Admissions

Admissions

Choosing the right school for your child is one of the most important decisions a parent can make. We are here to help you find the information you need to make this choice and to navigate the admissions process.

Hockerill is a vibrant community of some 900 day and boarding, including some 240 residential boarders from the UK and beyond.

Our main entry points are Year 7 and Year 12. Residential boarding vacancies may also be available in Years 9 and 10 depending on vacancies. 

As a state school, parents are advised to check their child's eligibility for state education if the child does not hold a UK or Irish passport.  

We firmly believe that the experiences our children have gained could not have better prepared them for life at university and beyond

Day and Boarding Places

Please find below an explanation of the different types of places we offer:

Day

08.40am - 15.40 Monday to Friday 

08.40-12.20 Saturday

Present during the College day.

Flexi Boarding

07.15 Monday to Saturday arrival,

Collection between 19.30-21.00 Mondy to Friday; 12.20 Saturday

 Overnight by arrangement

Breakfast, regular college hours, activities and clubs,  supper, boarding house social time, prep. 

Flexi Boarders are required to sleep at the College between 7 and 10 nights per year. Additional nights available at a supplementary charge. 

Weekly Boarding

Sunday evening until Saturday 12.20

Resident during the College week.

Return home for exeat weekends. 

Full Boarding

All term time

Resident throughout the term. Can remain in College during exeat weekends or return home.

Leave the College during half term and holidays. 

 

Year 7

Year 7 

Applications for Year 7 entry may be made from 1 September until 31 October of the year that the child is in Year 6 for entry the following September.

Applications are made to your Local Authority for both day and boarding places. Boarding applicants should also complete a Supplementary Information Form directly to the College.

Allocations are announced on 1 March 2024 by your Local Authority.

The Bishops Stortford Education Trust (BSET) has produced a Guide to the Secondary Admissions Process, available as a download below. 

Bishop’s Stortford Education Trust has produced a Guide to the Secondary Admissions Process:

BSET-Guide-to-Secondary-Admissions-Process

Allocations for Year 7 2024 entry were announced on 1 March 2024:

Actions to take following Allocation Day

Allocation Information for Year 7 2024

Sixth Form

Sixth Form

We offer day and boarding places in the Sixth Form and welcome applications from both external and internal students. Students follow the highly regarded International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and our students are offered a range of opportunities second to none. 

In the Sixth Form, we offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, a highly regarded post-16 programme which provides an international education and is recognised both in the UK and globally. Highly valued by employers and universities worldwide, the IBDP offers students a broad and balanced curriculum that seeks to develop well-rounded, active, global citizens. 

Further details of the course at Hockerill can be found in the Sixth Form Prospectus.

Applications for Sixth Form 2024 closed on 15 December 2023. If you would like to make a late application, please contact admissions@hockerill.com

In Year Admissions

In Year Admissions

Outside Year 7 and Year 12, entry into other year groups depends on there being a vacancy in the year group.

Residential boarding places do ocassionally arise in Year 9 and 10. In year boarding applicants should submit the In Year Boarding Supplementary Form below to admissions@hockerill.com

In Year Boarding Applicants Supplementary Form In year day applicants should apply via Hertfordshire County Council.

You will received a response to your application in writing within 15 school days. 

Admissions Policy for entry in 2025

As determined by the Board of Trustees 10 February 2024

ADMISSIONS POLICY FOR ENTRY TO YEAR 7 IN SEPTEMBER 2025

Admission Numbers

The admission numbers for Year 7 are as follows:

Year of Entry

Day

Boarding

Total

7

68

52

120

Significantly more applications for September 2024 entry were received than the number of places published.

Overview

Hockerill Anglo-European College is a co-educational state day and boarding school with academy status. It has a significant proportion of boarding students and is, therefore, essentially organised and staffed as a boarding school but within this boarding structural framework, it also serves as a centre of educational excellence for the local community. The College attaches great importance to the international dimension of the College community and the curriculum as well as to its status as a high performing school specialising in languages and music. The College intends to remain relatively small and to continue to develop a challenging academic curriculum. In the Lower College this is modelled on the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme and within the Sixth Form the College offers only the academically demanding IB Diploma Programme.

The Governors would like to encourage applications from parents who will actively support the College’s traditional values on behaviour, dress and prep and whose children will make the most positive contribution to the College’s strong sense of community, its outstanding range of extra-curricular opportunities (including sport, music and drama) and its unique international ethos.

If there are more applications than places available then places will be allocated by applying the criteria under “Oversubscription Criteria” below for day places or boarding places as the case may be.

