Co-op Academy
Bebington

STUDENT ADMISSION BOOKLET

SEPTEMBER 2027 - JULY 2028

Agreed by Academy November 2025

Dear Parent,

I hope that you find this booklet useful. It provides information about education at the Co-op Academy Bebington but in particular our admission policy and arrangements for transfer to secondary school. The booklet is designed to be used by parents who have children in the last year at primary school, those wishing to transfer between secondary schools within Wirral or those who are moving into the area with children of secondary school age.

If you wish for your child to transfer to Co-op Academy Bebington in September 2027 you will need to read this booklet carefully. Although our school is an academy we are still part of Wirral’s community of schools. We are our own admission authority but have agreed to be part of Wirral’s co-ordinated applications process.

This booklet is especially important if your child is transferring in September. It sets out arrangements for allocating (offering) places to our school and the criteria we use in prioritising parental preferences and the procedure for appeals.

We are very proud of our school; the standards of achievement and behaviour are good and we are committed to further improvements.

More detailed information about our school can be obtained from our prospectus or website at https://bebington.coopacademies.co.uk 

If you choose to send your child to our school I am sure that they will settle happily and achieve to their potential.

Yours sincerely

Jane Whisker

Head Teacher

OUR SCHOOL

Co-op Academy Bebington is part of the Co-op Academies Trust. The academy takes seriously its role to further build aspirations of the Bebington community for the future. This policy meets statutory requirements regarding admissions whilst still retaining that core aim. In ensuring that we provide the best possible education for our students we work in partnership with all our stakeholders who have responsibility for guiding the direction of the school in a co-operative forum. This means that our students, staff, parents and community groups have a major input into the direction and success of the school. In addition, our trust board support the school in ensuring that we provide outstanding support for students and their parents resulting in our students being happy and successful.

If you would like to discuss our academy status further I will be more than happy to, all you need to do is to contact the school and arrange an appointment.

We are an all ability co-educational inclusive school and welcome all students regardless of ability, gender, culture and disability. We admit students to our school without assessing their ability but may group them according to ability once in the school in certain subject areas.

Admission arrangements – Introduction

The arrangements described below apply to children born between 1st September 2015 and 31st August 2016. We will not normally offer places in year 7 in our school to children born after 31st August 2016 unless the Academy agree to this.

Places in our school are decided by the Academy according to arrangements made in consultation with the Local Authority. The admissions procedure is co-ordinated by the Local Authority. Normally all parents who express a preference for their child to be admitted to our school will be accepted unless there are no places available. The local authority will then allocate a place at the nearest appropriate school with places available.

Admission number

The admission number for the school is 205. Students will be admitted into our school up to this number.

Conclusion 

In recent years, the academy has been oversubscribed. The academy is committed to having a fair and transparent system for admissions, and to work in partnership with the Local Authority to ensure this.

Admission criteria for Year 7 to the Co-op Academy Bebington

The Co-op Academies Trust is the Admissions Authority for Co-op Academy Bebington and is responsible for the decisions on admission to the school.  Our admissions procedure is co-ordinated by the Local Authority in accordance with the Wirral Co-ordinated Admissions Scheme.  All deadlines within the scheme should be adhered to by applicants. For further information please go to: Apply for a secondary school place on Wirral Local Authority's website

For the school year starting September 2027, the published admissions number (PAN) for Year 7 is 205. If more than 205 applications are made, places will be offered strictly in accordance with the order of the following criteria:

1. Children Looked-After - CLA : A Child Looked-After is a child who is a) in the care of a Local Authority, b) a child who, in the view of the Local Authority appears to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted or c) being provided with accommodation by a Local Authority in the exercise of their Social Services functions (under Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989).  This definition includes a ‘previously Looked-After Child’, which is one who immediately moved on from that status after becoming subject to an adoption, residence or special guardianship order.

2. Students’ who have a brother or sister (siblings include half, adopted or step living in the same household) on roll at the school, and of statutory school age when it opens in September.  Siblings MUST live in the same household, full time. In the case of twins, triplets, etc. all the multiples will be admitted to the school, even if this means that the Published Admissions number is exceeded.

3. Students’ residence. Places will be allocated on the basis of distance of permanent residence. The Local Authority uses a mapping system, based on Ordnance Survey maps to measure the distance from home to the school gate nearest to the student’s home using the shortest road route, unless it is possible to use a footpath, which is considered a safe walking route as determined under Local Authority guidelines. When a student lives between two households, the home address  will be calculated from the address where the student lives more than 50% of the time.

