Wellingborough academy consulting on changing admissions criteria

A Wellingborough academy is considering changing its admissions criteria to help meet demand for secondary school places.

Sir Christopher Hatton Academy in The Pyghtle, Wellingborough, has launched a consultation as it looks at making changes to its current admissions criteria.

The proposed changes are for the September 2022 Year 7 intake, with the school wanting to increase its published admission number (PAN) from 240 to 270.

The proposed criteria changes include:

- All criteria to be subject to the fair banding test

- Increase trust primary school places from 50 to 75

- Trust primary school criteria to move above sibling link criteria

- Removal of traditional link primary schools

The consultation period started on November 11, 2020, and finishes at 4pm on January 1, 2021.

A school spokesman told the Northants Telegraph: "Sir Christopher Hatton Academy proposed admissions consultation for entry into Year 7 in September 2022 is proposed to allow the academy to meet parental demand for secondary school places.

"Within the proposals are three main changes."

These are:

1) Increasing demand in the local Wellingborough area which will be exasperated due to the current building developments at Stanton Cross and Wellingborough North. The academy is looking to support the needs of the local families by the increase of its admission numbers.

2) With Sir Christopher Hatton being part of a local multi-academy trust, any future expansion should support the schools within its own trust.

3) The list of traditional feeder schools is an outdated method of determining admissions into the academy and we have removed this from our criteria so that every child within the Wellingborough area will now have the opportunity to attend what is an Ofsted rated Outstanding education provider.

The Hatton Academies Trust is made up of Sir Christopher Hatton Academy as well as Victoria Primary Academy, Oakway Academy and Ecton Village Primary Academy.

There are 2,353 students across the trust's four schools.

Further details about the proposed changes can be found on Sir Christopher Hatton Academy's website.

Any comments can be made to [email protected] during the consultation period.

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