The RSA Academy admission priorities are detailed below:

1. Students who are in public care or have previously been in public care but ceased to be so because they were adopted (or became subject to a residence order or special guardianship order).

2. Students whose siblings currently attend the Academy and will continue to do so at the date of admission. Please note that this does not apply if the sibling is in Post-16 provision at the Academy.

   The sibling definition is the same of that of the Local Sandwell Authority; blood brothers/sisters with the same address, half-brothers/sisters with the same address, step brothers/sisters with the same address and children whose parents aren’t married but who live at the same address.  

3. Students on the basis of proximity to the Academy using straight line measurement from the main entrance of the Academy to the child’s home.

    In the case of flats or multiple occupancy, measurement will be taken from the main entrance of the building. 

The RSA Academy is an independent, state funded school which has an agreed admission limit of 240 per year for admission into year 7 and 100 places per year for admission into Post 16. Where the Academy receives more applications for year 7 than it has places available, the criteria listed above will apply.

Application Process

The RSA Academy will comply with national co-ordinated admissions scheme for Sandwell which requires all parents to complete a preference form provided by the LA. In completing this form, the RSA Academy must be listed as one of the preferences on the LA form. Inaccurate or false information will invalidate applications to the RSA Academy. On receipt of the application details, the RSA Academy will liaise with the Local Authority over preferences and rankings and agree places to be offered. The RSA Academy will follow the Sandwell agreed definitions of address, siblings, twins and multiple birth applications.

Closing date for applications is 31^st October 2019.  For more information please visit the Sandwell Admissions page on: https://emsonline.lea.sandwell.gov.uk/CCSEnterprise_Admissionsonline_LIVE/account.mvc

Appeals and Waiting Lists

Those who are offered a place at the RSA Academy will be informed on 1st March 2019 by the Local Authority.

Parents who are not offered a place through this process have a right to appeal against the decision.  Sandwell School Admissions will be appointed in accordance with the Code of Practice for School Admission Appeals.  If the RSA Academy is oversubscribed, parents will automatically be placed on a waiting list until the end of December, in coalition with the Sandwell waiting list and, should vacancies arise within this time, will be offered a place in accordance with the published admissions criteria.  Parents will need to re-apply after this date to remain on the Academy waiting list for the rest of the Academic year.

Admission to Sixth form

Applicants for entry at Post 16 should contact the Academy directly for an application pack or complete the online application form; full Post 16 course details can also be accessed online. Up to 20 Post-16 places will be made available for students who are not currently attending the Academy.

All admission thresholds are contained within the Post 16 Prospectus and are summarised in the table below:

Students can study on one of 3 pathways:

• Purely A Levels
• Purely Vocational subjects
• A mixture of both A Level and Vocational

Entry to all Post 16 subjects is subject to satisfactory impartial advice and guidance from the home school, Connexions and agreement over suitable option choices.  Deadline for Post 16 applications is 30^th April.

In the event of there being more applications from qualifying students than there are places available, the admission priorities applying to the Academy will be used to determine those to be admitted. If it is necessary to refuse applications following the application of the admission priorities, parents/carers will have the right of an appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel.