Admissions to Cromwell
Primary Education
- Reception - age 4
Secondary Education
- Year 7 – age 11
Post 16 Education
- Year 12 – age 16
Applications for Starting School in Reception, Year 7 or Sixth Form in September 2025
Pupil admissions for the Reception Year and Year 7 (traditionally called transition or cohort years) are administered annually by the Local Authority on behalf of the Trust. You should apply by completing an application form and returning it to Cambridgeshire County Council. Forms are available by clicking here for Reception or here for Year 7.
You will be informed of the outcome of your application by Cambridgeshire County Council.
All applications for Cromwell Community College Sixth Form will be received through Mychoice16.
If you are studying at a provider who does not use Mychoice16 please apply as an out of area student HERE using the guidance below.
How Places are Offered
For admissions each September, the LA, on behalf of The Active Learning Trust, will offer places to 30 children into Reception and 240 children into Year 7. This is the Published Admission Number (PAN) for those year groups. In the event that more than 30 or 240 applications are received, the over subscription criteria will be applied to determine priority for places.
All preferences are treated equally. Children who have a statement of special educational needs, or Education, Health and Care Plan, that does not name the school will be referred to the Statutory Assessment and Resources (STAR) Team to determine an appropriate place.
Click HERE to see Secondary School Preferences and Allocations for Year 7 September 2023.
In-Year Applications (moving schools)
If you are looking for a new school place for your child that is outside of the normal admission cohorts listed above (during the school year), you should apply directly to the Trust/school. This is called an 'In-Year' admission. Please follow the link below to download an application form which should be returned to altadmissions@activelearningtrust.org.
You will be informed of the outcome of your application by the school or the Active Learning Trust.
Admissions Criteria
Children who have a statement of special educational needs or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) that names Cromwell Community College will be admitted. NB: Those children with a statement of special educations needs or EHCP that does not name the school will be referred to the LA SEN Team to determine an appropriate place.
Children who have a statement of special educational or an EHCP fall outside the ordinary admissions system and therefore do not feature within the oversubscription criteria.
In the event of a year group being oversubscribed, and after the admission of pupils with a Statement of Special Educational Needs or an EHCP where the school is named, priority for admission will be given to those children who meet the criteria set out below, in order:
- A ‘looked after child’ or child who was previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, child arrangements, or special guardianship order. 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 its social services functions (see definition in section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989.
This includes children who appear to the Admission Authority to have been in state care (i.e. in the care of accommodated by a public authority, religious organisation or any other provider whose sole/main purpose is to benefit society) outside of England but ceased to be so as a result of being adopted only.
- Children with a sibling attending the school at the time of application who is reasonably expected to still be attending the school at the proposed time of admission
- Other children by distance from the school with priority for admission being given to those who live nearest to the school as measured by a straight line.
In cases of equal merit, priority will go to children living nearest the school as measured by a straight line. If the distance between two or more children's home addresses and the school is the same then random allocation will be used to decide who has the highest priority for admission. The random allocation process will be independently verified.
Sibling - means any child of compulsory school age living in the same family unit - Age (4-16).
Home address - means the place the child resides for the majority of school nights with an adult who has parental responsibility.
Please click HERE to view the Admissions Arrangements for the 2023/2024 academic year.
Please click HERE to view the Admissions Arrangements for the 2024/2025 academic year.
Please click HERE to view the Admissions Arrangements for the 2025/2026 academic year.
Right to Appeal
If your application to either of the routes above is unsuccessful, you have the right to appeal against the decision to refuse your child a school place. Admission appeals are the responsibility of the Active Learning Trust, and an application for appeal can be made by completing the form below.
An appeal will give you the opportunity to outline your case for admitting your child to school.
You will be informed of the outcome of any appeal by the Active Learning Trust.
