Year 7 intake – September 2025

Applications for September’s Year 7 intake should be made via your home Local Authority.  Lancashire residents should apply online between 1st September and 31st October via the Local Authority website www.lancashire.gov.uk/schools.

A supplementary form must be completed for all applications wishing to be considered for a place at this school on faith criteria.

Our Admissions policy and Supplementary form are available for download here:

ADMISSIONS POLICY and Supplementary Form 2025-26 [September 2025 intake]

and at the bottom of this page.

Letters/emails informing parents of whether or not their child has been allocated a place will be sent out by the Local Authority on 1st March (or the first  working day after this date).  Parents of children not admitted will be offered an alternative place by the Authority. The school is not able to offer places beyond its admission number.

In view of the Christian foundation of the school, the governors expect that in choosing the school parents thereby commit their child to taking a full part in the RE and worshipping life of the school.

Information about appeals can be found here

Admissions 2026-27: Consultation

The Governors of Ripley St Thomas CE Academy are consulting on their admissions arrangements for 2026-27.

In accordance with the requirements of the Schools Admissions Code, the Academy must go out to consultation for a minimum of six consecutive weeks between 1 October 2024 and 31 January 2025.

The statutory consultation period for Ripley St Thomas CE Academy will run from:

14 October 2024 to 25 November 2024

The proposed arrangements can be viewed by clicking on the link below.

Proposed ADMISSIONS POLICY and Supplementary Form 2026-27  (September 2026 intake)

If you wish to respond to these proposals, you can either email the Academy at admissions@ripley.lancs.sch.uk or write to us with your views (please mark your envelope ‘Admissions Consultation’).

Church Groups

Discover which churches are in  Churches Together in England, Free Churches Group, the Evangelical Alliance and NW Partnership.

Non-routine (in-year) admissions

It sometimes happens that a child needs to change school other than at the “normal” time; such admissions are known as non-routine or in-year admissions.    (Normal admissions rounds are a statutory process where all parents/carers must apply for a place for their child to start school in the school’s ‘year of entry’ at Primary, or Secondary school.) Any application for a school place in Year 7 on or after the first day of the academic term will be considered as an in-year application.  Any application for another age group will also be considered as an in-year application.

Moving to a new school is an important step for all children. It can affect children in many ways and decisions by parents to change school should therefore always be carefully considered. There are instances where a change of school is essential i.e. for families who have moved into or relocated within Lancashire.

In situations where a school move is not absolutely essential all parents are strongly urged to carefully consider the implications for their child. Changing schools is a big event for any child and should not be undertaken without first talking to the headteacher at your child’s current school, to try to resolve any problems.

What should I consider?

Some of the things which you must think about if you are considering a change of school for your child for convenience rather than necessity are:-

Curriculum – this is especially important for secondary aged children, and particularly for those in Years 9, 10 or 11.  A new school may not necessarily be able to exactly match a child’s existing curriculum commitments.

Achievement – on average statistics show that school moves lower examination results.

Behaviour – it can be helpful for a child who is presenting challenging behaviour to move to a new school.  However this is normally only where the behaviour is linked to the existing school. If strategies to assist a child have already been put in place these can be disrupted by a school move. This can lead to further difficulties.  It is usually better for the child if the family work with the existing school to help to address and resolve any difficulties.

Where a school move is a strategy to address challenging behaviour there is often a requirement for the child to be on the roll of both schools for an interim period. If the change of schools is not successful the child would be expected to remain on roll and attend the original school.

Peer Group / Friends – if there are difficulties consider if these would be resolved by a school move? There could be similar issues, even in a new school. Again it is often better to work with the existing school to address matters. Moving a child away from an established peer group may adversely affect achievement.

Timing – a change of schools during the school year can disrupt a child’s education if they are already in the middle of a specific piece of coursework.

Uniform – schools set their own uniform requirements and Lancashire does not generally provide financial
assistance with uniform costs.

Transport – schools set their own start and finish times. You need to consider the implication of these on your child and in relation to your personal day to day schedule.

How to make an In-Year application

Parents wishing their child to attend this school should refer to the relevant admissions policy at the bottom of this page.  They should complete this In-Year Application Form and return it to Ripley St Thomas Admissions Office, together with the supplementary form that is included with the admissions policy. The  Academy  will consider the application and will notify you of the outcome in writing within 15 school days.  If there is a place in the appropriate year group,  we will arrange for the admission to take place.

Transfer Protocol
The majority of Lancashire schools operate a first day of term transfer protocol.  This does not apply if you are new to the area and the child does not already have a school place.  If however the child is changing schools during the year the start date will normally be at the beginning of the next school term. The child would have to continue to attend the existing school until that date. This  can also apply where a parental appeal for a school transfer is allowed by an independent admission appeal panel.

Appeals

If there is no place available you have the right to appeal.  Appeal forms should be submitted within 20 school days of the letter refusing admission.

Information for new starters

Information for new starters can be downloaded from the Year 6 Transition page