
Admissions
Admissions Criteria at Year 8
If the school’s enrolment and admission numbers have not
been reached, the school will enrol all the children whose parents wish them to attend. However, if the applications for entry to First Form
(Year 8) exceed the admissions number or would cause the
school to exceed the total enrolment number, pupils will be
admitted according to the following criteria, applied in the
order indicated below.
1. Applicants who are entitled to Free School Meals (FSME):
priority to be given so that the proportion of such children
admitted is not less that the proportion of first preference FSME
applications received within the total number of first preference
Transfer Applications received.
2. Pupils transferring from the following contributory primary schools.
Birches
Hart Memorial
Orchard County
Derryhale
Millington
Richmount
Hardy Memorial
Mullavilly
The Cope
3. Children who at the date of application have a child of the family currently enrolled at the school.
4. Applicants for whom the school is the nearest controlled post primary school to the child’s normal place of residence.
If, after applying Criteria 4, the school needs to apply further criteria in order to
identify which applicants are to be admitted, then the following criteria will be
applied:
5. (a) Children who at the date of their application do not have another child of the
currently enrolled at this school.
(b) Children will be selected for admission on the basis of initial letter(s) of surname (as entered on Birth Certificate) in the order set out below:
H, F, Z, U, N, D, W, I, P, T, V, M, S, Q, R, B, L, O, E, C, A, Mc, J, G, K, X, Mac, Y
This order was determined by random selection.
In the event of surnames beginning with the same initial letter the subsequent letters of the surname will be used in alphabetical order.
In the event of two identical surnames the alphabetical order of the initials of the forenames will be used.
(c) Random Selection: capable of leaving a clear audit trail (e.g., computerised random selection)
The above Criteria will also be used for applications received during the course of Year 8.
Notes
When considering which children should be selected for admission, the Board of Governors will only take into account information which is detailed on or attached to the online Transfer Application. Parents should therefore ensure that all information pertaining to their child and relevant to the school’s admissions criteria is stated on the transfer application or attached to it. Examples of such information include whether the child attends a contributory primary school.
Inaccurate or misleading information provided on or attached to a Transfer Application may prejudice an offer of a place and may lead to the withdrawal of a place awarded to an applicant who has gained an unfair advantage.
APPLICATIONS AND ADMISSIONS TO YEAR 8

Admissions Criteria for Years 9 & 10
During years 9 and 10 the following are the criteria to be applied in selecting pupils for admission:-
(a) the school’s enrolment number is not exceeded.
(b) the admission of the pupil would not prejudice the efficient use of resources in
the school.
(c) Children who, at the time of their application, have a member of the family
currently enrolled at the school. (Member of the family covers half-brothers and
sisters, together with children who are adopted or looked after children).
(d) Proximity to the school with those living closest to the school being given priority.
The distance to be given by public road.
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 any Transfer Application. The provision of false or incorrect information or the failure to provide information within the deadlines set by post-primary schools can result in the withdrawal of a place and the inability to offer a place on the part of any school nominated on the applicant’s Transfer Application.