• "Knole Academy’s specialisms are Expressive Arts and Languages, with a strong focus on communication, literacy and global awareness."

• "Recognising that each young person is unique, our focus is on enabling students to fulfill their potential."

Admissions Procedure

The Published Admissions Number (PAN) for Knole Academy is 240. The Academy Trust will consider all applications for places at the Knole Academy. Where fewer than the published admission number(s) for the relevant year groups are received, the Academy Trust will offer places at the Academy to all those who have applied.

Oversubscription Criteria
Where the number of applications for admission is greater than the published admission number, applications will be considered against the criteria set out below.  After the admission of children with Statements of Special Educational Needs, where the Knole Academy is named on the Statement, the criteria will be applied in the order in which they are set out below:

a) Children in public care. A child under the age of 18 years for whom the Local Authority provides accommodation by agreement with their parents/carers (Section 22 of the Children Act 1989) or who is subject of a care order under Part IV of the Act.

b) Compelling medical or other exceptional social reasons for attending the Academy. Robust and documented social, medical or psychological evidence must be provided in support, from an appropriate independent registered professional such as a social worker, hospital consultant, GP or health visitor at the time of the original application, and must set out why the Academy is the only school that can meet the young person’s needs or circumstances; (All correspondence will be treated as private and confidential).

c) Following the admission of children in care and those with medical need, up to 12 places (5% of the PAN) will be offered to children who show a particular aptitude for performing arts, and a further 12 places (5% of the PAN) will be offered to children who show a particular aptitude for visual arts. Allocation of this total 10% of places will be made in accordance with the academy’s assessment procedures. If this 10% of places is not filled on artistic aptitude they will become available to other applicants using the oversubscription criteria as described in a-e.  Children seeking places under this criterion will be invited into the school for an aptitude assessment evening where an appropriate set of tasks will be presented to them and the outcomes assessed by an expert panel.

d) The Knole Academy will be a Sevenoaks school established for the benefit of children in Sevenoaks and Rural Sevenoaks South for whom there is no other alternative secondary school provision in reasonable travelling distance.  In order to ensure that children located in rural Sevenoaks South areas can gain access, the Knole Academy will operate an inner catchment area.  Priority will be given to all children resident in the named parishes below:
 

 
e) All other students
Within each of the criteria listed under b-e, first priority will be given to siblings of students attending the academy at the time of entry, followed by distance between the student’s main residence and the academy.

Distances will be measured using Ordnance Survey address point data which takes a straight line measurement from a defined point within the child’s home to a defined point in the academy.

The same point of measurement in the academy is used for all distance measurements and is provided by the Local Authority.  (Further information about how distances are measured and how children living in blocks of flats will be treated for the purpose of distance measurement is available in the ‘Admissions to Secondary School in Kent’ booklet.  The booklet will also clarify definitions of permanent/main residence where children live in different locations through joint custody arrangements.

Up to 10% (24 children) will be admitted on their artistic ability. Please note that children applying for this will need to sit a visual and/or performing art assessment test at the academy which will be assessed according to published criteria. We cannot guarantee that KCC will pay transport costs for children admitted under this heading.

Any parent wishing their child to sit the visual and/or performing art assessment tests must fill in a separate form which can be obtained from the Academy reception or can be downloaded from the "Documents" section of this website. This form must then be returned to the Academy office by Friday 28th October 2010.