ADMISSIONS & WAITING LISTS

URGENT INFORMATION FOR YEAR 7 PLACES IN SEPTEMBER 2025

NOT YET APPLIED FOR A YEAR 7 SCHOOL PLACE FOR 1 SEPTEMBER 2025?

Year 6 aged children who have not yet applied for or been offered a place at a secondary school for September 2025 should contact their local council URGENTLY to secure a school place.

Cranford Community College is already full and very heavily oversubscribed for September 2025 and places will be allocated from the waiting list if vacancies arise.

It is important, therefore, to ensure you are on the waiting list if you have not been offered a place but are seeking admission.

You must NOW contact the academy directly to get a place on the waiting list.

APPEALS FOR SEPTEMBER 2025 DATES & INFORMATION

PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY.

If you have not been offered a place at Cranford School, the law entitles you to appeal against that decision to an Independent Appeal Panel. This panel is completely independent of the school and the Local Authority. All appeals will be heard online which has the advantage that your appeal can be heard from your home or place of work.

If you wish to appeal, please use this link to complete your appeal online. Please do NOT use ANY other appeal form or send your form to your local authority. It is suggested that you download the explanatory booklet about appeals which you should read before you complete the appeal form – Booklet Link .

You should include any evidence or supporting material with your appeal form and you MUST give the grounds for your appeal at the time you lodge your appeal form. Your appeal form will not be accepted unless you state the grounds for your appeal. You may appeal for more than one school, but on different forms.

Any letters or reports that you wish the panel to see should be uploaded at this time. You are asked to bear in mind that if you later send additional information, the closing date is 5 working days before the STAGE 1 hearing. All appointed panels have agreed NOT to take any late letters or reports after the 5 working day deadline. This will be strictly enforced. For secondary/primary transfer appeals, the hearing will take place at least TWO months after the refusal letter. This gives you plenty of time to get your evidence together if you act early and take account of school holidays.

Please note that the online form will ask you to download two utility bills dated in the last THREE months. If you do not have access to a scanner, please take two photographs with a mobile phone and upload the photographic files.

Full details about the hearing will be sent to you with your invitation to the hearing.

If you wish to contact the clerk – email: clerk@educationappeals.com

The timetable for appeals is as follows:

Last day for lodging appeal forms for a place in year 7 to start in September 2025	4pm on Wednesday 2 April 2025 to guarantee that your appeal will be heard in the first tranche of appeals. Appeals lodged later may not be heard until the second tranche which could be in September 2025. You MUST state the reasons for your appeal and supply any documentary evidence at this stage.
The stage 1 part of the hearing (with other parents present) will take place on	Tuesday 6 May 2025
Part 2, the individual private hearings will take place on	Tuesday 6 May 2025 (depending on the number of appeals)
Invitation letter giving details about your hearing will be sent by the Clerk to the Independent Appeal Panel	At least 10 school days before the stage 1 hearing.
Any additional supporting evidence	Closing date is Tuesday 29 April 2025. You are advised that additional paperwork received on the day of the appeal hearing will not be taken into account. Please provide the Clerk with ONE copy of any new additional evidence BY EMAIL ONLY. These must be sent to clerk@educationappeals.com.
Letter from the Clerk informing you of the decision of the independent appeal panel	Due to the high number of appeals held at this time, this may not be sent until up to 10 working days after the last hearing for the school.

The number of appeals for admission at the start of September 2024 heard was 0 with 0 upheld.

YEAR 6 SECONDARY TRANSFER APPLICATIONS FOR SEPTEMBER 2026 +

Cranford Community College is a highly popular academy school and heavily oversubscribed.
In 2024, More than 80% of places offered at secondary transfer were to first choices.
Those wishing a place in Year 7 at the academy in September 2025 are advised to:
a) Choose the highest ranking on their secondary transfer application form and / or
b) Register for the waiting list for vacancies at any other time.
Places are allocated in order of the admissions criteria as set out in the admissions policy (See below).