EHCPS:          Students who have an Educational Health care Plan (EHCP) in place, should follow the LA process for allocation and are not expected to apply through the admissions channel as outlined in this policy

Late applications

The Local Authority will deal with preferences received by 31 October 2026 according to the arrangements described below. Preferences received on or after 1 November 2026 will be dealt with after places have been allocated on 1 March 2027.

Applications received outside the normal admission round, will be allocated a place at the school, if there are places available.These will be dealt with in accordance with the initial admissions criteria and arrangements applied by Wirral Local Authority.

Allocation of places

The Local Authority will tell you if your child has been offered a place at the Co-op Academy Bebington by letter on 1 March 2027. If places are still available after this date, for example because an allocated place has not been taken up, the places will be re-allocated up to the school’s admission number. The new offers will be made to children whose parents have shown that they are still interested in a place at the school either by registering an appeal or by telling the Admissions Team at the local Authority. If there are more requests for places at the Co-op Academy Bebington than there are places available, the local authority will use the same criteria as for the initial allocation. In most cases, the local authority will make the new offers depending on where the children lives. If this is the case, a list will be kept in order of those who will have priority because they live nearer the school. No more offers of places will be made until after appeals have been heard, but a waiting list will be held for children whose parents would still like them to be considered for a place at the Co-op Academy Bebington if places become available in the autumn term of 2027.

Waiting lists:

A waiting list for students who have not been offered a place in Year 7 will be kept by the Local Authority and will be ranked according to the admissions criteria.  The waiting list will be maintained until 31st December 2027.  For the avoidance of doubt, the Local Authority does not maintain waiting lists for any other year group. 

Requests for admission outside the normal age group:

Parents/legal guardians are entitled to request a place for their child/ward outside of their normal age group.  Requests for admission outside the normal age group should be made to the Local Authority.

Decisions on requests for admission outside the normal age group will be made by the Academy on the basis of the circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the child concerned.  In accordance with the School Admissions Code, this will include taking account of:

• Parents’ views about why admission outside of the normal year group should be made.
• Information about the child’s academic, social and emotional development as supported by professionals.
• Where relevant, their medical history and the views of a medical professional.
• Whether they have previously been educated out of their normal age group.
• Whether they may naturally have fallen into a lower age group if it were not for being born prematurely.
• The Headteacher’s views.

Wherever possible, requests for admission outside a child’s normal age group will be processed as part of the main admissions round.  They will be considered on the basis of the admission arrangements and oversubscription criteria laid out in this policy.  Applications will not be treated as a lower priority if parents/legal guardians have made a request for a child to be admitted outside the normal age group.

If the application for entry outside the normal age group is rejected during the main admission round, the application will be considered for admission into the normal age group and subject to the admission arrangements and oversubscription criteria.

Parents/legal guardians will always be informed of the reasons for any decision on the year group a child should be admitted to.  Parents/legal guardians do not have a right to appeal if they are offered a place at the school but it is not in their preferred age group.

Applying for an In Year place (Admissions during the academic year)

In-year requests will be considered by the Board of Governors but will initially be co-ordinated by the Local Authority Wirral Website - School Admissions .  An application can be made for a place for a child at any time outside the normal admissions round.  An application will be considered ‘In-year’ if it is submitted on or after the first day of term of the relevant admission year.  Any decisions with respect to admissions are made with reference to the same criteria as for the Year 7 placements.  If the application is successful, arrangements will be made for the child to start school as soon as possible.

Appeals against admission decisions

If an application for admission has been turned down by the Board of Governors, parents/legal guardians can appeal to an Independent Appeals Panel.  Parents/legal guardians should contact Wirral School Admissions appeals via their website.  Appeals should be sent back to the Appeals Panel no later than 20 school days from receiving the letter of refusal.  Parents/legal guardians must give their reasons for appealing in writing.  The decision of the Appeals Panel is binding on the Academy.

The Academy reserve the right to withdraw the offer a school place where false evidence is received in relation to place of residence or any other information in order to seek a place at the school.

6th Form Admissions Policy:

The school has a separate policy for 6th Form Admissions; please refer to this document for all information relating to admission requirements and course criteria.

More details are available by contacting our school.

E-mail: bebi-school.office@coopacademies.co.uk 

Tel: 0151 645 4154