Apply for a secondary school place

• Chenderit School
• Kingsthorpe College
• Malcolm Arnold Academy
• Northampton School
• Northampton School for Boys
• St Thomas Becket Catholic School

If you are applying for a place at Silverstone University Technical College (UTC) you should apply to the college directly, regardless of where you live.

Every school has a specified number of places available for applicants – this is the called the Published Admission Number (PAN).

If the school receives fewer applications than its PAN, all applicants will be offered a place. If the school receives more applications than the PAN, the school applies its oversubscription criteria to determine which children should be offered a place.

Stating only one preference does not give your child any extra priority or guarantee that a place will be allocated at that school. If it cannot be offered your child will be allocated a place at the nearest school to your home address with places remaining after all applicants’ preferences have been considered.  

Equal preferencing

Equal preferencing means that schools do not know where you placed them on your application form. Each school looks at your child as if it were your first choice and decides whether it can offer a place using its oversubscription criteria. If your child qualifies for more than one school, you will be offered the one you ranked highest on your application.

Last year in West Northamptonshire, approximately 77 per cent of applicants for a secondary school place who applied on time were allocated their first preference. A further 19 per cent were allocated either their second, third or fourth preference.

Oversubscription criteria

Think carefully about your preferred schools and how likely they are to be oversubscribed. If there are more applications than places available, schools use their oversubscription criteria to decide who is offered a place.

You can find information about each school's oversubscription criteria and whether it was oversubscribed last year in the 'Applying for a Secondary School Place in West Northamptonshire' prospectus.

Some schools give priority to:

• children who live in the linked or catchment area
• children who have a brother or sister already attending the school
• children who meet faith-based admission criteria

If you want your child to be considered for a particular school, you must include it as one of your preferences. Some schools may also require a supplementary information form to check you meet the criteria.

Cognitive Ability and Aptitude Testing

The following schools require applicants to sit a cognitive ability test for banding purposes.

You will need to register for the test online via the school’s website:

• Northampton School for Boys
• Northampton School for Girls
• Northampton School

The following secondary schools give some priority to children displaying aptitude in a particular area.

You will need to visit the school website to find out how to register and/or what information to submit:

• Chenderit School
• Northampton School
• Northampton School for Boys
• Malcolm Arnold Academy
• Kingsthorpe College

You can amend your online application as many times as required prior to the deadline by selecting change my application. You must remember to resubmit the application each time 

You cannot amend your application once the deadline has passed. To apply for different schools after the deadline, or change the order of your preferred schools, you will need to submit a late application which will be processed in our additional rounds of allocation which start in April.

Applications for secondary school are coordinated nationally. This means all parents must apply to their home authority but can name schools in any local authority on their application form.

We will liaise with neighbouring authorities to ensure that your application is considered according to the published oversubscription admission criteria.

If you do not live in West Northamptonshire but want to apply for a school in West Northamptonshire, you will need to apply to the local authority in which you live, adding the school as a preference. Your home LA will liaise with us to ensure that your application is considered according to the published oversubscription criteria for the school.

When we talk about a child’s home address, we mean the permanent address at which the child normally lives with their parent/carer on the application deadline. 

Documentary evidence may be required together with proof of actual permanent residence at the property concerned. 

Places cannot be allocated on the basis of an intended future change of address unless house moves have been confirmed through the exchange of contracts or signing of a formal lease prior to the deadline (31 October).

We reserve the right to seek further written proof to support your claim to residence, and that your child is living there. Each year, the School Admissions Team will check a sample number of addresses at random by asking the parent or carer to prove the address they have stated on their application.

Change of address before the deadline

Online applications

If you move before the application deadline, you will be able to change your address and your preferences (if necessary) on your online application up to the deadline on 31 October.

Paper applications

Submit a new paper application, with the new address, by the deadline on 31 October.

If your preferences are staying the same, you can provide documentation confirming your new address by email or letter. This should reach us before 31 October.

Change of address after the deadline

​Your application will normally be processed using the address where your child was living on 31 October. If you are moving home, we can only use your new address if the move has been completed or confirmed through the exchange of contracts or signing of a formal lease before 31 October and you can provide the relevant evidence.

If you move after 31 October, please tell us in writing and provide evidence of your new address. You should also submit a late application using your new address.

Late applications are considered during the further allocation rounds, which begin in April. Until then, your new address can only be used for correspondence.

Examples of acceptable evidence include:

• a signed tenancy agreement or lease (minimum of 6 months)
• a solicitor's letter confirming exchange of contracts or completion of the purchase

When parents live separately and a child spends time with each parent, the home address will usually be treated as the place where the child sleeps for most of the school week (i.e. Sunday night to Thursday night inclusive). If the child spends equal amounts of time at two addresses, the parents must agree which address they wish to be the child’s main address. 

If both parents make an application

We can only process one application because we can only allocate one school place.

If multiple applications are received for the same child with conflicting addresses and/or preferences, or the School Admissions team is made aware of a dispute between two parents, all applications will be placed on hold and will not be processed until:

• a new single application is made, signed by all parties; or
• written agreement is provided from both parents indicating which application they have agreed on; or
• a court order is provided confirming which parent’s application carries precedence.

If no agreement can be made, parents are recommended to seek legal advice. If an agreement cannot be reached before the application deadline, this may affect the chances of a child being allocated a place at their preferred school/s.

Further information on parental responsibility can be found on DfE website.

If we are unable to offer a place at any of your preferred schools, your child will be allocated a place at the nearest school to your home address with places remaining after all on-time applications have been processed. Please note this may not be your closest school.