1. SECONDARY TRANSFER FOR SEPT 2026

A) PAN-LONDON ADMISSIONS TIMETABLE 2025-2026

(Applies to all local authorities and individual school / academy admission authorities)

This process is for Children born between 1 September 2014 and 31 August 2015 who will transfer to secondary school in September 2026.

DATE	WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
1 September 2025	Information regarding the Pan-London secondary application process for September 2025 is published by London Councils and applications are open
31 October 2025	CLOSING DATE FOR ALL APPLICATIONS (ON-TIME): MIDNIGHT
1 March 2026	NATIONAL OFFER DAY^
15 March 2026	LAST DATE TO RESPOND TO YOUR SCHOOL OFFOER ONLINE. ADMISSIONS PORTAL CLOSES.
TO BE ANNOUNCED	CLOSING DATE FOR THE RETURN OF APPEAL FORM FOR AN APPEAL TO BE HEARD IN THE SUMMER 2026 TERM

B) SECONDARY TRANSFER: THE APPLICATION PROCESS

All applications must be made to your home local authority (the council you live in / pay your council tax to). You must use their common application form.

You should use this form to apply for schools in and outside of Hounslow, except independent fee-paying schools.

C) HOW SCHOOL PLACES ARE ALLOCATED

All schools are required to set their admission criteria in the Admissions Policy on their website. The admission criteria are how they decide who they can give their school places to. Other personal circumstances e.g., childcare or transport arrangements cannot be considered.

Your application will be ranked in one criterion only.

Each school will have different criteria. Make sure you check the admission criteria for the schools you are interested in.

You can apply for six schools. We recommend you use all six preferences. You should list all your schools in order of preference with your most preferred school as number one.

If you only list one school this does not mean you will be given this school and does not give you a higher priority.

The more schools you list, the more chances you have of being offered a school that you want.

If the admission authority of the schools you have listed cannot give your child a place, then you will be given a place at any school that still has vacancies after all the applications have been considered. This might be a school you did not consider and could be some distance away from your home.

D) CRANFORD’S ADMISSION CRITERIA (YEARS 7 - 11)

(PLEASE READ THE FULL DETAILS IN THE ADMISSIONS POLICY)

The criteria below have been summarised as follows:

Children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) that names the school will be allocated a place before any other allocations are made.

Where the number of children applying by the published closing date exceeds the number of places published, the applications are considered in the following order of priority:

Looked after or previously looked after children.
Exceptional medical and social need.
Sibling.
Children of Members of Staff

Regardless of their role in the academy, children of any member of staff in either or both of the following circumstance:

A) Where the member of staff has been an employee of the academy for two years or more continuously at the time at which the application for admission to the academy is made, and/or

B) Where the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage.

Distance Tie breaker

If there is one place available and two or more children next in order of priority meet the appropriate criterion equally, the place will be allocated using distance*

E) GUIDANCE FROM LOCAL AUTHORITIES

HOUNSLOW RESIDENTS

Parents / Carers resident in the London Borough of Hounslow who wish to apply for a place in Year 7 at this academy in September 2026 must complete Hounslow's online form, which can be accessed through this LINK HERE when it is published by Hounslow Council from 1 September 2025

The Hounslow Secondary Transfer Brochure for September 2026 can be found HERE and this will be replaced by an updated brochure for September 2026 when available.

Hounslow's Secondary webpage can be found HERE from 1 September 2025

HILLINGDON RESIDENTS

Hillingdon's secondary transfer webpage can be found HERE from 1 September 2025

EALING RESIDENTS

Residents in Ealing can choose a secondary school in Hounslow and are not limited to 'High Schools' in Ealing.

For Ealing's 'step by step' guide to making an online application can be found HERE from 1 September 2025

RESIDENTS OF ALL OTHER LOCAL AUTHORITIES

Parents/Carers of students who do NOT reside in the London Borough of Hounslow and wish to apply for a place in Year 7 at this academy in September 2026 are very welcome to apply.

Approximately half Cranford's current students come from other local authorities and the other half from Hounslow.

