Una Discamus

Sponsored by Wellington College PTA

Admissions

We must ensure a fair system of pupil entry and these criteria are designed to apply to all entries.  They are published to ensure there is no misunderstanding, but please do not hesitate to ask for more information or for clarification - they are quite detailed and most parents welcome guidance. 

Download College Application Form.

Download College Prospectus.

 

ADMISSIONS CRITERIA FOR ENTRY TO YEAR 8 (FORM 1) IN SEPTEMBER 2010

1. Introduction

The Admissions Criteria have been approved by the Board of Governors of the College to be used to select pupils for admission in Year 8 in September 2010.

The Board of Governors has determined the Admissions Policy and has delegated to the Transfer Committee its functions and responsibilities in the execution of that policy.

The criteria will be reviewed annually.

 

2. Criteria for admission to Year 8

Applicants who will be resident in Northern Ireland at the time of their proposed admission to the College will be selected for admission before any such applicants not so resident.

The College will not use as a criterion the order of the chosen schools on the Transfer form; for example a child who has placed the College as a second choice school will be regarded in the same way as all first preference applicants.

The Board of Governors will consider applications from those who have taken the AQE CEA and will allocate the 110 places on the basis of the rank order of their respective scores in the AQE CEA; those achieving higher scores will be allocated places before those who have achieved a lower score.

The Board of Governors will verify the AQE CEA score by checking it against the list of scores provided directly to the school by AQE.

If a number of pupils are eligible for the 110th place because they have equal scores, then the Board of Governors will use the criteria listed in Section 4 to determine the final placement.

If there are still places available after consideration of all the pupils who have taken the AQE CEA and been awarded a score by AQE or awarded a score as a result of Special Circumstances or Special Provision, the College will consider for admission any pupils who have not taken the AQE CEA. Pupils from this pool will be allocated to the remaining places up to the College's Admissions Number of 110 using the criteria listed below.

3. Special Circumstances

The College has academic performance as its first criterion, subject only to the consideration of medical or other problems which may have affected performance in the CEA and which are supported by independent documentary evidence of a medical or other appropriate nature. These 'medical or other problems' are commonly referred to as 'special circumstances'.

Please note that if a claim for the consideration of Special Circumstances is made in respect of matters for which Special Access arrangements were granted for a pupil, the College will take into account the fact that the pupil was granted Special Access arrangements for those matters.

Parents who wish to apply to the College under Special Circumstances should complete Form SC09 obtainable from the College or AQE, and attach it with appropriate documentary evidence, as detailed below, to the Transfer Form.

Details of Medical or Other Problems

Where it is claimed that a pupil's performance in the CEA has been affected by a medical or other problem, it is the responsibility of the parents to set out in the Form SC09 precise details of the problem and append independent evidence to corroborate its existence.

Where the problem is a medical one of short term duration which affected the pupil only at the time of the CEA, the College will require the production of evidence that the pupil was examined by a medical practitioner in relation to the illness at the time of the assessments.

Where the problem is of a non-medical nature the parents/guardians should set out in the Form SC09 precise details of the problem and attach any appropriate independent evidence to corroborate its existence.

Educational Evidence

The score achieved in the CEA which the College will verify with AQE.

Objective documentary evidence must be provided by the parents. This should include, where they exist, the results for the pupil of any standardised tests conducted in Year 5, Year 6 and Year 7 and the results in any end of year tests in English and Mathematics.

The Transfer Committee responsible to the Board of Governors will consider the application for Special Circumstances. Where this is accepted, the Transfer committee will determine, on the basis of the information available, a score for the pupil. Such pupils will then be considered with all other pupils who have received a CEA score and the admissions criteria applied.

Special Provisions

Special Provisions will apply for:

  • Pupils whose parents wish them to transfer from Schools outside Northern Ireland.
    • (Those applicants who arrived in Northern Ireland after 18th September 2009 have until 12th May 2010 to submit Form SC09)
  • Pupils who have received more than half of their Primary education outside Northern Ireland.
  • Pupils, entered for the AQE CEA, who because of unforeseen and serious medical or other problems, which are supported by appropriate independent documentary evidence, were unable to participate in any of the Assessments.

Note: it is expected that all those seeking admission should sit the AQE CEA, with the exception of those pupils who take up residence in Northern Ireland after the 18th September 2009.

Parents who wish to apply to the School under Special Provisions should complete Form SC09, obtainable from the School or AQE, stating the precise reason why they believe the pupil is eligible for consideration under Special Provisions. This should be attached to the transfer form with appropriate documentary evidence.

The Transfer Committee will consider the application for Special Provisions. Where this is accepted, the following procedure will apply;

  • The College will consider any accredited assessments and may choose to commission an independent assessment of the pupil's ability in English, Mathematics and verbal reasoning;
  • The Transfer Committee will determine, on the basis of all the available assessment information, an appropriate score for the pupil. If the pupil sat the CEA, this score, if greater than the original, will stand. The pupil will then be considered with all other pupils who have received a CEA score and the admission criteria applied.

