Admissions
Consultation for Admissions Arrangements for School Year 2027/28
Introduction
Ripon Cathedral School are consulting on the admissions arrangements for 2027/28. We are committed to ensuring that our admissions arrangements are fair, transparent, and fully compliant with the Department for Education’s School Admissions Code. As part of this commitment, we are undertaking a consultation on our admissions processes, as per the statutory admissions code requirements.
Purpose of the Consultation
The purpose of this consultation is to provide stakeholders including parents, carers, staff, and the wider community, with an opportunity to review the school’s admissions arrangements and offer any feedback. This is in accordance with the statutory requirement to consult at least once every seven years, even if no changes are being made.
Admissions Arrangements
For 2027/28, there is one amendment to the oversubscription criteria within our current Admissions Policy (Note that the PAN remains at 30). This is as below:
An addition to the oversubscription criteria of:
| 8 | Children of staff. | Children of all staff will be considered where the parent has a permanent contract of employment. Their normal base of work must be at Priest Lane, Ripon, North Yorkshire, HG4 1LT and their employment contract must have been in place for two or more years at the time of the closing date for application for admission. | Supporting evidence in the form of a contract of employment would be required after a place was offered. |
Consultation Period
The consultation will run from Monday 15th December 2025 to Monday 26th January 2026. During this time, stakeholders are invited to review the admissions policy and submit any comments or feedback.
How to Respond
Feedback can be submitted by email to admin@riponcathedral.n-yorks.sch.uk or by post to Ripon Cathedral CE Primary School, Priest Lane, Ripon HG4 1LT
All responses will be considered by the Governing Body before the admissions arrangements are formally determined.
Proposed Policy for School Year 2027-28
General Information
Deciding on a school place is one of the most important decisions parents make. We try to make the process easier by asking all prospective parents to come and look round, you will be sure to get a friendly and warm welcome. It helps us if you phone for an appointment in advance so we can make sure the headteacher is available for you.
We invite parents to apply for a place in the knowledge that we are a distinctively Christian school and ask that you respect our church school ethos. Parents who are not of the faith of this school are equally welcome to apply for and be considered for a place here.
Nursery
For information regarding Nursery admissions please click here. Parents are asked to note that acceptance of a place in Nursery does not guarantee a place into main school.
Reception
The Governing Body is responsible for the admission of pupils to Ripon Cathedral School and admits 30 pupils to Reception each year. This admission limit has been agreed between the Governing Body and the Local Authority.
There is a legal maximum limit for infant classes of 30 pupils per class.
Children will be admitted in to Reception in September after their 4th birthday.
Parents may request that the date their child is admitted to the school is deferred until later in the same school year or until the child reaches compulsory school age in that school year.
Parents may request that their child attends part-time until the child reaches compulsory school age.
Requests for a child to start their schooling on a part-time basis or to defer the start until they reach compulsory school-age should be addressed to the Headteacher.
Compulsory school age is the beginning of the term following the child’s fifth birthday.
The timeline for applications to be received and processed are those agreed with the local authority. Parents must complete the Local Authority’s Common Application Form (CAF) and return the form to the Authority. Parents applying under criteria 5 - 7 (the Faith Commitment criteria) will be asked to complete a Supplementary Information Form, which can be obtained from the final pages of the policies below, completed and returned to the school not later than the closing date for school applications to be received set by the Local Authority (you may return the form earlier).
In Year Admissions
Requests for admission for any year group during the school year should be made by first contacting the school office who should be able to clarify availability of places and make an appointment for you to meet the headteacher.
More information can be found below:
NYC School Admissions website link
Please note that our catchment area is shown on page 8 of the Admission Policy.