Applications are welcome from anyone who wants their children to be educated at Cranford and to be happy and successful here.

All parents/carers of children seeking a place at Cranford must complete the application form available from their home local authority (see links below for examples of online forms from our immediate neighbours).

Parents/Carers can get assistance with the application process by contacting their home local authority.

F) HOW PLACES WERE OFFERED FOR YEAR 7 AT CRANFORD FOR 1 SEPTEMBER 2025 (599 on-time applications, with 211 first choices for 210 places):

Criteria

LAC

Med/Soc

Sibling

Staff

Distance

EHCP

Allocations

108*

210

*The distance of the last successful applicant under the distance criterion was 1.335 miles

The siblings of any student, including post 16 students, have higher priority in the academy's admission policy criteria than those applying on distance alone.

Post 16 Enrolment may in theory continue until 1st October each year but in practice closes much, much earlier as courses fill quickly.

Prospective students are strongly advised not to delay making an application and enroling immediatley following the release of public examination grades.

G) MYTH BUSTING

MYTH: Making my application as soon as the application system opens means I will have a more chance of getting my preferred school

FACT: School places are not allocated on a first come, first served basis. All applications received by the closing date, 31 October 2025 will be allocated based on the admission criteria of the school and not by date order.

MYTH: It will not matter if I miss the application deadline.

FACT: Applications submitted after the deadline will not be processed until after all those submitted on time. This will delay you getting a school place and the school you prefer may already be full. If your preferred schools are already full, you may be allocated a school some distance away.

MYTH: Listing only one school will give me a better chance of getting that school.

FACT: Listing only one school does not give you a better chance. If we are not able to give you that school, we will give you the nearest school with places available. If you have not listed any other preferences, you might be allocated a school some distance away as other parents who did express additional preferences will take priority for the nearer schools. Therefore, we encourage parents to name six preferences and strongly recommend listing your nearest school or schools as one of those preferences.

MYTH: My child’s grandparents/childminder lives closer to the school; I can use their address to apply.

FACT: You must apply using your child’s home address. If we discover that a false address has been used, we may withdraw your application at any stage of the process, even if you have already been offered a school place.

MYTH: If I don’t get a place at my preferred school, I will get a place at my nearest school anyway.

FACT: If we cannot allocate a place at your preferred school, you will be allocated the nearest school with a space available. If you have not listed any other preferences, you could be allocated a school some distance away from your home address as other parents who did express additional preferences will take priority for the nearer schools, even if those schools are nearer to you.

MYTH: Living near to a school gives you more priority for a place there.

FACT: Many schools do offer some priority based on distance from the school in their oversubscription criteria, but this does not guarantee a place if there are other children who rank higher in the criteria. Just because someone living near to you was allocated a place last year, does not mean that you will also secure a place there.

H) ADMISSION OF CHILDREN OUTSIDE THEIR NORMAL AGE GROUP

‘Cranford Community College believes that, in general, children should be educated in their normal age group, with the curriculum differentiated as appropriate and that they should only be educated out of their normal age group in very limited circumstances’.

At Cranford, it is policy and practice for children to be educated in school year groups as determined by their date of birth.

This means that, for example, a child who is Year 8 age when the leave Year 6 would (if there were a vacancy) start at Cranford in Year 8 with transitional support. They would NOT routinely be admitted to Year 7.

Parents/carers do NOT have the right to insist that their child is admitted to a particular age group but may make a request for this to happen.

Department for Education guidance reiterates that: ‘The government would agree that, in general, children should be educated in their normal age group, with the curriculum differentiated as appropriate and that they should only be educated out of their normal age group in very limited circumstances’.

If your child is currently being educated outside of their normal age group, please contact Hounslow Council on admissions@hounslow.gov.uk or 020 8583 2711. For secondary transfer, you will not be able to make a Secondary Transfer application online if your child is being educated outside their normal chronological age.

The admission authority for each school will decide on placement to a particular year group based on the circumstances of your case and what it believes is in the best interests of your child.

