Please read the St Richard’s Catholic College’s Admissions Policy

The Governors Published Admission Number for Year 7, in September 2026, is 200 pupils.

The procedure for applying for a place at St Richard’s Catholic College for Year 7 September 2026 is as follows:

Apply direct to the Local Authority via the Apply for a school place on the East Sussex County Council website. If you are not able to apply online please contact the Admissions and Transport team on 0300 330 9472 for a paper application.
If you live outside East Sussex, you must apply through your home local authority. Your local authority will then pass on the details of your application. They will be responsible for letting you know the outcome.

The deadline for applications to East Sussex County Council is 31st October 2025.

Complete and return to St Richard’s Catholic College the Supplementary Information Form (SIF). This allows the Governors to put all applicants in order of priority for admission in line with the published admission policy. Please note that completion of the SIF is not mandatory. However, if a completed SIF is not received, the Governors can only consider your application within the last criterion (category 9).
The deadline for returning the SIF to the Admissions Team at St Richard’s is 31st October 2025.

You are advised to keep a copy of the CAF and SIF for your records.

Timetable

Allocation letters and email notifications posted to parents. (TBC)

Closing date for return of admission forms indicating acceptance of place. (TBC)

Deadline for requests by parents for their cases to be heard by an independent School Admission Appeal Panel.  (TBC)

Appeal hearings take place. May/June 2026

In-Year Appeals Procedure

Parents/carers whose applications for places are unsuccessful may appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel set up in accordance with the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. As the school’s admissions authority, the Governors of St Richard’s Catholic College will comply with reasonable requests from parents / carers for information which they need to help them prepare their case for appeal.

Deadline for receipt of appeal

Parents must submit their appeal form within 21 school days of the date of a letter confirming the decision to refuse an application.

Appeal hearing to take place

In-year appeals will be heard within 30 school days of receipt of the appeal form.

Notice of date of the hearing

Parents will be given at least 10 school days written notice of the date of the appeal. Parents / carers may waive their right to 10 school days notice of the hearing.

Deadline for the receipt of additional information / evidence

Parents should submit any additional information 7 working days before the date of their hearing (not including the day of despatch of the day of the hearing). You can send additional evidence after this deadline or bring extra items with you on the day of your hearing but the Independent Appeal Panel may decide not to accept this late evidence. Submitting extra evidence late can sometimes lead to your hearing being adjourned, or even postponed to another day.

Appeals must be made in writing on the appeal form which can be downloaded HERE or requested from the Admissions Team and must set out the reasons on which the appeal is made. Completed appeal forms should be addressed to the Admissions Appeal Team at the school address.

Parents/carers have the right to make oral representations to the Appeal Panel.

Appellants do not have the right to a second appeal in respect of this school for the same academic year unless, in exceptional circumstances, the Governing Body has accepted a second application from the appellant because of a significant and material change in the circumstances of the parent/carer, child or school but has still refused admission.

Appellants may apply for a place in this school in respect of a later academic year and have a further right of appeal if that application is unsuccessful.

Appellants may complain about maladministration on the part of the Appeal Panel to the local Government Ombudsman. A complaint to an Ombudsman is not a further appeal and must relate to the administration of the appeal rather than the appeal decision. Maladministration covers matters such as failure to follow correct procedure or failure to act independently and fairly. It does not cover the merits of decision that only the panel has the authority to make. Therefore, generally, the Ombudsman cannot consider whether the Appeal Panel was correct to uphold or dismiss the appeal.

The Ombudsman is not able to overturn the appeal panel’s decision but, where they find that there has been maladministration, they may make recommendations for a suitable remedy. For example, they may recommend that an appeal is reheard by a different panel and with a different clerk.

Appellants considering making a complaint can contact the Local government Ombudsman’s Advice Line on 0300 061 0614, visit the website at www.lgo.uk or write to:

The Local Government Ombudsman PO Box 4771 Coventry CV4 0EH.

Admission of children outside their normal age group

Please note that it is the view of the Government, the Diocese, the LA and the Governing Body of this school that a child is educated alongside his/her age equivalent peers, in almost all cases.

Should a parent/carer request to have a decelerated entry to school i.e. to start later than other children in their chronological age group, they must initially apply for a school place in accordance with the deadlines that apply for their child’s chronological age.

If the request is accepted, the application for the normal year group may be withdrawn before a place is offered. The parent/carer will be required to apply in the usual way the following year, along with the cohort of applicants for that year group. It should be noted that the application will not receive priority over or above any other applicant for this year group and the application will be considered in line with the published admission criteria applicable for that year of entry alongside all other applicants to the school.

In relation to the request, decisions are made on the basis of the circumstances of each case and in the best interest of the child. The governing body will expect the parent/carer to supply them with appropriate information and evidence. What the governing body will take into account will include:

Views of parent/carer
Information relating to the child’s academic/social/emotional development, where relevant
Medical history and the views of a medical professional
Any previous history of being educated outside of their normal age group
If the child may naturally have fallen into a lower age group if it were not for being born prematurely
Views of the Principal of the school.

Please note that parents/carers do not have the right to insist that their child is admitted to a particular age group. It is the Governing Body who, having considered the circumstances of each individual case, will make a decision. The governing body will set out clearly for the parents/carers concerned the reasons for their decision in each case.

If the parent/carer is unhappy with a decision about which year group their child will be admitted to, the following applies. Parents/carers who are refused a place at a school for which they have applied have the right of appeal to an independent admission appeal panel. However, there is not a right of appeal if the child has been offered a place and it is not in the year group the parent/carer would like. In such cases, the parent/carer could make a complaint through the school’s complaint procedure.

If a parent/carer requests to have an accelerated entry to school i.e. to start earlier than other children in their chronological age group, they must initially apply for a school place at the same time that other families are applying for that cohort. If the governing body agrees for the child to have an accelerated entry, the application will be processed. If it is not agreed for the child to have an accelerated entry, they will be invited to apply again in the following year for the correct cohort.

Contacts

For enquiries, please contact our Admissions Team via email admissions@strichardscc.com