Deadline for accepting / refusing offers – Friday 28th March 2025
Deadline for completion of Admissions portal (Applicaa) – Wednesday 23rd April 2025
Languages choice information goes live – Monday 10th March
Year 6 New Entrants evening – Thursday 5th June at 7pm
Year 6 induction day – Thursday 3rd July 2025
First day of term – Monday 1st September 2025
ADMISSIONS
Families who have received an offer from Medway Council on Monday 3rd March will be sent a welcome email later that week inviting them to create an account on our admissions and enrolment portal called ‘Applicaa’. Do not contact the school before receiving this email and, please note, there will not be anyone in the office to help with Applicaa admission queries during the Easter Holidays. Parents will be required to accept or decline their offer via this portal and upload address evidence. The address evidence we require is as follows:
If you are a resident owner-occupier:
The most recent Council Tax bill in the name of the resident parent. These are issued in April, so we require the bill for the preceding financial period, covering the month of October (the application deadline), and
A utility bill covering the month of October and at least two preceding months.
If you are a resident tenant:
The most recent Council Tax bill in the name of the resident parent. These are issued in April, so we require the bill for the preceding financial period, covering the month of October (the application deadline) and
A tenancy agreement covering the month of October and at least two preceding months, and
A utility bill covering the month of October and at least two preceding months, and
A housing benefit entitlement letter (if the family is eligible)
Where families cannot produce these proof of address documents, we will refer the matter to Medway Council for investigation.
If a child’s stated home address at the time of enrolment is different from that used on the application form then further checks will be carried out and we will also refer this to Medway Council.
Parents who have accepted their offer and uploaded their evidence will receive a further link to complete the admissions and enrolment sections.
Families who do not upload these documents will not be able to progress to the admissions section on the portal.
Current number of students on roll: Year 7= 216, Year 8= 216, Year 9 = 216, Year 10= 214, Year 11 = 216, Year 12= 229, Year 13= 217
Oversubscription Criteria
If the number of preferences for the school exceeds the number of places available at the school, the LA will allocate places in the following priority order:
1. Looked after children (children in public care) and previously looked after children, and children previously in Care outside of England – Children who appear to Medway Council to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. A child is regarded as having been in state care in a place outside of England if they were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation or any other provider of care whose sole purpose is to benefit society.
2. Children who will have a brother or sister (including children living as siblings in the same family unit) on the roll of the school at the time of the sibling’s admission.
3. Child’s health reasons, supported by medical evidence, which requires the child to attend this school.
4. Children who at the time of application have a parent who is a member of staff at the school (where the member of staff has been employed for three years or more at the time at which the application for admission is made and/or where the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage).
5. Nearness of children’s homes.
Distance will be measured by the shortest available safe route between home and school as measured by the council’s geographical information system. Those living closer to the school will receive the higher priority. Medway Council’s Geographical Information System measures the start point, end point and distance of each route.
Parents who believe that they qualify under criterion 1 are advised to send evidence directly to the local authority Admissions team, who will decide if they qualify. The local authority will then inform all preferred schools of the outcome of the decision at the same time that rank lists are made available.
In the event of two or more pupils having equal ranking for the last place the deciding factor will be the shortest available safe distance between the home address and the school as measured by the Medway Council Geographical Information System and determined by Medway Local Authority. Where this cannot be determined, the available place(s) will be allocated by drawing lots.
DISTANCE AND PROOF OF ADDRESS
The distance a child lives from the school is a key determinant of the likelihood of gaining a place because distance is the most frequently applied of the five oversubscription criteria.
While some children gain admission via the sibling link or due to health reasons, the vast majority of our 203 places (commonly 217 after Appeals) in Year 7 are offered on the basis of distance.
The size of the Medway Test score is not a determining factor. It is just necessary to have passed.
As a general rule, the nearer a child lives to the school, the greater their chances of being offered a place (please see number 6 of our ‘FAQs’ section).
As a consequence, both Medway Council and the school pay particular attention to the address used on a child’s school application.
The address used on a child’s school application is important and will be used to calculate the home to school distance. The address provided by families must be the child’s main place of residence. This means they must live at this address permanently or the address of the parent where the child spends most school nights at the time of the application deadline. Families can only use one address in their application.
SJWMS has a duty to ensure school places are offered correctly and fairly, and therefore have a duty to ensure all addresses used for the purpose of allocating school places are accurate.
If an incorrect address is provided to Medway Council and a place at this school is offered to a child based on this information, the school place will be withdrawn and will be offered to another child.
Families who have been offered a school place with us will be required to provide proof of the address given on the application form. We require the following documents:
The most recent Council Tax bill in the name of the resident parent. These are issued in April, so we require the bill for the preceding financial period, covering the month of October (the application deadline). This applies to a resident owner-occupier or a resident tenant.
For a resident tenant, a tenancy agreement covering the month of October and at least two preceding months.
A housing benefit entitlement letter, if the family is eligible.
A utility bill covering the month of October and at least two preceding months. This applies to a resident owner-occupier or a resident tenant.
Where families cannot produce these proof of address documents, we will refer the matter to Medway Council for investigation.
