Admissions
1. The Deanery is a Church of England High School, therefore:
o the Governors decide the school’s Admissions Policy
o the Governors decide who is offered a place at the school
The Local Authority co-ordinates Admissions across Wigan.
2. Normally, children start at The Deanery in the September of Year 7 and the September of Year 12. Children can start in other year-groups or at other times of the year; these are called ‘in-year’ admissions (see below).
3. For September 2026, there are 250 places for Year 7 children.
o If 250 children (or fewer) apply to The Deanery, all will be offered a place
o If more than 250 children apply, places will be offered in the following order
Where the school receives more applications than places available, the following oversubscription criteria will be applied once places have first been allocated to pupils who have an Education Health and Care plan which names the school:
a) Children in Public Care and previously looked after children. This includes any ‘looked after child’, ‘previously looked after child’ or any child who was previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, residence or special guardianship order. ‘Looked after’ means that the child was (a) in the care of a Local Authority or (b) being provided with accommodation by a Local Authority in the exercise of their social services functions. This criteria also includes looked after children and all previously looked after children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.
b) Children of staff at the school who are employed on a permanent contract and have a) been employed for two or more years or b) been recruited to fill a vacant post for which there was a demonstrable skill shortage, at the time of application.
c) Children who will have a sibling at The Deanery Church of England High School at the time of application, including the Sixth Form.
d) Children who are regular worshippers at a Christian church, as long as this is confirmed by the church leader (such as the vicar, priest, minister, faith leader) using the Supplementary Information Form.
e) Children who express a preference for a place at the school on their Local Authority form.
4. Distance Tie-Break
Within each group above, children who live nearer the school will be offered a place first. The distance will be measured in a straight line from the child’s home address to the school’s Pupil Entrance, using a Geographical Information System. Occasionally the distance from home to school is the same for more than one child (e.g. if two children live in the same block of flats). In these cases, the Local Authority will prioritise these children on a random basis.
When parents apply for a place, they must give the correct permanent address. This is where the child and parent, or person with care of the child, or the person with parental responsibility, normally live. If the child’s parents are separated and the child spends time at each parent’s address, the address we use for admission to school is that of the main carer. We define this as the address where the child sleeps for the majority of school nights (Sunday to Thursday) during the week in term time. Where there is dispute or equal nights are slept, the parent will be asked to provide proof of the address registered with the child’s GP.
We may carry out checks to confirm that addresses are genuine. We may ask to see two forms of evidence of a child’s permanent address at the closing date for applications such as:
• where the registration for council tax is held, and/or
• a utility bill which can be gas, electricity or water
Any evidence provided must establish that the parent or main carer lived at this address at the closing date for applications. If there is a temporary change of address, for example, if someone has gone to live with a relative etc., this address cannot be used. When considering a child’s application, we use the permanent home address we have on file at the closing date for applications.
5. Brothers and Sisters
In this category, we mention a sibling. In line with the Local Authority definition, we will count:
o half siblings
o step siblings
o foster siblings
who live at the same address as part of the same family unit as ‘a sibling.’
6. Christian Churches
In this category, we mention ‘regular worshippers at a Christian Church.’
‘Regular worshippers’ means any child who has physically attended an act of public worship, either at a church service or a new worshipping community (which is defined as a recurrent act of worship by a Christian church, open to the public and free to attend) at least 12 times in the 12 months prior to the closing date specified.
There is no requirement for attendance to be only on a Sunday in order to count.
A Christian Church is ‘any church which is designated under the Ecumenical Relations Measure nationally by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York or locally by the diocesan bishop, or is a member of churches Together in England, or the Evangelical Alliance, or a partner church of Affinity’.
Children will only be offered a place as a ‘regular worshipper’ if the church leader (i.e., the priest, minister, vicar or faith leader) signs the Supplementary Information Form to confirm the child’s Church attendance.
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 church or alternative premises have been available for public worship.
The following are not considered in this category:
a) attendance at church as part of normal school activity
b) online worship
c) private prayers in a church building or elsewhere
d) whether a child is confirmed or being prepared for confirmation
e) whether a child is baptised
7. Applications from twins, triplets etc.
If a twin or triplet etc. is offered a place, then the other twin, triplet(s) etc. will also be offered a place. Very occasionally this may result in more than 250 places being offered.
8. Children of UK service personnel and crown servants
For families of service personnel with a confirmed posting, or crown servants returning from overseas, we will:
a) allocate a place in advance of the family arriving in the area (as long as one is available), provided the application is accompanied by an official letter that declares a relocation date.
b) use the address at which the child will live when applying our oversubscription criteria, as long as the parents provide some evidence of their intended address. We will use a Unit or quartering address as the child’s home address when considering the application against our oversubscription criteria, where a parent requests this.
9. Late Applications
Late applications, received after the closing date of 31st October 2025, will only be considered after those received by the closing date. The only exception to this is applications for Looked After Children that are received by 30th November 2025 will be included with on time applications.
Application Timetable
| Admission information available
On-line application service opens
|
By 12 September 2025 |
| Closing date for applications
Online application service close
|
31 October 2025 |
| Wigan Council sends details of applications to other local authorities
|
21 November 2025 |
| Own admission authority schools that rank their own applications:
Wigan Council sends details of all applications to schools (including applications from other local authorities)
|
15 December 2025
|
| School return ranked lists by | 16 January 2026 |
| Own admission authority schools that use Council’s ranking service:
Wigan Council sends ranked lists for approval
School return approved lists by
|
13 January 2026
20 January 2026 |
| Wigan Council informs other local authorities of offers to be made to their residents
|
23 January 2026 |
| Allocation information available for schools | 27 February 2026 |
| National offer day
|
2 March 2026 (1 March falls on a Sunday, so offer information will be sent the next working day) |
| Closing date for appeals | 30 March 2026 |
| Late applications received between the closing date and national offer day (31st October 2025 – 14 February 2026), will only be considered and processed after all on time applications have been processed (1st batch of lates)
|
|
| 1st batch of late applications will be included in the allocation list sent to schools prior to offer day | 27 February 2026 |
| Outcome letters sent to parents for the 1st bath of late applications
|
2 March 2026 |
| Own Admission Authority Schools will be notified of any applications refused that have been added onto the schools waiting list. This will include on time applications and late applications received before 14 February.
(This information is being shared as parents/carers may be in touch to know their position on the waiting list) |
16 March 2026 |
| Late applications received between 14 February and 31 March.
(2nd batch of lates) |
|
| Updated allocation lists circulated to all secondary schools following the 2nd batch of late applications | 20 April 2026 |
| Outcome letters sent to parents for the 2nd batch of late applications
|
20 April 2026 |
| Own Admission Authority Schools will be notified of any applications refused that have been added onto the schools waiting list.
(This information is being shared as parents/carers may be in touch to know their position on the waiting list) |
20 April 2026 |
Late applications received after 31 March, will be considered, and processed weekly after the 2nd batch of lates.
|
|
| Offering places to a school’s waiting list.
Admission Authority’s must consider all applications received before any places available are re-offered. |
1 May 2026 |
Downloads 2026/27
Click here to view the 2026/27 admissions policy.
