Admissions Policy

Woodhouse College (‘the College’) is an educational institution principally concerned with providing full-time education suitable to the requirements of persons over compulsory school age but under 19 at the start of the academic year (31 August). Students who are younger or older than this are admitted as full time students only in exceptional circumstances.

The target number of students the College will admit will depend upon the nature of the proposed student programmes.

The College operates an admissions window each year in which applications open in November and close in January (exact dates published on the college website). Offers are made to eligible students according to the following priority:
1. Looked after children
2. Students with an EHC plan
3. Students who attend one of the college’s partner schools (The Archer Academy and Friern Barnet School)
4. Children of current staff
5. Other applicants who submit applications within the window
6. Late applicants

Applicants from categories 1-4 will usually be offered a place if predicted grades suggest they will meet minimum grade criteria. Minimum grades for a programme and for individual subjects are published annually in the College’s prospectus and on its website.

If the college is over-subscribed, students in categories 5 and 6 will be offered places according to these criteria:
• Predicted grades - the College is more likely to offer a place where predicted grades are high.

• Subject combinations – the College will offer places in such a way to fill all courses as efficiently as possible.

• Distance from College – students living more than an hour and a quarter away by public transport are less likely to be offered a place.

• Age of students – students who are 17 on 31st August of Year 12 are less likely to be offered a place; students who are 18 or more on 31st August of Year 12 are unlikely to be offered a place.

• Reference from school(s) – a student with a reference suggesting poor behaviour or unsuitability is unlikely to be offered a place.

The over-subscription criteria are not applied in any fixed order but are applied in combination.

All offers are conditional upon actual GCSE grades. If a student does not achieve the required grades in the offer, a place at the College cannot be guaranteed.

Students who are not offered a place in the first tranche of offers (usually towards the end of the Spring term) will be placed on the waiting list. Students on the waiting list will be offered a place as one becomes available, according to the subject spaces that become available.

The College reserves the right to close a course if insufficient numbers of students apply or enrol.

Eligible Students
The College will only offer places to students eligible for ESFA funding. Eligibility criteria are set nationally and may vary from year to year. Evidence of eligibility, such as passports, will be required at enrolment.

Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)
The College will make all reasonable efforts to comply with the Equality Act 2010, including making provision, where possible, to accommodate prospective applicants with specific needs. Before a place is offered at the College, parents of a candidate with any known or suspected circumstances relating to a disability, long-term medical condition or special educational need must provide full written details as part of the application process. Should parents or students fail to disclose any relevant information prior to acceptance, the College may be unable to meet the needs of the student and in some circumstances this may result in the offer of a place being withdrawn.