PART 1

DAY PLACES

1.1 Application Procedure

The day student admissions procedure is set within the nationally co-ordinated arrangements. A secondary Transfer Form (STF) must be submitted by Hertfordshire residents to Hertfordshire County Council by 31 October 2024. Residents outside Hertfordshire should comply with their own Local Authority’s arrangements where necessary.

1.2 Day Oversubscription Criteria

If there are more applications for day places than there are day places available, then places will be allocated by applying the following criteria in the order set out below:

  1. Children who are looked after by a Local Authority in England and Wales, in accordance with Section 22 of the Children Act 1989, and all previously looked after children, including those children who appear (to the Admission Authority) to have been in state care outside of England[1] and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. Previously looked after children are children who were looked after but ceased to be so because they were adopted, or became subject to a child arrangements order, or special guardianship order.
  1. Children who have a sibling as a day student at the College at the time of application unless the sibling is in the last year of the normal age range of the school, [Year 13] or the sibling has already indicated that he or she will not be attending the school at the date of admission. A sibling means the sister, brother, step or half brother or sister, adopted or foster sibling, including a child of the parent /carer permanently living at the same address as that brother or sister.
  1. Children who are successful in gaining one of the places available to those who demonstrate the greatest aptitude for modern foreign languages and/or music. 10% of places[2] may be allocated in this way. These places will be based solely on aptitude for languages, solely on aptitude for music and on a combination of both languages and music in the order of and at a ratio of 7 (Languages): 3 (Music) : 2 (Combined). In the event of a tied score in the aptitude test, priority is given to the applicant living closest to the College using the Hertfordshire County Council’s Home Address definition and measured by using the computerised mapping system.
  1. Children of staff directly employed by the school in either or both of the following circumstances:
  1. where the member of staff has been employed for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made,

and/or

  1. the member of staff is permanently employed to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage, where the child would require the place at the time of the member of staff taking up the post.

Children of staff are those where the staff member is the child’s parent by blood or adoption, or the member of staff has legal parental responsibility for the child. The child must have lived at the same address as the parent employed by the school for at least one year at the time of application.

  1. Any further places will be allocated in the following manner:
  • Up to 33% of these places will be allocated to pupils attending the following schools: All Saints; St Joseph’s; Summercroft; Thorn Grove; Windhill 21
  • Up to 33% of these places will be allocated to pupils attending the following schools: Hillmead; Manor Fields; Richard Whittington; Northgate; St Michael’s; Thorley Hill
  • Up to 33% of these places will be allocated to pupils attending other schools.

In the case of oversubscription within any criterion, priority will be given to children who live nearest to the College using the Hertfordshire County Council’s Home Address definition and measured by using the computerised mapping system.

1.3 Distance Measurements

Distances are measured using the computerised mapping system to two decimal places. The measurement is taken from the address point of your child’s house to the address point of the school. Address point data is a nationally recognised method of identifying individual residences (see clarification below).

This is an objective method of measuring home to school distances consistently when applying admission rules. It does not take into account the actual or expected route a child will travel to school. When there is a need for a tie breaker where two different addresses measure the same distance from a school, in the case of a block of flats for example, the lower door number will be deemed nearest as logically this will be on the ground floor and therefore closer. If there are two identical distances of separate applicants, the tie break will be random and independently verified

Clarification of Address Point data

The address point coordinates used for admissions purposes are those found in the Ordnance Survey AddressBase Premium data and these are assigned by the Local Land and Property Custodian who compiled the relevant Local Land and Property Gazetteer (in this case East Hertfordshire). Hertfordshire County Council do not modify the coordinates.

AddressBase Premium data is a nationally recognised method of identifying the location of addresses. If a point falls within the building footprint it is considered to meet the Ordnance Survey AddressBase product specification regardless of whether it is at the centroid or not. The dataset includes information from the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG), Royal Mail Postal Address File (PAF) and Ordnance Survey MasterMap; and provides the most comprehensive view of addresses and properties at all stages of a property and address lifecycle - from planning permission to historic addresses.

1.4 Home Address

The address provided must be the child’s permanent address “at the time of application”. “At the time of application” means the closing date for applications.

For the purposes of these arrangements, a child’s “permanent address” means that the child has lived at that address for at least a year. Where a family has not lived at an address for a year they must be able to demonstrate that they own the property or have a tenancy agreement for a minimum of 12 months and that their child must be resident in the property at the time of application. If, due to the nature of the agreement it is not possible to provide a 12-month tenancy agreement, alternative proof of address will be requested and verified as necessary with the Shared Anti-Fraud Service.

