School admissions policies 

School admissions policies set out how the school will allocate places if there are more applications than spaces. In this situation, schools must by law first allocate places to any children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) naming the school, and then to children who are or have previously been in care. After this, the admissions policy applies.  

Admissions policies put children into categories. Places go to children in criterion 1 first. Any places left go to children in criterion 2, and then to children in each criteria in turn until there are no places left. 

Our school place allocation reports show which categories of children got places at each school last year.

Admissions policies can change if a school becomes an academy and at other times. But policies will not change after they have been published. For more information, see how schools set admission arrangements.

Cheshire East Council admissions policy

Our admissions policy applies to all schools where we are the admissions authority.

After allocating places for any children with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school, we put children into 5 categories:

1. Children who are in local authority care or have previously been in care. 
2. Brothers and sisters living in the same household as children already in the school (up to and including year 5 for primary applications and year 10 for secondary applications) who expect to stay at the school for the next school year. This includes foster and adopted brothers and sisters, step-brothers and sisters, and half-brothers and sisters.
3. Children living within the school's catchment area.
4. For high schools, children who are currently pupils at one of the primary schools the high school works with as a feeder school. 
5. Children living nearest to the school as measured in a straight line by the National Property Gazetteer. 

Where there are not enough spaces for children who live the same distance away (for example, in the same block of flats), we decide by a random allocation tie-breaker. 

Cheshire East admission authority arrangements

Full details of admission arrangements for schools for which Cheshire East is the admissions authority, see 

• 2025-2026 admission arrangements and coordinated scheme, including published admission numbers (PDF, 590KB)
• 2024-2025 admission arrangements and coordinated scheme, including published admission numbers (PDF, 612KB)

Annual report to the schools adjudicator

Local authorities must produce an annual admissions report to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA) for all the schools in their area for which they co-ordinate admissions. These reports allow the  OSA to see how policies are working. The OSA summarises its findings and produces its own annual report which you can find on the Office of the Schools Adjudicator website.

Recent Cheshire East Council reports 

• Cheshire East's annual report to the OSA as at 25 October 2024 (PDF, 291KB)

Schools that set their own admissions arrangements

Schools where we are not the admissions authority set their own admissions arrangements and policies. 

Some faith (voluntary-aided) schools have policies that include faith-based categories. In these cases, you must give the school extra information when you apply.

Our school admissions information booklets include details of school admission rules. For complete information on individual school admission arrangements, see the school's own website.  

Page last reviewed: 23 August 2024