If a child’s stated home address at the time of enrolment is different from that used on the application form then further checks will be carried out and we will also refer this to Medway Council.
Those who think someone has provided incorrect information on their school application are asked to email admissions@medway.gov.uk to tell them. They will treat your email in confidence and keep your personal information private. They will not be able to tell you the outcome of any investigation.
For admissions in September 2024, students sat the Medway Test in October and got their result in early November. Attendees at our Open Evening are making a decision about whether to list our school on their Secondary Common Application Form, which has to be submitted in late October.
We do not have a separate application form. Parents who wish a place for their son at our school should list it on the Secondary Common Application Form. Parents can apply online at https://admissions.medway.gov.uk/Synergy/Admissions.aspx
The SCAF invites parents to express preferences in priority order. Preferences can be expressed for Medway and non-Medway schools. Medway operates an Equal Preference scheme. This means that all preferences are considered equally and the order of preference is between parents and the LA. The LA will look to offer a place at the highest named preference for which the child is eligible. Putting the school as 1st Preference will not guarantee an offer of a place because that depends on the over-subscription criteria.
No. Allocation of places at this school is overseen by Medway Council, and in the event of the number of pupils seeking admission exceeding the number of places available, our over-subscription criteria are applied. These are – children in care, those previously in care outside of England, sibling link, health reasons, staff parent and then distance. This school does not admit pupils based on the size of the score, they just need to have passed.
No defined catchment area exists, but the distance a child lives from the school is key determinant of the likelihood of gaining a place because distance is the most frequently applied of the six oversubscription criteria. The distance calculated is the shortest available safe route between the child’s home and school using roads and footpaths known to the mapping layer used by Student Services (Admissions) within the Geographical Information System. The furthest distances a child lived who gained their place under the distance criterion over the years are as follows:
Parents who live in another area can register to sit the Medway Test (and should have done so by the time of Open Evening in October). They must submit an application form to their relevant authority but can name this school on that form. Their ‘home’ authority will liaise with Medway Council.
No. Medway will not accept the results of any other test. To gain admission to a Medway selective (grammar) school, children must have sat and passed the Medway Test.
This means that all preferences are considered equally and the order of preference is between parents and the LA. All children will be ranked against the oversubscription criteria for all schools listed by a parent on their preference form, and this ranking will not be affected by the preference position on the form. The LA will look to offer a place at the highest named preference for which the child is eligible. Parents should always list schools in their true preference order, as Medway will offer a place at the school highest on the form where a place can be offered. Even if a parent is unlikely to obtain a place for their child at their preferred school, this should not stop them from putting it as their first preference, as it will not affect their chances of getting into any other school on their list.
No. Medway Council will continue to oversee admissions and allocate places. We have no intention of changing our oversubscription criteria or the number of places available.
The Leigh Academies Trust relates to aspects of school leadership, management and resources, and our admissions arrangements will remain unchanged. Please direct questions regarding admissions to Mr Hodges (Principal) or Mr Morris (Deputy Principal).
The method to apply for a place at this school during the academic year is the casual admission process.
Please complete the admission form online by following the link below. Please refer to our admissions determination policy before completing this form.
All year groups at The Math are currently over our PAN (Planned Admission Number), so it is rare that a space is available when an in-year application is made. Subsequently, applications are usually rejected on the basis that the year group is full, even when a student meets the selective standard of the school.
For Years 7-11 – in year admissions can be made by completing the above application form. Please do not send the application form until you and your son are resident in the UK.
When the application is made and processed, the student will be invited to sit a test of academic ability. The test consists of four electronic CAT tests (cognitive ability tests) which require no prior revision, and consists of quantitative, verbal reasoning, non verbal reasoning and spatial. In order to meet the entry standard for Sir Joseph Williamson’s Mathematical School we would expect the tests to demonstrate and student’s performance equates to performance of students already at the school, this minimum level of attainment, therefore, is set to;
ST score for all four disciplines tested is between 7 and 9.
NPR in all four disciplines tested is above 80.
The ST and NPR scores are methods for the school to determine the level of achievement for the student in the test. They can each be defined as;
The Stanine (ST) places the student’s score on a scale of 1 (low) to 9 (high) and offers a broad overview of his performance.
The National Percentile Rank (NPR) relates to the SAS and indicates the percentage of students obtaining any particular score. NPR of 50 is average. NPR of 5 means that the student’s score is within the lowest 5% of the national sample; NPR of 95 means that the student’s score is within the highest 5% of the national sample.
We have set the attainment level at 80, meaning a student’s score is within the highest 20% of the national sample. The Medway Test pass mark is set at 23% of the Year 6 cohort in Medway primary schools.
Please note that if your son has already been deemed selective by Medway Council, the result is valid for 12 calendar months. If your son reaches the required academic standard and if a place is available in the year group, a place will be offered. Parents will be notified of the outcome of a casual admission no more than 15 days from receipt of the application form.
If an offer is not given (including Sixth Form places), due to the school being oversubscribed or your son/daughter not reaching the required academic standard, you will be able to appeal. To request an admission appeal please consult the Appeals pages of this website.
