The Ready for Secondary School in Tower Hamlets booklet contains all the information you need on applying, including a step by step guide to making your online application.  This booklet can be downloaded here. This booklet will answer all questions about the application process. We have also produced a video on our website explain our admissions criteria step by step.

Please ensure that you have looked through the resources provided on our website.

To see the school’s admissions policy explained in greater detail please click here.

Applications close on 31 October 2024. If you miss this date, you must contact your local authority.

If you are a resident of Tower Hamlets, for more information please contact:

Mohammed Malik: 020 7364 4307
Kelly Mack: 020 7364 5860
Email: school.admissions@towerhamlets.gov.uk

Schools do not manage the admissions and application processes directly. If you need support, you can contact your local authority. Tower Hamlets have published guidance including a video which can be found by clicking here.

If you are a resident of Tower Hamlets, for more information please contact:

Mohammed Malik: 020 7364 4307
Kelly Mack: 020 7364 5860
Email: school.admissions@towerhamlets.gov.uk

You will be notified by email of the outcome of a secondary application on 1 March 2025.

If your child has special educational needs but does not have a finalised Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) you should apply for a school place through the normal admissions process. If your child has an EHCP, you should instead contact your Special Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Case Worker to discuss how you can apply for a school place for your child.

No, but you are strongly encouraged to list as many as possible – up to six – as this will increase your chances of being offered a place on 1 March 2025. You list your schools in order of preference.

You can list any community, foundation, free or voluntary aided school (usually Church of England or Catholic), or academy.

Schools in the independent sector (fee-paying) do not fall within the scheme.

Although it is for you to decide on your preference schools, it is recommended that you do not ‘waste’ a preference by naming a school at which your child is unlikely to be offered a place. It is important that you consider each school’s admissions criteria before making your application.

Much depends on:

• how many people apply for places at each school
• whether applicants have brothers or sisters already there
• and other factors.

These things can vary from year to year. The more schools you list, the better your chances of getting a place for your child at one of them.

Admission authorities publish information on the number of applications to schools in previous years and how far away schools have tended to recruit from. This can give you some idea of how likely it is you will obtain a place – but it is only a guide, not a prediction. It can help you make a more realistic choice, but you are entitled to express a preference for any school you wish.

40 places (10 per band) are offered each year to pupils whose families are faithful and regular worshippers in a recognized Christian Church. This must be a Church which is a member of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and/or the Evangelical Alliance. Written evidence of applicant’s commitment to their place of worship (in the form of a clerical reference) will be required at the time of application.

Regular worship must be at least twice a month for the past 2 years. In the event that during the period specified for attendance at worship the church has been closed for public worship and has not provided alternative premises for that worship, the requirements of these admissions arrangements in relation to attendance will only apply to the period when the or alternative premises have been available for public worship.

To see the school’s admissions policy explained in greater detail please click here.

152 places (38 per band) as open places, are offered to pupils who do not qualify for a specialist language or foundation place or whose parents have chosen the school for the type of education it provides.

To see the school’s admissions policy explained in greater detail please click here.

As our school is a faith school a proportion of the places are for families who are faithful and regular worshippers in a recognized Christian Church. It is important that we receive the form from everyone so that we can be sure whether you are applying or not for a Foundation place.

Our supplementary forms is available on the school website – HERE

The supplementary information form must be returned to the school by 31 October 2024.

If you feel that there is a chronic medical or social care reason why your child should be offered a place, please make this clear on your application on e-admissions and remember to attach supporting evidence, including a professional medical diagnosis. It is expected that a professional, such as a GP or consultant, will write any supporting statements.

These reasons must be stated at the application stage so that full consideration may be given before all the places are filled.

Sometimes parents and carers describe a particular medical or social care need that can in fact be met in most schools. Therefore, if making a medical / social application to Stepney All Saints you must therefore state why our school is the most suitable for your child and the implications if your application is not successful. Where the need relates to another family member, that family member must live at the same address as the child.

Please bear in mind that work commitments and childcare arrangements do not fall under the category of a chronic medical or social need.

16 places will be offered to pupils who demonstrate an aptitude for Modern Foreign Languages having completed the school’s aptitude test. The four highest scoring pupils in each band will be offered places. In the event that two or more applicants have equal rights to a place under this criterion, the Governing Body will accept the applicant who lives nearest to the school, measured along the shortest safe walking route to the school’s gate on Stepney Way. If fewer than 4 children qualify to be admitted in any band the unused places will be filled by Modern Foreign Language applicants in adjacent bands. If fewer than 16 children qualify for the Modern Foreign Language places, the number of places under the Open Places admission criteria will be increased in each band accordingly.

For any more questions on the Language Aptitude Test, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions page on this test – HERE

Please note that you do not have to take the test. This is optional. However, if you do not take the test, your child will not be eligible for one of the 16 Language Aptitude Places.

In practice, most people applying to take the test live a considerable distance from the school. As these places are offered according to the test result and distance is not a consideration (except in a tiebreak) taking the test can increase chances of getting a place in these circumstances.

All children in Tower Hamlets primary schools are tested in the Summer term of Year 5. The test scores are then submitted to the Local Authority. The Local Authority uses this information to determine the range of ability for children in the local area. The children whose test scores place them in the top quartile (25%) are assigned to Band D and the children whose test score places them in the lowest quartile (25%) are assigned to Band A. The second quartile of children is assigned to Band C and the third quartile assigned to Band B. Here is an example of the Banding model:

• 25% of children score between 85%-100% (Band D)
• 25% of children score between 63%-84% (Band C)
• 25% of children score between 45%-62% (Band B)
• 25% of children score between 0%-44% (Band A)

Banding is intended for the purpose of ensuring that a school achieves a balanced intake when it is oversubscribed. It is designed to be fair to all children, whatever their ability.

Parents are notified of the band their child has been assigned at the beginning of the school year when their child reaches Year 6 and well before they are required to submit their application for secondary school transfer.

Our school admits 208 pupils to Year 7 each September i.e. 52 per band. If there are fewer than 52 applications to our school in a particular band then all the pupils applying within that band will be admitted. The unfilled places in the band would then be allocated to an adjacent band to ensure that all 208 places are filled.

The band for a pupil attending a Tower Hamlets primary school will therefore be determined this year by a teacher assessment in reading.

The assessment will be based on where the pupils would have been predicted to have been working at the end of Year 5 had schools been functioning ‘as normal’ and following the national curriculum Year 5 programme of study.

The result of the assessment is used to place a child in one of four bands A, B, C and D.  D is the highest scoring band.

For pupils applying from primary schools outside of Tower Hamlets we will also determine the band by asking the primary school for a teacher assessment in reading.

This process is managed by the local authority on behalf of the school. Please contact Tower Hamlets Secondary Admissions if you have any questions.

Places at schools are allocated in accordance with their individual admissions criteria. For example, siblings gain priority as do some other categories. As the number of applications that meet the criteria vary year to year, the cut off distance will vary.

A digitised ordnance survey map is used by the Local Authority to measure the distance from the home address to the school’s designated official entrance (Stepney Way gate) by the shortest walking distance. Please note that the distance is not calculated by the school and any questions regarding this should be directed to the admissions team of your local authority.

You can sign up for a tour of our school. We only accept visits from those that have booked online. In addition, you can take a virtual tour of the school by visiting our website. There you will find videos from various members of staff including heads of department talking about their subject areas. There is also a video explaining the application process to our school. In this Frequently Asked Questions section we have responded to commonly posed questions. However, if you have any further questions, please contact us on info@stepneyallsaints.school and we will get back to you.