Admissions criteria for secondary schools in Lewisham

In this section of the site, you can find details of the admissions criteria for secondary schools in Lewisham. 

The following schools all use the community school admissions criteria:

• Catford High School
• Deptford Green School
• Forest Hill School
• Prendergast-Ladywell Fields College
• Sedgehill School
• Sydenham School 

Other schools in Lewisham have their own criteria.  Follow the links on the left for further details.

Lewisham Admissions Forum's admissions policy

The School Standards and Framework Act 1998 established Admissions Forums. Lewisham’s Forum comprises representatives nominated from the following groups: the local authority, diocesan boards, parent governors, community schools, voluntary aided schools, foundation schools and academies.

The Forum’s role is to consider proposed and existing admissions arrangements and assess how well they serve the interests of local parents and children. The Forum also monitors how admissions relate to published admissions numbers and reviews the comprehensiveness and accessibility of guidance for parents and the composite prospectus produced by the local authority.

Lewisham’s Admissions Forum has published its own guidance on admissions. The key principles of this admissions policy are:All school admissions policies should be clear, objective and understandable to parents.

1. All school admissions policies should be clear, objective and understandable to parents.
2. Voluntary schools and academies should offer information to help parents assess the potential success of an application in the same way that the borough does in the secondary transfer booklet.
3. The Admissions Forum has a strong commitment to banding: area-wide or school-based fair banding and the level of testing should be minimised, with encouragement for schools to make use of the Year 5 QCA banding tests arranged by Lewisham.
4. All looked after children should be given first priority of admission to any school, irrespective of which authority they are in care to. There should be no qualifications in the application of priority admission to looked after children and there should be no undue delay in their admission.
5. All schools are expected to participate in the in year admissions scheme and the protocols for managed moves and hard to place pupils.
6. Admission authorities must ensure that admission policies comply with all necessary legislation.

All the schools listed in the secondary schools section of this site are part of the pan-London co-ordinated admissions system.

Some schools receive more applications than there are places available. If one of your preferences is a school that is over subscribed, your child may not be offered a place. The admissions criteria for the school will be applied.

It is important that you consider the admissions criteria and the likelihood of your child being offered a place.

Each school has a published admissions number, the maximum number of places that can be offered.

Lewisham is not able to exceed this number because to do so would result in overcrowding and would have a detrimental effect on the school’s ability to provide quality education. Additional children would place an undue strain on the school’s resources.