ADMISSIONS
Admissions Information Video
Current number of students on roll: Year 7 = 217, Year 8 = 216, Year 9 = 217, Year 10 = 217, Year 11 = 204, Year 12 = 222, Year 13 = 215
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.
Admissions Determination
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 FAQ number 6 on the admissions page of our website).
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.
IN-YEAR ADMISSIONS
The method to apply for a place at this school during the academic year is the casual admission process.
Please complete the casual admission form (available here) and return it by email to office@sjwms.org.uk 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 complete the appeal form.
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 admission appeals for September 2023 are scheduled to take place on 27th April, and 2nd to 5th May, with the Grouped appeal being on 26th April.
The Appeals deadline was 29th March 2023 for Year 6 to 7 entry in September 2023, and we are unable to accept any further appeals after this date.
For any further information on appeals, please see our ‘in-year’ appeals section.
Please email appeals@sjwms.org.uk with all queries regarding appeals