You must set out the reasons why you are making a request for your child to be educated outside their normal age, and any relevant evidence you want us to consider which may include:

The parents’ views.
Recent information about your child’s academic, social, and emotional development.
Recent medical history and the views of a medical professional.
Whether they have previously been educated out of their normal age group

The views of the Headteacher will be an important part of this consideration.

The Local Authority may also gather information from any professionals involved with your child to consider whether any of the following apply:

Whether your child shows significant delay in intellectual development / education skills, across all subject area, to an extent that curriculum differentiation (with appropriate SEN resources) is not reasonable.
Whether your child’s physical maturity places them in a position of being developmentally different from their peer group.
Whether your child shows an equivalent delay in emotional development and social skills, appropriate for a younger peer group.

Your request will be considered, and you will be notified of the outcome. If your request is agreed, the Admission Authority will advise you of how to proceed with your application.

Parents have a statutory right of appeal against the refusal of a place at a school for which they have applied. This right does not apply if your child is offered a place at the school, but it is not in your preferred age group.

I) GDPR STATEMENT: SECONDARY TRANSFER DATA COLLECTION / YEAR 6 CONTACT FORM

The legal basis for collating the Year 6 data is that it is a public task and an integral part of the Year 6 into 7 transfer process which is one of the academy’s official functions.
The data is processed lawfully and collected for a specified and legitimate purpose which is the admissions process for students transferring into Year 7 in September.
The data will not be kept for longer than is necessary. The data for students who are admitted to year 7 will be kept as is legally expected until they turn 25.
The data is processed and stored in a secure way using the academy’s protected data management system with the relevant safeguards in place.
Please refer to our Data Protection Policy and our Privacy Notices on the Cranford Community College website.

J) APPEALS FOR SEPTEMBER 2026 DATES & INFORMATION

PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY.

Full details about the hearing will be sent to you with your invitation to the hearing.

If you wish to contact the clerk – email: clerk@educationappeals.com

The timetable for appeals is as follows:

Last day for lodging appeal forms for a place in year 7 to start in September 2026	TIME on DATE to guarantee that your appeal will be heard in the first tranche of appeals. Appeals lodged later may not be heard until the second tranche which could be in September 2026. You MUST state the reasons for your appeal and supply any documentary evidence at this stage.
The stage 1 part of the hearing (with other parents present) will take place on	DATE
Part 2, the individual private hearings will take place on	DATE (depending on the number of appeals)
Invitation letter giving details about your hearing will be sent by the Clerk to the Independent Appeal Panel	At least 10 school days before the stage 1 hearing.
Any additional supporting evidence	Closing date is DATE. You are advised that additional paperwork received on the day of the appeal hearing will not be taken into account. Please provide the Clerk with ONE copy of any new additional evidence BY EMAIL ONLY. These must be sent to clerk@educationappeals.com.
Letter from the Clerk informing you of the decision of the independent appeal panel	Due to the high number of appeals held at this time, this may not be sent until up to 10 working days after the last hearing for the school.

The number of appeals for admission at the start of September 2025 heard was ## with ## upheld.

CCC - LBH IN-YEAR ADMISSIONS PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

The current (2024-2025) partnership agreement can be found HERE

2. POST 16 ADMISSIONS AND ENROLMENT 2025-26

Prospective students can apply here for a programme of study in the sixth form at Cranford Community College in 2025-26.

Please watch this video by students and staff at the academy.

Enrolment takes place at the academy, immediately after GCSE results have been released.

Standard enrolment technically closes on or before 1 October each year but places always fill up VERY VERY MUCH earlier so PROMPT enrolment, IMMEDIATELY following the publication of examination results, is HIGHLY recommended. In practice, most places are normally filled BEFORE the end of August, although it is then possible to be added to a waiting list.

Some courses for 2025-26 will fill very quickly. Don't delay.

Places or Offers will be withdrawn if fraudulent or misleading information is given by the applicant or if relevant information is not disclosed at the outset. The matter may also be referred to the police.

