Open/Transfer Evening: Due to COVID 19 restrictions, the college will elect to offer either a Virtual Open Day experience or may allow for small groups of applicants to tour the building. A decision will be made in early January, pending DENI guidance and PHA advice, and will be conveyed accordingly to primary schools and the local community.

RESPECTIVE FUNCTIONS OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS AND PRINCIPAL IN RELATION TO ADMISSION TO THE SCHOOL
The Board of Governors draws up the admissions criteria and delegates to the Principal the responsibility for applying these criteria. Any reference herein to the term ‘the Board of Governors’ includes any committee, sub-committee or person appointed by the Board of Governors for the purposes of applying the admissions criteria set out herein. The application of the Criteria provides for all children resident in Northern Ireland, at the time of their proposed admission to the school, to be selected for admission before any child not resident in Northern Ireland may be selected for admission.

ADMISSIONS POLICY
The aim of the admissions policy is to achieve as even a balance as possible in the intake with regard to religious denomination. The Board of Governors will seek to reflect a balance amongst all traditions, striving towards the NICIE statement of principles of 40% from Protestant traditions, 40% from Roman Catholic traditions and 20% from ‘other’ traditions. For admissions in September 2022, the college will reserve a maximum of 20% of places for students from traditions other than Protestant and Roman Catholic traditions or those stating ‘no religion’. The criteria detailed below will be applied initially to members of the ‘others’ group in the order set down, and a maximum of 20% of available places will be awarded to these applicants. In the event of less than 20% of places being awarded to applicants from the ‘other’ traditions, the balance will be divided equally between Protestant and Roman Catholic applicants. The remaining available places will be divided equally between Protestant and Roman Catholic applicants. In the event of an odd number of places remaining in the division, an additional place will be allocated to the main tradition which has the greater number of applicants. The criteria will be applied separately to Roman Catholic and Protestant applicants and, in the event of there being fewer applicants 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 will be decided by either:
(a) The religious affiliation noted on the online application form
(b) The category of primary school which the pupil attended i.e. the applicant will be deemed Catholic if he/she is transferring from a maintained primary school, Protestant if he/she is transferring from a controlled primary school, or Other if he/she is transferring from an integrated primary school.

Please note further: when considering which children should be selected for admission, the Board of Governors will only take into account information which is detailed on the online application form. It is the responsibility of Parents/Guardians to ensure that all information pertaining to their child and relevant to the school’s admission criteria is stated on the online application form. This must include the child’s religion, or parental wish that the child be placed in the ‘other’ category. Applicants should note that they may be required to produce documents verifying information pertinent to the criteria.

DUTY TO VERIFY
The Board of Governors reserves the right to request such supplementary evidence as it may require to support or verify information on any applicant’s online application form. If the requested evidence is not provided to the Board of Governors by the deadline given, this will result in the withdrawal of an offer of a place. Similarly, if information is supplied which appears to be false or misleading in any material way, the offer of a place will be withdrawn.

ADMISSIONS CRITERIA FOR YEAR 8
In the event of there being more applications than there are places available in each tradition, the following criteria will apply in the order set down:
1. Children who, at the time of application, attend the following primary schools:

2. Children who, at the date of application, have a “child of the family”1 (see definition below) currently enrolled in the college. The name/names must be indicated on the online application form. Criterion 2 will be applied, and eligible applicants will be awarded a place; however, if criterion 2 is oversubscribed, the randomised selection of letters will be used to allocate places. If not all the places have been filled, criterion 3 will then be applied for the remaining places.

3. Children who, at the date of their application, are the eldest child2 (see definition below) of the family to be eligible to apply for admission to the school. This wording covers an only child and will treat twins (or other multiples) as the joint eldest. This criterion will also cover where the only elder child of the family currently attends a special school or where a child is more than seven years younger than his or her next oldest sibling. Full details of this must be indicated on the online application form. Criterion 3 will be applied, and eligible applicants will be awarded a place; however, if criterion 3 is oversubscribed, the randomised selection of letters will be used to allocate places. If not all the places have been filled, criterion 4 will then be applied for the remaining places.

4. Children who, at the date of their application, are the eldest child of the family ever to seek a place at a non-selective school. This must be indicated on the online application form. Criterion 4 will be applied, and eligible applicants will be awarded a place; however, if criterion 4 is oversubscribed, the randomised selection of letters will be used to allocate places. If not all the places have been filled, Criterion 5 will then be applied for the remaining places.

5. If applicants are still ranked the same after application of the above criteria, then selection will be made on the basis of the initial letters of the legal surname, with the applicants being selected in the order of the following randomised selection of letters:

W O I H N V U Mc G F T Mac E M S Z R L D B K A C Q Y J P X

In the event of surnames beginning with the same initial, the subsequent letters of the surname will be used in alphabetical order. In the event of two identical surnames, the alphabetical order of the letter of the first forename appearing on the transfer form will be used.

1 Definition of child of the family
The Department considers that “child of the family” covers:
• A child born to a married couple or to a couple in a civil partnership;
• A child born to a co-habiting couple;
• A child born to a single parent;
• A child of either/any of those people by a previous marriage, civil partnership or relationship;
• A child living with a couple who has been treated as a “child of the family” whether there is a marriage
or a civil partnership or not;
• A child living with an individual who has been treated as a “child of the family”;
• An adopted or fostered child;
• A situation where for example an orphaned cousin is being brought up with a family or individual;

The child should be a child of the family as at the date of application, and the individual circumstances should be included on the online application form.

2 Definition of eldest child
The intention of the governors would be to recognise an applicant as the eldest child of the family with the understanding that there are no other children of the family aged between 11 and 18.

WAITING LIST POLICY
The college operates a waiting list for applicants in all year groups, if required.

ADMISSIONS TO YEAR 8 AFTER 1ST SEPTEMBER 2022
Should a vacancy arise after the date when placement letters have been issued from EA, all applicants that were initially refused prior to that date will be considered using the published criteria applied and the rank order established during that process. Existing applicants who have supplied new or additional information will be ranked accordingly, and any new applicants after the date when placement letters were sent will be added below the existing applicants. This rank order will remain in place until the 1st of September of the year of admission.

If parents/guardians wish to have their child’s name remain on the waiting list beyond this date, they should inform the school in writing. Parents who have been refused admission through normal processes, or who are late, or new applicants, may apply for inclusion on the waiting list. Once the child is placed on a waiting list, he or she will remain on it until offered a place, withdrawn from the list by the parent or the child reaches the end of compulsory schooling.

Number of Applications and Admissions

*This table includes children who were admitted to the school through a Temporary Variation including those with a statement of special educational needs.
Each year, a number of children with a wide range of additional needs are admitted to the college and supported appropriately.

Admission to year 9 and onwards

Within the overall school enrolment, pupils will be admitted according to the following criteria applied in the order set down below:

1. Provided the school’s enrolment number set by Department of Education is not exceeded;

2. Provided the admissions number for the year group is not exceeded;

3a. Provided the inclusion of an additional child does not place a class into conflict with DENI regulations on class sizes;

3b. Provided there is a vacancy in the class best academically suited to the child;

4. Should more than one child apply at the same time for the same year group, we would use the same admissions criteria as are used for admission into year 8;

5. Only in very exceptional circumstances will any new students be admitted to year 12, and only then provided subjects required by the student match those on offer in the college.

Click the following link to download an electronic copy of the information shown above

Parkhall Integrated College Admissions Criteria