4. Selection Criteria

When the number of applicants exceeds the approved admissions numbers, the Board of Governors, in considering applicants who have been allocated the same score, will, on the basis of the information recorded on their Transfer Forms or attached to such forms, give preference to the following groups, in the order set out hereafter.

  • Applicants who are in receipt of Free School Meals;

'In receipt of Free School Meals' will mean applicants who, at the date on which they have signed their post-primary Transfer Form, or at any date up to and including 12th May 2010, have communicated within their application that they are listed on the Education and Library Board/ESA register as entitled to Free School Meals.

  • Applicants who at the date of their application have a child of the family currently enrolled at the College;
  • Applicants who are the eldest or only child in the family, (for the purposes of these admissions criteria "the family" does not include children of previous relationships of either parent); applicants must have attached a letter on headed notepaper to verify that the applicant is the eldest child; this must be a letter from a person who is not a family member of the applicant and who has known the applicant for at least two years; letters of verification will be accepted from an Elected Public Representative, GP, solicitor, member of the Clergy or a Police Officer;
  • Applicants who have a brother or sister initially selected under the transfer procedure (twins, triplets etc will be entitled to recognition as 'eldest' in family if twins, triplets etc are the first born to a family); applicants must have attached a letter on headed notepaper to verify that the applicant is the eldest child; this must be a letter from a person who is not a family member of the applicant and who has known the applicant for at least two years; letters of verification will be accepted from an Elected Public Representative, GP, solicitor, member of the Clergy or a Police Officer;
  • Applicants who have a brother or sister who is a past pupil of the College; the application form must provide the name of the relation at the time of enrolment, dates of attendance and date of birth;
  • Applicants whose parent/guardian was a past pupil of the College or of Annadale or Carolan Grammar Schools; the application form must provide the name of the relation at the time of enrolment, dates of attendance and date of birth;
  • If having applied the criteria in the manner prescribed above, it becomes necessary to make a final selection in order to remain within the admissions number, the names of those applicants will be entered into a random selection process. This selection will be supervised at all stages by two witnesses to ensure that all eligible pupils are entered for the selection process and to ensure that those selected at random are admitted in the precise order of their selection until the admissions number is reached.

Applicants who wish to refer to the selection criteria must provide the detailed information on the Transfer Form and/or the College Application Form.

APPLICATIONS AND ADMISSIONS

 

  Grade A Grade B1 Grade B2 Grade C1 Grade C2 Grade D Others Boarders Appeal Total
  Ap Ad Ap Ad Ap Ad Ap Ad Ap Ad Ap Ad Ap Ad Ap Ad Upheld Admis
2007 48  48  38 38  42 18  23  3*  19 0 13 1*  5 2** 0  0  0  110
2008 60  60 47  47  27  1*  37  2*  16  0 22 0 5  0 0  0  0 110
2009 40 40  31  31 31  29 19 7*  13  3* 15  0 3 0  0 0  0 110

* Special Circumstances                      **Special Provision

 

5. CRITERIA FOR ADMISSIONS TO YEAR 8 - after the beginning of the school year:

The Criteria for such admissions will be the same as those for admission to Year 8 before the beginning of the School Year.

Parents who wish to register their interest in a place, should one become available, must complete a College Application Form after 1 September.

 

6. CRITERIA FOR ADMISSIONS TO YEAR 9 - 12 in September 2010

        AFTER THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR 2010-2011

(i) Availability of a place in the College.

(ii) The availability of places in the established classes of the various subjects which the applicant must follow to meet the statutory and College curriculum.

(iii)  Evidence of the pupil's academic potential as proven by:

       - the grade achieved in the transfer test and/or

       - all reports from the Secondary School(s) attended.

(iv) In the event of there being more suitable applicants than available places the Selection Criteria as at 4 will be applied.

It is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to ensure any support material is submitted to the College.  This includes all academic reports from the current school and any certificates or evidence of other achievements.

 

7. CRITERIA FOR ADMISSIONS TO YEAR 13 - in September 2010 - (for pupils already enrolled in Wellington College and for applicants from other schools):

(i) The minimum requirement for entry to Year 13 is 12 points at GCSE, with a minimum of 5 GCSE passes at A*-C.  (A*=4, A=3, B=2, C=1). For short courses (A*=3, A=2 , B =1)

(ii) Preference will be given to the academically best qualified applicants, as evidenced by the GCSE grades obtained - in terms of the overall score and the grades relevant to the subjects proposed for sixth form study.

(iii) Pupils will be expected to have obtained Grade B or better at GCSE in the subjects proposed for GCE 'A' level study or in related subjects if there is not a direct GCSE equivalent.

(iv) Pupils will be offered a place in the College subject to options being available and to class sizes being viable.

 

8. Applicants will not be admitted where there is a place available if:

(i) The academic ability of the applicant is not of a standard equivalent to that of pupils with whom he or she would be taught;

(ii) The admission of the applicant would prejudice the efficient use of resources;

(iii) Their proposed course of study includes subjects for which they do not meet the entry requirement as published in the Sixth Form Entry Booklet.