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Admissions Criteria Year 9-12

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General Criteria

Entry into Down High School must be contained within the school’s enrolment number. Down High School would wish to consider only those pupils who will benefit from a grammar school education. Consequently academic criteria must figure prominently in the admission process.

1. Each application will be considered on its merits. Factors that will be considered are:

1. the equivalence or otherwise of the school from which the pupil wishes to transfer;
2. the academic and behavioural report from the Headteacher of the school from which transfer is requested;
3. any supporting evidence that parents wish to submit in support of the prospective pupil’s suitability;
4. special abilities and talents of the pupil;
5. other pertaining circumstances.

2. Applications will be refused unless sufficient evidence is made available to show that the academic ability of the child is of a standard equivalent to that of the pupils with whom he or she would be taught. Such evidence might include the child’s result in the transfer test, levels achieved in the Key Stage 3 external tests, the year positions achieved in the internal examinations in English, Mathematics and other subjects or the results of tests carried out by the Psychology Department of the South Eastern Education and Library Board.
Evidence, such as the Headteacher’s report, should accompany the application form. The school reserves the right to seek additional information from the child’s current school. It is the responsibility of the parents to ensure that sufficient documentary evidence is provided to the Board of Governors.

3. Applications for admission at times other than the start of the school year would be most likely to be refused on the grounds that admission would be prejudicial to the efficient use of resources unless the number of pupils in the year group is lower than the admissions number approved for that Year Group at Year 8. Consequently admissions to the school in Years 9 – 12 usually take place on the first teaching day of the School Year. Exceptions would be inter alia children new to the area or those given entry by Appeals Tribunal.

4. If admitting the child would cause a practical class to be larger than the maximum size allowed by the Department of Education’s regulations, an application would be refused on the grounds that admission would be prejudicial to the efficient use of resources.