Admissions Explained

Guidance for Parents & Carers

The Brian Clarke CofE Academy is a Church of England school that welcomes pupils of all faiths and none. It is a multicultural school that serves all the communities of Oldham and is a microcosm of the town’s rich diversity. The school brings young people together to build a community where all are valued, respected, nurtured and challenged to become the best they can be and are meant to be.

Please see our Admissions Policy for full details of how we allocate places.  Our policy has been specifically designed to ensure our vision for the school is made a reality. Below is a summary of our admissions process.

  • The school’s Published Admission Number (PAN) for the admission of pupils to Year 7 is 240.
  • If fewer than 240 applications for admission to Year 7 are received, all applicants will be offered places.
  • The school will admit all children with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) naming the school. These admissions are made without reference to faith.
  • In the event of more applications for admission to the school being received than there are places available (after the admission of any pupils with statements of special educational needs or EHCPs naming the school) the following criteria will be used to determine the allocation of places.

Oversubscription criteria

If the school is oversubscribed, we will apply the following criteria to ensure that the vision for the school is fulfilled.

  • Looked after children, previously looked after children and internationally adopted previously looked after children. These priority allocations are made without reference to faith.
  • Christian & other faiths based allocation, as detailed below.

*For the purposes of these admission arrangements ‘Christian Church’ means a church which is Designated under the Ecumenical Relations Measure 2018, nationally by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, or locally by the Diocesan Bishop.  This includes:

For children of the Christian faith, priority is given to those with most frequent and sustained attendance at public worship over a period of up to five years. Our policy takes into account the impact on church attendance due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A maximum of 60 places will be allocated under this criterion: to qualify you must submit a Supplementary Information Form completed and signed by you and your faith leader. Where there are more applications than places, we allocate based on highest points gained from church attendance.

**Children who are active members of one of the five major world faiths other than Christian (i.e. Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Sikh) present in Oldham that are members of the UK Inter-Faith Network, Oldham Interfaith Forum or Oldham Mosques’ Council. A maximum of 60 places will be allocated under criterion: to qualify under this criterion you must submit a Supplementary Information Form completed and signed by you and your faith leader. Where there are more applications than places, we allocate on random allocation within this category. Please see our Admissions Policy for full details.

At least 120 places are allocated on a non-faith basis, determined by geographical zones which are explained below. These zones are based on a ratio of 9:10:5 and therefore in any given year we anticipate that there will be 45 places allocated in Zone 1, 50 in Zone 2 and 25 in Zone 3. If the faith-based places are not taken up, they will be added to the places available through the geographical zones allocation. Where there are more applications than places, we allocate on random allocation within each geographical zone. Please see our Admissions Policy for full details.

Geographical zones for determining non-faith places

Zone 1: within 1 mile of the school.

Zone 2: 1-2 miles from the school.

Zone 3:  2-3 miles from the school.

The Brian Clarke Church of England Academy is proud to be part of the Cranmer Education Trust

Cranmer Education Trust is a company limited by guarantee and an exempt charity registered in England. Company registration number: 07687709. Registered Office: Cranmer Education Trust, c/o The Blue Coat School, Egerton Street, Oldham OL1 3SQ. The website address is www.cranmereducationtrust.com and the phone number 0161 785 5082.