Admissions Policy
Torquay Academy is a Trust Academy and operates its own Admissions Policy. Co-ordinated admissions schemes operate in Torbay for admissions to Year 7 and for in-year admissions. Applications for places must be made through a pupil’s home local authority. For all applications the home address is taken as the address of the person with parental responsibility for the child, and with whom the child lives, at the time of application, or in the case of a child in public care, the address of the carer. A sibling is taken as another child of the same family unit and living in the same household.
Children with an Education, Health and Care Plan which names the Academy on the Plan will have automatic entitlement to a place at the Academy.
Torquay Academy admits children of all abilities. If too many pupils apply for the available places, then the oversubscription criteria for all year groups is as follows:
- Looked after children. This covers children who are looked after by a local council in accordance with Section 22 of the Children Act 1989(b) and formerly looked-after children who have been adopted or made subject to a Child Arrangement Order or Special Guardianship order.
- Students qualifying for a place in:
a) the Football Academy – up to 8 places
b) the Performing Arts Academy – up to 8 places
- Children of staff at the school, who have parental responsibility, in either or both of the following circumstances:
a) where the member of staff has been directly employed by the school for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made, and/or
b) the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage
- Children who will have a sibling on roll at the Academy at the time of application
- Other children living in the designated area served by the Academy
- Other children living outside the designated area
Should it be necessary to further distinguish between applications within any of the above categories, priority will be given to those living closest to the Academy. Measurements will be taken by a straightline distance using the Council’s electronic mapping system (GIS). Measurements will be made from the co-ordinates of the home address as pinpointed on the Council’s system, to the co-ordinates of the school as pinpointed on the Council’s system. The pinpoint will be within the boundary of the property and its precise location will be determined by Torbay Council. This is for admissions purposes only and is not used to determine eligibility for school transport. In the event that applicants cannot be separated using the distance tie-breaker (i.e. they live identical distances from the school), the allocation of a place will be by random selection using a random number generator and in the presence of a senior manager.
2024-25:
2025-26:
Football Academy Registration Form for September 2025
Performing Arts Academy Registration Form for September 2025
Torbay Council’s website has further information on secondary school admissions and also gives information about how parents can object to the schools adjudicator:
http://www.torbay.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/admissions/admission-arrangements/
Admission Appeals
If your application is turned down in writing, you have the right of appeal through Torbay Council. Further information about admission appeals, including how to submit an appeal, the appeal timetable and the admission panel can be found on Torbay Council's website:
https://www.torbay.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/admissions/admissions-appeals/