Please note that, as set out in the School Admission Appeal Code 2022, section 5, para 5.1, parents can only appeal once for a place in the same school in the same academic year.
This school is currently oversubscribed in all year groups.
The school does not hold a waiting list for in-year admissions.
APPEALS
Year 6 to 7 secondary transfer appeals
If you have not been offered a place at Sir Joseph Williamsons Mathematical School the law entitles you to appeal against that decision to an Independent Appeal Panel. This panel is completely independent of the school and the Local Authority. All appeals will be heard online which has the advantage that your appeal can be heard from your home or place of work.
If you wish to appeal, please use this link to complete your appeal online. Please do NOT use ANY other appeal form or send your form to your local authority. It is suggested that you download the explanatory booklet about appeals which you should read before you complete the appeal form –
You should include any evidence or supporting material with your appeal form and you MUST give the grounds for your appeal at the time you lodge your appeal form. Your appeal form will not be accepted unless you state the grounds for your appeal. You may appeal for more than one school, but on different forms.
Examples of schoolwork your child may have undertaken will not be accepted. The appeals code is clear that the panel cannot assess a child. The Panel would not be able to make a proper judgement about its quality. They would have nothing to measure it against and would not know the depth of the work submitted. Also, they would not know whether the work had been carried out unaided. The panel will give due weighting to academic letters from professionals such as, headteachers, teachers and tutors, plus CAT or NFER test reports.
Any letters or reports that you wish the panel to see should be uploaded at this time. You are asked to bear in mind that if you later send additional information, the closing date is 5 working days before the STAGE 1 hearing. All appointed panels have agreed NOT to take any late letters or reports after the 5 working day deadline. This will be strictly enforced. For secondary/primary transfer appeals, the hearing will take place at least TWO months after the refusal letter. This gives you plenty of time to get your evidence together if you act early and take account of school holidays.
Please note that the online form will ask you to download two utility bills dated in the last THREE months. If you do not have access to a scanner, please take two photographs with a mobile phone and upload the photographic files.
Full details about the hearing will be sent to you with your invitation to the hearing.
Last day for lodging appeal forms for a place in year 7 to start in September 2025
4pm on Wednesday 2 April 2025to guarantee that your appeal will be heard in the first tranche of appeals. Appeals lodged later may not be heard until the second tranche which could be in September 2025.You MUST state the reasons for your appeal and supply any documentary evidence at this stage.
The stage 1 part of the hearing (with other parents present) will take place on
Wednesday 23 April 2025 at 5.00 pm.
Part 2, the individual private hearings will take place on
Monday 28 April – Friday 2 May 2025 (depending on the number of appeals)
Invitation letter giving details about your hearing will be sent by the Clerk to the Independent Appeal Panel
At least 10 school days before the stage 1 hearing.
Any additional supporting evidence
Closing date is Wednesday 16 April 2025. You are advised that additional paperwork received on the day of the appeal hearing will not be taken into account. Please provide the Clerk with ONE copy of any new additional evidence BY EMAIL ONLY. These must be sent to clerk@educationappeals.com.
Letter from the Clerk informing you of the decision of the independent appeal panel
Due to the high number of appeals held at this time, this may not be sent until up to 10 working days after the last hearing for the school.
Timetable for appeals for mid-term applications is as follows
Last day for lodging appeal forms following a refusal for a place ‘in year’ or ‘mid-term’ excluding 6th form.
You must lodge the appeal form within 20 school days upon receipt of your letter of refusal. You MUST state the reasons for your appeal and supply documentary evidence at this stage. Appeals are held within 30 school days of receipt of the appeal form.
Timetable for Sixth Form Appeals
Last Day for Lodging Appeals
4pm on Thursday 28 August 2025 to guarantee that your appeal will be heard within the first weeks of September. You MUST state the reasons for your appeal on the online form and supply any documentary evidence at this stage e.g. a copy of your result sheet.
Please note the timetable is very short to enable those appellants who win appeals to start as early into the school year as possible.
Sir Joseph Williamson’s Mathematical School provides exceptional opportunities for individual development and our aim is to support pupils to achieve the best possible academic outcomes regardless of background.
As part of our continuing provision for disadvantaged pupils we are working with Atom Learning, the leading online Key Stage 2 learning and 11+ preparation platform, to provide students who are eligible for Pupil Premium with free access to a range of fun and engaging materials to help them progress during Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 (specifically ages 7-11).
The programme is designed to benefit all participants, whatever their current attainment level, but it may be helpful in familiarising children with the type of questions they may see on the 11+ papers by building exam technique and confidence. They’ll be able to access learning resources, practice papers and test materials through their Atom Home account.
If your child has been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years, they will be given entirely free access to Atom Home. Your child’s primary school will be required to provide proof of eligibility for Pupil Premium as part of this process.
Once your Pupil Premium status has been verified by your primary school an account with Atom Home will be set up for you.
You do not need to be planning to apply to SJWMS to be eligible and the materials are equally available to both boys and girls.
While the resources do include some mock 11+ style tests, they are focussed on the acquisition of knowledge and skills which are applicable for all children.
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