clerk on 0121 628 0010 to register their appeal. Details will then be forwarded on to the Schools Appeals Team at Birmingham City Council.
Appeals will be heard by an independent panel which are administered by Birmingham City Council. Applications to make an appeal can be found below, along with details of the Admissions Criteria and Appeals Constitution.
In Year Applications
Applications made outside the normal admissions round (in-year admissions) should be made directly to the school. On receipt of an in-year application KNBS will notify parents of the outcome of their application, in writing, within 15 school days. KNBS will also notify the local authority of the application and it’s outcome, this is to allow the local authority to keep up to date with figures on the availability of school places in Birmingham.
Parents who wish to appeal against the decision to refuse their son admission should contact the Appeals Clerk on 0121 628 0010 to register their appeal. Details will then be forwarded on to the Schools Appeals Team at Birmingham City Council.