Admissions Criteria

As currently required by the law, priority will be given to pupils normally resident in Northern Ireland, before children who normally reside elsewhere.  In the event of over-subscription, the following criteria, which was drawn up by the Board of Governors of St Cecilia’s College, will be applied in the order set down, to select pupils for Year 8 entry in 2023/24.

 

1. Pupils whose sister(s), half-sister(s), step sister(s) or foster sister(s) are presently or were formerly enrolled at the school.

2. Pupils who presently reside in the following parishes (in no particular order) who have chosen St Cecilia’s College as their first preference school. 

 

Ardmore

Claudy

Culmore

Faughanvale

Glendermott/Waterside: (St. Columb’s-Chapel Road, Immaculate Conception-Trench Road, St Mary’s- Newbuildings)

Holy Family (Ballymagroarty)

Our Lady of Lourdes (Steelstown)

St Mary’s (Creggan)

Strathfoyle: StrathFoyle/Enagh Lough

Templemore (St Eugene’s, St Columba’s, Long Tower)

Three Patrons (St Patrick’s- Pennyburn, St Brigid’s - Carnhill, St Joseph’s -Galliagh) 

 

1. Pupils presently resident in the above named parishes (in no particular order) who have chosen St Cecilia’s College as their first preference all ability school.

2. Pupils presently resident in the above named parishes (in no particular order).

3. Pupils who are presently resident in other parishes in Northern Ireland.

 

Sister to be defined as ‘girls who at the date of their application, have a sister of the family currently or previously enrolled at the school’.

 

The permitted admission number for Year 8 as determined by the Department of Education for the academic year 2023/24 is 129.

 

In the event that the school would exceed its permitted admission number by accepting all applicants qualifying for selection using the final criterion so required, then selection for all places remaining in this category will be on the basis of initial letter of the surname (as appears on the birth certificate), in the order set out below:

 

Mc   X   N   K   Mac   C   F   I   Q   W   B   D   E   V   L   Z   J   R   P   M   A   Ni   Y   H   S   O   G   U   T   O’
 

The order was determined by a random selection of letters, witnessed by the Board of Governors.  In the event of surnames beginning with the same initial letter, the subsequent letters of the surnames will be used in alphabetical order.  In the event of 2 identical surnames, the alphabetical order of the initials of the forenames will be used.

 

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 Transfer Form.  Parents should therefore ensure that all information pertaining to their child and relevant to the school’s admissions criteria is stated on the Transfer Form or attached to it.  Examples of such information include whether the child is the has sisters currently/formerly enrolled in St Cecilia’s etc.

 

Applicants should note that where an address and/or child age information contained within an application qualifies a child for admission, then that information will require to be verified.  To enable the Board of Governors to verify this, applicants, towards the end of the admissions process, will be asked to provide:

 

A)        The child’s Birth Certificate in order to verify date of birth and name

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and

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B )        Any two of the following original documents to credibly verify address at which the child is normally resident:

• a bank, post office, credit union or building society statement (or equivalent) which shows the address at which the child is normally resident;

• a current utility bill (eg Electricity, Gas, Television Licence, Telephone) which shows the address at which the child is normally resident;

• a letter awarding Child Benefit or Tax/Universal Credit in respect of the child or another letter relating to this benefit;

• the child’s Medical Card.

 

PARENTS ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO HAVE SUCH DOCUMENTS READY FOR SUBMISSION TO THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS UPON REQUEST.

 

Please note that other original documents deemed by the school to be equally capable of verifying applicant information, or other equally capable means of verification, will be considered at the discretion of the Board of Governors. If, therefore, applicants are unable to provide the specific documents listed above then they should contact the school to establish how they can verify applications to the satisfaction of the school.

The Board of Governors reserves the right to require such supplementary evidence as it may determine to support or verify information on any application form/Transfer Form. 

 

Upon receipt the school will take a copy of the documents but will retain this copy only until the admissions procedure (including Appeals Tribunals) is complete.  The provision of these documents is essential if we are to offer your child a place at St Cecilia’s College.  By law, St Cecilia’s College Board of Governors, like others, has a duty to verify the important information within a child’s application in order to ensure that it has applied its admissions criteria correctly and that the admissions process is accurate and fair. If applicants do not provide the requested documents by the deadline given, then the school must regrettably withdraw the place currently allocated to the child. Similarly, if the documents provided fail to verify the information within the application that has currently qualified the child for a place at St Cecilia’s College, then this place will be withdrawn.

 

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 Form.

 

Procedures for operating a waiting list for admission to year 8 in 2023/24. The Transfer Process will conclude on Wednesday 17th May 2023. St Cecilia’s College retains a waiting list for admissions where a place becomes available outside the normal admissions process. The waiting list will be drawn up in accordance with St Cecilia’s College Admissions Criteria 2023-24 as outlined above. In the event of a place becoming available the pupil at the top of the list will be offered a place. On 1st September 2023, a new waiting list will be drawn up, replacing the previous one, consisting only of those who have:

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• appealed for admission to Year 8 in St Cecilia’s College in 2023-24

• have applied to the Exceptional Circumstances Body for admission in 2023-24 or

• have made known that they wish to remain on the waiting list after 1st September 2023.

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The rank order of the new waiting list will follow that laid out in our Admissions Criteria 2023-24. The waiting list will cease to operate after 30th June 2024.

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St Cecilia’s College will contact you in writing if your child gains a place in the school by this method.