Admissions Arrangements 2026-27

Sir Joseph Williamson’s Mathematical School is an 11-18 boys’ grammar school with Academy status. We admit girls in the sixth form and have a total roll of approximately 1530 pupils.

Leigh Academies Trust is the Admissions Authority of Sir Joseph Williamson’s Mathematical School (SJWMS).

Age 11-16 Admissions

The admission arrangements are consistent with Medway Council’s Co-ordinated Scheme for Secondary Admissions.  Entry is via the Medway Test.

The planned admission number, which has been agreed with the local authority (LA), is 203.

Parents who live in Medway can apply for the school via the Parent Portal, or can request a paper application form from Medway Council. Parents who live outside of Medway should apply through their own local authority. 

Places will be offered according to the co-ordinated admission scheme.

Children whose Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan names the school, and who have been assessed as selective under the Medway test procedures will be admitted. 

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, children previously in Care outside of England

A looked after child is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (see the definition in Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989) at the time of making an application to a academy. A previously looked after child means children who were adopted (or subject to child arrangements orders or special guardianship orders) immediately following having been looked after and those children who appear to the admission authority 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 outside of England if they were in the care of or were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation, or any other provider of care whose sole or main purpose is to benefit society.

2) Siblings

Children who will have a brother (or sister for Post 16) on the roll of the school at the time of the sibling’s admission. For this criterion brother or sister means children who live as brother and sister in the same house, including natural brothers or sisters, adopted siblings, step brothers or sisters, foster brothers or sisters. 

Children residing in the same households as part of an extended family, such as cousins, will not be treated as siblings. 

3) Children of Sir Joseph Williamson’s Mathematical School staff

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 two 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).

In this criteria son or daughter means a child who lives in the same house as the member of staff and is their natural son or daughter, step child, or fostered or adopted child.

4) Distance

Distances and routes calculated will represent the shortest route to school from the child’s home address using roads and paths that are known to the graphical information software (GIS) utilised by Medway Council.  Not all footpaths, cut-throughs, shortcuts and new roads are known to the GIS system. If it is not known, a different route will be used. If a child’s home is on a new road, the distance calculation will begin from the nearest road known in the GIS. This may apply to new property developments.

These measurements are used to determine how close each applicant’s address is to the academy with those living closest being given priority. Where parents live at separate addresses, and have joint custody, the address used will be the one where the child spends the main part of the academy week (i.e. Sunday night to Thursday night inclusive). 

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.

Tie breaks 

In the event of two or more pupils having equal ranking for the last place the deciding factor will be distance (criterion 4) 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.

Admission of children outside their normal age group/ Deferred Entry

Parents may seek a place for their child outside of their normal age group, for example, if the child is gifted and talented or has experienced problems such as ill health. 

Requests for admission outside of the normal age group should be made to the Headteacher, by letter or email. It would be helpful if parents or carers provide evidence to support such an application, usually with supporting evidence from an appropriately qualified medical or other practitioner.

Casual in-year admissions

Any family wishing to apply for a place at this school will need to complete a casual admission application form, available from the school on request.

Upon receipt of an application, we will organise an academic assessment to determine if the child is of grammar school ability. Parents will be notified of this date within 15 school days of receipt of the application form.

We will also obtain the outcome of the Medway Test for the child (if the child has previously taken the test) from Medway Council. 

If the child has previously taken and passed the Medway Test within 12 calendar months of the receipt of the casual admission application form by the school, no academic assessment will be undertaken. 

If the child has previously taken and passed the Medway Test more than 12 calendar months from the receipt of the casual admission application form by the school, an academic assessment will be undertaken.

If the child has previously taken and not passed the Medway Test, an academic assessment will be undertaken.

If the child has not previously taken the Medway Test, an academic assessment will be undertaken. 

Any family wishing to apply for a sixth form place at this school will need to complete a casual admission application form, available from the school on request. Reference will be made to whether an applicant has met the academic admission criteria. 

Admission to the Sixth Form

Students currently in Year 11 at Sir Joseph Williamson Mathematical School as well as external candidates applying for admission to Year 12, are required to meet the minimum academic entry criteria outlined in the table below:

All internal applicants who meet the criteria will be admitted to the Sixth Form, even if this number is greater than its capacity. In addition to the sixth form’s minimum academic entry requirements students will need to satisfy minimum course requirements to the courses for which they are applying. If either internal or external applicants fail to meet the minimum course requirements they will be given the option of pursuing any alternative courses for which they do meet the minimum course requirements. Course requirements are published annually in the school’s prospectus and on its website. 

Following the admission of internal students who have transferred from Year 11, all remaining places will be allocated to students who have met the entry requirements for the sixth form and for their particular courses of study, until the total size of the cohort is no greater than 240.  

Where there are more learners seeking places than the number of places available, the over-subscription criteria will be applied in the order set out below to rank pupils until the overall figure for the year group is reached, with reference to available spaces on particular subject courses.  

Children whose Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan names the school will be admitted, as long as they have met the academic entrance requirements. 

1) Looked after children (children in public care) and previously looked after children, children previously in Care outside of England

A looked after child is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (see the definition in Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989) at the time of making an application to a academy. A previously looked after child means children who were adopted (or subject to child arrangements orders or special guardianship orders) immediately following having been looked after and those children who appear to the admission authority 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 outside of England if they were in the care of or were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation, or any other provider of care whose sole or main purpose is to benefit society.

2) Siblings

Children who will have a brother or sister on the roll of the school at the time of the sibling’s admission. For this criterion brother or sister means children who live as brother and sister in the same house, including natural brothers or sisters, adopted siblings, step brothers or sisters, foster brothers or sisters. 

Children residing in the same households as part of an extended family, such as cousins, will not be treated as siblings. 

3) Children of Sir Joseph Williamson’s Mathematical School Staff

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).

4) Sporting Aptitude

Up to 10 places for students who have demonstrated aptitude in sport by rank order of performance in the aptitude assessment. See academy website for details. 

5) Distance

Distances and routes calculated will represent the shortest route to school from the child’s home address using roads and paths that are known to the graphical information software (GIS) utilised by Medway Council.  Not all footpaths, cut-throughs, shortcuts and new roads are known to the GIS system. If it is not known, a different route will be used. If a child’s home is on a new road, the distance calculation will begin from the nearest road known in the GIS. This may apply to new property developments.

These measurements are used to determine how close each applicant’s address is to the academy with those living closest being given priority. Where parents live at separate addresses, and have joint custody, the address used will be the one where the child spends the main part of the academy week (i.e. Sunday night to Thursday night inclusive). 

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.

Operation of waiting lists for all student admissions 

Subject to any provisions regarding waiting lists in the coordinated admission scheme, the school will operate a waiting list. Where in any year the school receives more applications for places than there are places available, a waiting list will operate until the final day of the academic year. This will be maintained by the school and it will be open to any parent to ask for his or her child’s name to be placed on the waiting list, following an unsuccessful application. Places from the waiting list will be offered in the priority order set out above, not in order of the date applications are made. The waiting list will be re-ranked each time a child is added or removed and before the offer of any place.

Appeals for all student admissions

Parents have a statutory right of appeal, should an application for a place be refused.