How to Apply
Summary of application process
Pupil admissions will open for Reception year (age 4) by 10th November 2023.
You may choose to apply either through:
1. A Faith category place (50% of all places). If you are a practising member of a religion you may choose to apply through this category. Please complete Steps 1 and 2.
2. An Open place (the remaining 50% of places). If you are not a practising member of a faith please complete Step 1 only.
STEP 1 - For all applicants
All applicants must complete the Preference/Application Form for school’s admissions from your Local Authority, where you live, before 15th January 2024.
The Local Authority Preference/Application full guidance and form for school admissions may be found on the following websites (depending on where you live), for example:
Wolverhampton: https://www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/education-and-schools/school-admissions
Please ensure if you are applying under the staff or sibling category this is stated when completing your preferences.
Please see our Admissions Policy:
STEP 2 - For Faith category places only
If you are applying for a place based on faith, (50% of all places), please kindly complete this application by 15th January 2024 for age 4 (Reception) places.
1. Download and complete the Supplementary Information Form for Reception September 2024. If applying In year please complete the In year Supplementary Information Form. Please fill in all the information and have it countersigned by the appropriate religious authority (from your place of worship). This should include both the relevant signature and stamp from the place of worship.
2. Once the Supplementary Information Form is completed, signed and stamped please send via email to admissions.npsw@nishkamschools.org and add the Year group and “Supplementary Information Form” to the subject box.
Please note the Supplementary Information Form will need to be fully and correctly completed within the specified deadlines. All other forms will unfortunately have to be legally rejected. In this circumstance your child’s place will automatically be considered within the ‘open category’.
STEP 3 - Notification
Your Local Authority in which you live will notify you of which school your child has gained a place in on National Offer Day, 16th April 2024.
For further information please contact the school office on 01902 537970 or email admissions.npsw@nishkamschools.org .
In Year Admissions
if you are considering applying for a place at Nishkam school for your child other than for the beginning of Reception the process for applying is different to the above. This is known as an ‘In Year Application’. Please note that this is not undertaken directly through the school but through Wolverhampton City council.
Please read and apply through: Wolverhampton In Year Admissions
If you would like this application to be considered as a ‘Faith’ category place please also complete STEP 2 above.
In addition please carefully read the ‘In Year Admissions Policy for Academic Year 2023-2024’
The following links are also available for further information:
Appeals and Appeals Timetable
Appeals against a decision not to offer you a school place are administered by the School Admissions Appeals, City of wolverhampton Council. Full details are available on the following link:
https://www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/education-and-schools/school-admission-appeals
Your right to appeal
If your child has been refused a place at Nishkam Primary School Wolverhampton and you are unhappy with the alternative you have been offered, you have the right to appeal against the decision of the admissions authority. The right to appeal is given under the School Standards and Framework Act, 1998. Please note that you must have applied for the school place through the Admissions Team before you can appeal. You can only make one appeal per school, in a single academic year, unless there are changed circumstances. Please note by appealing it is not guaranteed a place at the school. Please see further information below.
How does the Appeals Panel reach its decision?
For most appeals, the Panel is required to make its decision in two stages. At the first stage the Panel has to consider the school’s case alone and to decide whether they feel that there would be ‘prejudice to the provision of efficient education and efficient use of resources’, that is, would there be a problem for the school if additional pupils were to be admitted to the school.
The Panel must also be satisfied that the published admission arrangements are legal; and that these were correctly applied to your application for a place. If the Panel decide that there would be no problem (no prejudice) for the school to take extra pupils, the appeal will be upheld at the first stage.
On the other hand, if the Panel accept that there would be prejudice, they move to the second stage. At this stage they look at the individual circumstances of your case and are asked to decide whether on balance the problems you face in not having a place for your child at that school, outweigh the prejudice to the school of admitting additional pupils. If the Panel decide that your circumstances do outweigh the prejudice to the school, your appeal will be successful. However, if they feel, taking all the points you have raised into account, that the problem for the school is greater, your appeal will be unsuccessful.
Different rules apply for Infant Class Size appeals where the law seeks to restrict the number of children in each class to 30 pupils with one teacher. For these appeals to be successful, you will need to show:
• The admission of additional children would not breach the Infant Class Size Limit.;
• That the admission arrangements were not legal and were not correctly and impartially applied to your application and that your child would have been offered a place if no error had been made.
• Or that the Admissions Authority had not acted “reasonably” in the circumstances of your case. This is a tough test for which you would need to provide evidence to the Panel.
What does an appeal cost?
You will not be charged for appealing against the decision not to offer your child a place. Each appeal will cost the school.
Admission arrangements for pupils with disabilities
Children are admitted according to our Admissions Policy. The admission of pupils with disabilities is the same as those applied to pupils without disabilities. The school complies fully with the Equality Act and the School Admissions Code in relation to the arrangements for the admission of disabled pupils. Where the school is oversubscribed all children are admitted in accordance with the published oversubscription criteria. Where a child is disabled the school will make reasonable adjustments and provide auxiliary aids or services to ensure that no disabled child is placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to other pupils. Parents of children with disabilities are advised to speak to us prior to admission to discuss any reasonable adjustments required so we can plan accordingly.