Admissions Criteria 2024
Find out how to apply: https://www.eani.org.uk/parents/admissions
The Board of Governors draws up the Admissions Criteria and delegates responsibility for the application of the criteria to an Admissions Team, which includes the Principal, the Bursar and Administrative personnel.
The Criteria have been determined by the Board of Governors and will be applied by the College’s Admissions Team. Through the application of the Criteria the Board of Governors seeks to establish an overall balance between religious affiliations and academic abilities. These are the pre-eminent features which distinguish an integrated school from all other schools.
Sperrin College is an Integrated school, Christian in ethos and our pupils represent all faiths and all abilities. Our admissions criteria, with grammar entry, means that as a school we can provide both grammar and all ability pathways. We are truly a school for all the family and the whole community.
Sperrin Integrated College admissions criteria for Year 8 pupils: September 2024
During the admissions procedure when applying the criteria punctual applications will be considered before late applications are considered. The application procedure opens on 30 January 2024 at 12 noon (GMT) and an application submitted by the closing date of 22 February 2024 at 12 noon (GMT) will be treated as a punctual application. An application received after 12 noon (GMT) on 22 February 2024 and up to 4pm on 4 March 2024 will be treated as a late application
Parents/Guardians naming Sperrin Integrated College, as a preference on their applicant’s online
Application/Transfer form must include the following information on the online Application/Transfer Form.
1: A Statement of the preferred religious affiliation of the applicant, either:
•Protestant
•Catholic
•Other
(If religious affiliation is not stated on the online Application/Transfer Form, the applicant will be deemed Protestant, if transferring from a controlled school and Catholic, if transferring from a maintained school. If transferring from an integrated school or preparatory school, the College will contact parents to verify appropriate religious affiliation).
2: 35% of places are available for pupils wishing to apply for the Grammar Stream. Parents of academically able pupils wishing to be considered for grammar stream entry must clearly indicate this on the online Application/ Transfer Form. Sperrin Integrated College has been directed to select for admission, children resident in Northern Ireland at the time of their proposed admission before any applicant not so resident may be selected for admission.
In the event that there are more pupils for admission than there are places available, the Board of Governors has determined that the following criteria shall be applied.
The order was determined by a randomised selection of letters.
Mc N E Z J B U H W K S V A C R M X D O P Mac T U L I G F Q
To support parents/guardians in the application process, the following information and definitions are
important:
** Sibling is defined as another child of the family (Article 2(2) of The Domestic Proceedings (NI) Order 1980), to include adopted/fostered children, half brothers and sisters and orphaned cousins being brought up within a family. Twins and other multiples who are the eldest in the family are treated as joint eldest children.
Our aim is to have an intake which is as close as possible to the ratio of 35% Catholic, 35% Protestant and 30% of pupils of other faiths, or none, (Other Category). The Criteria will be applied first to pupils in the ‘Others’ category until a maximum of 30% of the places, have been allocated. In the event that less than 30% of the places have been awarded, the balance will be equally divided between Roman Catholic and Protestant applicants. Should an odd number of places remain, the additional place will be allocated to the main tradition having the greatest number of pupils. The Criteria will then be applied separately to Roman Catholic and Protestant pupils. Should there be fewer from either tradition than there are places available for that tradition, then the balance of places will be allocated to the other tradition.
The religious affiliation of a pupil will be decided by the religious affiliation noted on or uploaded with the online Application/Transfer Form. If the religious affiliation of a pupil has not been provided the Governors reserve the right to seek verification before allocating the child to a category as follows:
a. The Governors will seek to determine the affiliation firstly by consultation with the pupil’s parents.
b. In the event that this does not determine the affiliation the pupil will be classified according to the type of primary school attended, if it is controlled or maintained.
c. Where no religious affiliation can be determined the student will be placed in the ‘Other’ category.
Duty to Verify
The Board of Governors reserves the right to require such supplementary evidence as it may determine to support or verify information on the online Application/Transfer Form or appended to the online Application/Transfer Form by parents/guardians. For verification purposes original documents are required and not facsimiles or photocopies. Documents can be uploaded with the online Application/Transfer Form.
The provision of false or incorrect information or the failure to provide any requested verifying documents within the deadline set by the college will result in either the withdrawal of a place or the inability of the College to offer a place.