For the minimum academic entry requirements to enrol on courses for 2025-26, please see below.

These requirements are applied identically for internal and external students.

The oversubscription criteria for external applicants to the sixth form are applied in the same order of priority as the rest of the academy. Meetings to discuss courses and discuss options do not form part of the decision process on whether to offer a place.

Cranford students (who attended in Year 11) only need to complete an enrolment form and do not need to apply.

Cranford students must still meet the academic entry requirements for the sixth form and the subjects they will study in order to be accepted in the sixth form and for particular courses.

The agreed MINIMUM ACADEMIC ENTRY REQUIREMENTS for the sixth form and individual courses can be found via this link.

External students need to complete an admissions application form online, click here. You will need to bring proof of ALL their GCSE qualifications and their passport to enrol on DATE TO BE CONFIRMED

Information and documentation, verbal or written, which is provided during the application process and subsequently found to be untrue, falsified, incomplete or deliberately misleading, will result in the withdrawal of the place even once a student has started at the academy and fraudulent applications will be referred to the police.

For any queries, please contact the academy using the 'Contact Us' tab on this website > Enquiries > Head of Admissions.

3. ALL OTHER (IN-YEAR) ADMISSIONS

Applications for a place at other times and other year groups can only be made directly to the academy (not via a local authority), using the application forms below.

The Academy Trust of Cranford Community College is the academy's admissions authority and is responsible for admitting students to the academy in accordance with the national School Admissions Code 2021

There is also additional guidance on admission priorities for children adopted from state care outside of England and the on local Fair Access Protocols.

Please note the Hounslow Fair Access Protocol is in process of being updated and will consulted upon.

Please see links below for the Academy's Admission Policy for this academic year and next academic year.

The timetable for appeals for mid-term applications is as follows:

Last day for lodging appeal forms following a refusal for a place ‘in year’ or ‘mid-term’.

You must lodge the appeal form within 20 school days upon receipt of your letter of refusal. You MUST state the reasons for your appeal and supply documentary evidence at this stage. Appeals are held within 30 school days of receipt of the appeal form.

The appeals form for in year admissions is above.

4. APPLICATION FORMS 2024-25 (and 2025-26)

Click here for the 2024-2025 In-Year Application Form

Click here for the 2025-2026 In-Year Application Form (not yet published)

This applications form is for all applications other than applications for year 6 into 7 (secondary transfer) entry in September each year (see above).

The academy operates a waiting list system to manage over-subscription.

Upon receipt of an in-year application, should there be a vacancy in the appropriate year group, places will be offered after applying the above oversubscription criteria to ALL applicants, including those already on the waiting list, if one exists in the order set out in the relevant admissions policy.

Where there are more applications than places available, each application will be ranked in accordance with the published oversubscription criteria in order to allocate places.

No other factors will be used to determine the offer of a place at the academy.

Parents will be informed of the outcome in writing within 15 school days of an application and the reasons for the decision and given details of their right to appeal and the process for any appeals to be heard by an independent appeals panel. Where a place has not been offered, parents will be given the opportunity for their child to remain on the waiting list.

5. ADMISSIONS WAITING LIST

Cranford Community College is normally full and over-subscribed in all year groups and hence the academy operates a waiting list system to ensure fair admissions.

Applicants need to apply directly to the academy in order to gain a place at the academy, and, failing that, can be added to the academy's waiting list. It is never possible to provide an estimate of the position on the waiting list as, in accordance with the national admissions code, this is only determined at the point at which allocations are made by the Academy Trust Admissions Panel.

See above for the 2024-2025 In-Year Application Form.

A new in-year application form for 2025-2026 will be available from 1 September 2025 at the latest

6. AGREED ADMISSION ARRANGEMENTS

Click here for the Admissions Policy 2026-2027

Click here for the Admissions Policy 2025-2026

Click here for the Admissions Policy 2024-2025

Click here for the Admissions Policy 2023-2024

Cranford Community College consulted on its proposed Admissions Policy for 2026-2027 from 6 October 2024 until Friday 31 January 2025.

