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Admissions

POLICY AND VISION:

We believe that by applying the school’s Admissions Policy fairly and equitably we are caring for children

Policy into Practice:

The lodging of an application is interpreted by the Board of Governors as an indication that the parents and the child concerned accept and are in agreement with the ethos, philosophy, aims, policies and regulations of the school including any code of conduct or discipline policy of the school. Information in relation to these may be obtained from the school.

ADMISSIONS

Duty to verify

The Board of Governors reserves the right to require such supplementary evidence as it may determine to support or verify information on any application form/Transfer form.

If requested Parents will bring:

document proving your son/daughters place of residence such as

a bank or building society statement belonging to your son/daughter;
son/daughters medical card or
child benefit letter addressed to the parent but showing child’s name on the letter.

a utility bill (for instance electricity, gas, Television Licence, telephone) which shows the address at which the child is resident;

Applicants are reminded that the provision of false or incorrect information or the failure to provide information within the deadlines set by post-primary schools can result in the withdrawal of a place and the inability to offer a place on the part of any school nominated on the applicant’s Transfer form.

ADMISSION CRITERIA – to Year 8 (within the transfer procedure)

After due consideration of the Department of Education Post-Primary Transfer Policy and in association with the Final Guidance on Transfer 2012 the Board of Governors have confirmed their admissions criteria as follows:

General	The principal on behalf of the Board of Governors, will apply the following criteria in the order indicated to select pupils for admission. The applications of all pupils resident in Northern Ireland will be considered before the applicants not so resident.
Criterion 1	Pupils from our local contributory primary schools: Donacloney; Dromore Central; Fairhill and St Colmans Dromore.
Criterion 2	Pupils who have a sibling currently attending Dromore High School or a sibling of a past pupil; a child of a member of staff.
Criterion 3	Pupils for whom Dromore High School is their nearest post primary school.
Criterion 4	Pupils from neighbouring primary schools within our traditional catchment area: Anahilt; Ballydown; Downshire; Dromara; Meadowbridge and Riverdale
Criterion 5	Other pupils

In the event of over-subscription within any of the above the following sub-criteria will be applied as appropriate in the order indicated below to determine which children should be admitted.

(i) Pupils who have or had a brother or sister enrolled at the school;

(ii) Pupils who have a parent employed in the school on a permanent basis;

(iii) Those pupils who live closest to the school (as the crow flies), measured by a data agency using mid-point of postal codes.

The phrase ‘child of the family’ or sibling covers children fostered and adopted and avoids having to define all various permutations of sibling.

Outside the Transfer Procedure

In the event of admission being sought to the school after the normal transfer decision-making process, admission will be granted to those pupils living closest to the school (as the crow flies), measured by a data agency using mid-point of postal codes.

Note: Inaccurate of misleading information provided on or attached to an application form may prejudice an offer of a place and may lead to withdrawal of a place awarded to an applicant who has thereby gained an improper advantage.

ADMISSION TO YEARS 9 - 12

The school will admit all children whose parents wish them to attend the school provided that:-

the enrolment number of the school will not be exceeded by the child’s admission;

the admission of the child will not, in the opinion of the Board of Governors, be prejudicial to the efficient use of resources.

ADMISSION CRITERIA

In the event of there being more applications for places than places available the following criteria will be applied in the order indicated to identify which child or children should be admitted. In selecting children for admission children resident in Northern Ireland at the time of their proposed admission to the school will be selected for admission to the school before any child not so resident.

1. Children for whom Dromore High School is the nearest Controlled Secondary School to the child’s home.

2. Other children.

If there are more children who meet either of the criteria than places available the following sub-criteria will be applied in the indicated order:-

1) Pupils whose brother or sister is already in attendance at the school.

2) Children whose brother or sister previously attended the school.

3) Children of members of the permanent staff of the school or who are about to take up a permanent post in the school.

4) Children with special circumstances eg (medical, social or security).

5) Children who live nearest the school measured as (the crow flies ), measured by a data agency using mid-point of postal codes.

Sub-criterion (5) will also be used to discriminate within any other over-subscribed sub-criterion.

The criteria will be applied by the principal who has been delegated authority to undertake this function on behalf of the Board of Governors.

Note Details of special circumstances must be given on or attached to the application form. Documentary evidence supporting the special circumstances must be provided by a statutory body.

ADMISSION CRITERIA FOR YEAR 13

The following criteria will be applied in the order set down:

A pupil will only be considered provided that the school will not exceed its enrolment figure as determined by the Department of Education and that places are available in the school in Year 13 and in the particular subjects.
Pupils will be considered for admission provided that in the opinion of the Board of Governors, they would not prejudice the efficient use of resources.
All applicants for places in Year 13 must also provide evidence of good conduct, attendance, punctuality and contribution to the extra-curricular life of the school.
Prior to admission pupils and parents/guardians must sign a written contract and adhere to the school code of conduct.
All applicants into Year 13 will be required to attend for interview.
Students will be required to have achieved a minimum of 5 A*-C grades at GCSE to be admitted to ‘A’ level courses. In all cases a grade B is needed in the targeted ‘A’ Level/Post-16 subject or in an associated cognate area. In double award science individual subject marks equivalent including tier of entry may be considered. Pupils should also have at least grade ‘C’ in English and Maths or be willing to undertake a course in them to secure a grade ‘C’.
If it is necessary to decide between applicants selection will be determined by academic achievement using the point system below and in association with criteria 6 above.

A*	4	points
A	3	points
B	2	points
C	1	point

In the event that 2 or more applicants have the same points score, priority will be given to pupils according to chronological age, starting with the youngest.

Applicants from other schools may be considered subject to acceptable school report, attendance, work record and behaviour.
If there are more applicants than the number of places available in the year group or desired subject group(s) priority will be given to students presently attending the school.

The Department of Education may, on request, increase the number of pupils that the school can admit to its Year 13. Places that become available in this way shall be allocated only to pupils who meet the basic eligibility criteria for sixth form study (as above) and shall be allocated in the order determined by the criteria to be applied in the order set down.

1. Pupils who have most recently completed Year 12 in Dromore High School.

2. Pupils from other schools where admission to an extra place at Dromore High School has been agreed by the Department of Education.*

Each pupil must be able to follow a viable course at AS level – ie a minimum of three AS subjects or 2 AS and 1 BTEC selected from across three of the four option blocks.