It is the responsibility of the Parents/Guardians to ensure that:
As a data informed school, we invite all parents/guardians to provide one, or more, of the following suggested sources of information to evidence their child’s academic profile*: PTE/PTM scores, CAT, AQE, GL Assessment or any other standardised test results available from the child’s primary school; a school report; or equivalent supporting evidence. This information will be used to inform learning and teaching, curriculum planning, timetabling and resourcing and ensure that pupils are on the most appropriate pathway to facilitate academic success. All data is collected and processed in line with the College GDPR Policy which is available on the school website.
The school will seek and follow established procedures and the advice of a solicitor well versed in the law and regulations relating to admissions if required.
Waiting List Policy
The admission criteria will be used for admissions up to and including the 31st August 2024 to applicants that were initially refused, new applicants, late applicants and applicants where new information has been provided. Parents/Guardians who wish to have their child considered for admission in the event of a place arising after 1 September 2024, should write to the Principal, clearly stating they want their child’s name placed on the College waiting list.
If the application is made by an applicant who arrived in Northern Ireland after the transfer process has been concluded and the College’s Admission Committee determines that the applicant is suitable to be admitted, the College will then seek Department of Education approval to admit the applicant through an additional place. If such approval is given, the applicant will be admitted.
Admissions to Sperrin College outside this process
Criteria for admission to years 9 onwards is available from the College office on request.
The Board of Governors draws up the Admissions Criteria and delegates responsibility for the application of the criteria to an Admissions Team, which includes the Principal, the Bursar and Administrative personnel.
The Criteria have been determined by the Board of Governors and will be applied by the College’s Admissions Team. Through the application of the Criteria the Board of Governors seeks to establish an overall balance between religious affiliations and academic abilities. These are the pre-eminent features which distinguish an integrated school from all other schools.
Sperrin College is an Integrated school, Christian in ethos and our pupils represent all faiths and all abilities. Our admissions criteria, with grammar entry, means that as a school we can provide both grammar and all ability pathways. We are truly a school for all the family and the whole community.
Sperrin Integrated College admissions criteria for Year 8 pupils: September 2024
During the admissions procedure when applying the criteria punctual applications will be considered before late applications are considered. The application procedure opens on 30 January 2024 at 12 noon (GMT) and an application submitted by the closing date of 22 February 2024 at 12 noon (GMT) will be treated as a punctual application. An application received after 12 noon (GMT) on 22 February 2024 and up to 4pm on 4 March 2024 will be treated as a late application
Parents/Guardians naming Sperrin Integrated College, as a preference on their applicant’s online
Application/Transfer form must include the following information on the online Application/Transfer Form.
1: A Statement of the preferred religious affiliation of the applicant, either:
•Protestant
•Catholic
•Other
(If religious affiliation is not stated on the online Application/Transfer Form, the applicant will be deemed Protestant, if transferring from a controlled school and Catholic, if transferring from a maintained school. If transferring from an integrated school or preparatory school, the College will contact parents to verify appropriate religious affiliation).
2: 35% of places are available for pupils wishing to apply for the Grammar Stream. Parents of academically able pupils wishing to be considered for grammar stream entry must clearly indicate this on the online Application/ Transfer Form. Sperrin Integrated College has been directed to select for admission, children resident in Northern Ireland at the time of their proposed admission before any applicant not so resident may be selected for admission.
In the event that there are more pupils for admission than there are places available, the Board of Governors has determined that the following criteria shall be applied.
- Grammar Stream Entry is available for a maximum of 35% of the intake. Parents of academically able children may opt for Grammar Entry and should clearly indicate this on the online Application/Transfer Form. The College will strive for religious balance both within the Grammar Entry and the overall admissions number. If the number of applicants for Grammar Entry exceeds the number of places available, the criteria listed below will be used to determine a rank order of applicants for criterion 1. Academic evidence* is simply an indicator of the pupil’s academic profile and is used to inform learning and teaching, curriculum planning, timetabling and resourcing. Those applying for grammar entry and who are not admitted under criterion 1, will automatically be considered for admission, with all other applicants, using the remaining criteria, 2 – 6.
- Applicants who have a sibling** currently enrolled at the College, living at the same address, or who did attend the College since it opened in 2002. If Criterion 2 is oversubscribed, Criteria 3, 4, 5 and 6 will be applied in that order.
- Children whose parent/guardian has indicated a first or second preference for Sperrin Integrated College. If Criterion 3 is oversubscribed, Criteria 4,5 and 6 will be applied in that order.