The consultation was for parents of children aged 2-18, other persons in the area who have an interest in the proposed arrangements, all other admissions authorities within the local area, the local authority and any adjoining neighbouring local authorities.

The consultation was considered by the ATB by 28 February 2025 and the agreed (unaltered from the draft) version published on 23 February 2025. A copy has been provided to the LA.

The next consultation for the Admissions Policy 2027-28 is likley to take place between 1 October 2025 and 31 January 2026.

Any consultation contributions or any admissions queries can be sent to the Head of Admissions, Ms Dhillon, via the 'CONTACT US' tab on this website.

CRANFORD’S SIXTH FORM ADMISSION CRITERIA

(PLEASE READ THE FULL DETAILS IN THE ADMISSIONS POLICY)

The criteria below have been summarised as follows:

The pupil admission number for external candidates to the sixth form is 15. It is possible to exceed this if demand for available courses can be met.

The academy will consider the following factors before deciding to offer a student a place in the Sixth Form:

The average GCSE point score in the students best 8 subjects*.
The GCSE grade criteria for individual subjects (details of the current minimum entry requirement are published on the academy website and subject to change from time to time.)
Whether there are sufficient places still available on the proposed course(s) of study.
Courses will only be offered subject to demand and staff availability.
It will not normally be permitted for students to repeat the same courses having been unsuccessful at the first attempt.

Applications for admission to the sixth form from those pupils joining the school from other schools must include acceptable evidence that they meet the published academic entry criteria, in operation at the time of enrolment and where there are more applicants than places available, will be admitted using the order of priority set out in the admission criteria.

Pupils who are permanently excluded from Cranford Community College are not eligible for re-admission to the academy at any point, including the sixth form.

7. Fraudulent or Deliberately Misleading Applications

The academy may withdraw the offer of a place, even after the child has started if, for example, the application is found to have been fraudulent or deliberately misleading.

The academy will not accept an address provided in an application if we consider it to be an address of convenience.

All academy admission applications are subject to rigorous address checks to ensure school places are allocated fairly and in accordance with published admission arrangements.

Applicants may also be required to provide additional evidence to support their application.

The academy will not accept possible future addresses as a basis for allocating academy places. If you move after submitting your application you must inform admissions@cranford.hounslow.sch.uk within two weeks of your move.

It is for the admissions authority to determine if, on the balance of probability, the address given on an application is a child’s normal place of residence or is considered to be an address of convenience. Some examples of circumstances which may be considered an address of convenience are:

using the address of a relative, friend, childminder or business
using the address of a parent with whom the child spends the minority of the week
purchasing a new property or renting accommodation and using this address in order to gain a school place, whilst continuing to own or rent an alternative property.
owning a property which is or has previously been used as your home address and applying from another address in order to gain a school place, but still retaining ownership of the initial property
use of a local address whilst the child lives overseas

For detailed guidance, please click here

If a fraudulent address or address of convenience is found to have been used after the allocation of places, any offer made will also be withdrawn, and this may be the case even if your child has started at the academy. The matter may also be referred to the police.

8. GDPR notice for applicants (Data Protection Act 2018)

We will only use this data during the admissions process and for keeping records of the process. Processing data from applications allows us to manage the admissions process and to carry out our legal obligations.

If your application is unsuccessful, we will not keep your data beyond what is required in accordance with statutory requirements.

If your application is successful, we will keep your data as required during your time at Cranford Community College.

You are under no statutory obligation to provide us with personal data during the admissions process. However, if you do not provide the information, we may not be able to process your application properly or at all.

Data Proection queries may be made using the drop down menu on the 'CONTACT US' page of this website.

CLICK HERE TO 'CONTACT US'

♦ A printed copy of this website information is available on request, but please consider the impact on the environment before requesting ♦

♦ Protect the environment and help Cranford to move towards becoming a paperless school during 2024-2030 ♦