- Children who are transferring from any Integrated Primary School either Grant Maintained Integrated or Controlled Integrated. If Criterion 4 is oversubscribed, Criteria 5 and 6 will be applied in that order.
- Applicants who are the eldest, child of the family. Criterion 5 will be applied, and eligible applicants awarded a place. If Criterion 5 is oversubscribed, Criteria 6 will be applied.
- In the event of two children with the same date of birth the randomised selection of letters printed below will be applied. In the event of surnames beginning with the same initial letter the subsequent letters of the surnames will be used in alphabetical order. In the event of 2 identical surnames the alphabetical order of the initials of the forenames will be used.
The order was determined by a randomised selection of letters.
Mc N E Z J B U H W K S V A C R M X D O P Mac T U L I G F Q
To support parents/guardians in the application process, the following information and definitions are
important:
** Sibling is defined as another child of the family (Article 2(2) of The Domestic Proceedings (NI) Order 1980), to include adopted/fostered children, half brothers and sisters and orphaned cousins being brought up within a family. Twins and other multiples who are the eldest in the family are treated as joint eldest children.
Our aim is to have an intake which is as close as possible to the ratio of 35% Catholic, 35% Protestant and 30% of pupils of other faiths, or none, (Other Category). The Criteria will be applied first to pupils in the ‘Others’ category until a maximum of 30% of the places, have been allocated. In the event that less than 30% of the places have been awarded, the balance will be equally divided between Roman Catholic and Protestant applicants. Should an odd number of places remain, the additional place will be allocated to the main tradition having the greatest number of pupils. The Criteria will then be applied separately to Roman Catholic and Protestant pupils. Should there be fewer from either tradition than there are places available for that tradition, then the balance of places will be allocated to the other tradition.
The religious affiliation of a pupil will be decided by the religious affiliation noted on or uploaded with the online Application/Transfer Form. If the religious affiliation of a pupil has not been provided the Governors reserve the right to seek verification before allocating the child to a category as follows:
a. The Governors will seek to determine the affiliation firstly by consultation with the pupil’s parents.
b. In the event that this does not determine the affiliation the pupil will be classified according to the type of primary school attended, if it is controlled or maintained.
c. Where no religious affiliation can be determined the student will be placed in the ‘Other’ category.
Duty to Verify
The Board of Governors reserves the right to require such supplementary evidence as it may determine to support or verify information on the online Application/Transfer Form or appended to the online Application/Transfer Form by parents/guardians. For verification purposes original documents are required and not facsimiles or photocopies. Documents can be uploaded with the online Application/Transfer Form.
The provision of false or incorrect information or the failure to provide any requested verifying documents within the deadline set by the college will result in either the withdrawal of a place or the inability of the College to offer a place.
It is the responsibility of the Parents/Guardians to ensure that:
- The online Application/Transfer Form and other necessary documentation are correctly completed.
- All relevant information is included on or uploaded with the online Application/Transfer Form including the
- Any required verification documents are provided within specified deadlines.
As a data informed school, we invite all parents/guardians to provide one, or more, of the following suggested sources of information to evidence their child’s academic profile*: PTE/PTM scores, CAT, AQE, GL Assessment or any other standardised test results available from the child’s primary school; a school report; or equivalent supporting evidence. This information will be used to inform learning and teaching, curriculum planning, timetabling and resourcing and ensure that pupils are on the most appropriate pathway to facilitate academic success. All data is collected and processed in line with the College GDPR Policy which is available on the school website.
The school will seek and follow established procedures and the advice of a solicitor well versed in the law and regulations relating to admissions if required.
Waiting List Policy
The admission criteria will be used for admissions up to and including the 31st August 2024 to applicants that were initially refused, new applicants, late applicants and applicants where new information has been provided. Parents/Guardians who wish to have their child considered for admission in the event of a place arising after 1 September 2024, should write to the Principal, clearly stating they want their child’s name placed on the College waiting list.
If the application is made by an applicant who arrived in Northern Ireland after the transfer process has been concluded and the College’s Admission Committee determines that the applicant is suitable to be admitted, the College will then seek Department of Education approval to admit the applicant through an additional place. If such approval is given, the applicant will be admitted.
Admissions to Sperrin College outside this process
Criteria for admission to years 9 onwards is available from the College office on request.