The application can only be processed using one address. If a child lives at more than one address (for example due to a separation) the address used will be the one where the child lives for the majority of the time. If a child lives at two addresses equally, the parents/carers should make a single joint application naming one address.

If a child’s permanent residence is disputed, parents/carers should provide court documentation to evidence the address that should be used for admission allocation purposes. If two applications are received with different addresses, neither will be processed until the address issue is reconciled.

If two different applications are received for the same child from the same address eg. containing different preferences, parents/carers will be invited to submit a joint application or provide court documentation to evidence the preferences that should be used for the admission process. Until the preference issue is resolved neither application will be processed.

Parents/carers of children applying under oversubscription Criterion 5, will be required to provide proof that the home address submitted is the permanent residence of the child. Please do not send this at the time of application, it will be requested later. The Admitting Authority reserves the right to withdraw places or offers of places if fraudulent or intentionally misleading information is submitted

1.5 Fraudulent Applications

The College works in partnership with Hertfordshire County Council to do as much as possible to prevent applications being made from fraudulent addresses, including referring cases to the Shared Anti-Fraud Service for further investigation as necessary.

Address evidence is frequently requested, monitored and checked and school places will be withdrawn when false information is deliberately provided even if the places has already been accepted or the child has started at the College.

The Admitting Authority will refuse to allocate a place under oversubscription Criterion 5 where they consider the permanent home address as stated on the application form is a temporary address even if the child is living at this property at the time of application. Parents/carers will need to satisfy the Admitting Authority that they have relinquished residency ties with their previous property and they and their child/ren are permanently residing at the address on the application form. Leasing a previous property to a third party will not constitute relinquishing ties. The Admitting Authority will make their decision based on such evidence as they reasonably require.

The College in partnership with Hertfordshire County Council will take action in the following circumstances:

  • When an application address does not match the address of that child at their current school
  • When a child lives at a different address to the applicant
  • When the applicant does not have parental responsibility
  • When a family moves shortly after being allocated a place at the College when one or more of the following applies: 
    • The family has moved to a property from which their application was less likely to be successful
    • The family has returned to an existing property
    • The family lived in rented accommodation for a short period of time (anything less than one year) over the application period
    • Official/ public records show an alternative address at the time of application
    • The family moved to an address more likely to be successful for a short period of time during the application period and returned to a previous property or new property shortly after allocations were made
    • When a child starts at the College and their address is different from the address used at the time of application

If a school place was allocated to an older child using fraudulent information, the Admitting Authority will not consider an application under the sibling rule for any children applying from that family.

1.6 Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)

In considering applications for admissions the College, in common with all other schools, is required to admit any child with an EHCP that names the College. These children will be admitted as part of the College’s Published Admissions Number (PAN) but before the oversubscription criteria are used.

1.7 Multiple Births

For applications received for twins or other multiple births; in the event of the admission of one such child under the published over-subscription criteria, the twin sibling(s) would also be offered a place(s) at Hockerill Anglo-European College.

Should a single twin/multiple birth be allocated the last place, we will admit above or over the College’s Published Admission Number to accommodate the remaining twin/multiple birth children.

1.8 Language and Music Aptitude Tests

Parents who wish their children to take the Aptitude Tests must submit the Test Application Form by 0900 Monday 16 September 2024. Parents will be notified of the test results before October 31 2024. Parents should be aware the results of the tests do not guarantee a place at the school.

The Aptitude Tests will take place at the College on Saturday 21 September 2024.

The Language and Music Aptitude Tests do not assess a child’s current abilities but rather their propensity to acquire competence in these areas in the future. They seek to determine a child’s aptitude towards developing these skills.

In languages they seek to determine the propensity for sound-symbol association, sensitivity to grammatical structure, aptitude to hear speech sounds as well as for auditory comprehension.

In music they seek to determine aptitude for identifying and developing the essential elements of music, pitch, rhythm and musical sensitivity.

The Aptitude Tests are open to all applicants for a day place. Applicants may sit either or both tests.

1.9 Continuing Interest Lists

After places have been offered, Hertfordshire County Council will maintain a Continuing Interest (CI) list on behalf of the College for applicants who have not been allocated a place.

A child’s position on a CI list will be determined by the admission criteria set out above and a child’s place on the list can change as other children join or leave it.

The Local Authority will contact parents/ carers if a vacancy becomes available and it can be offered to a child.

Continuing interest (CI) lists will be maintained for every year group until the summer term (date to be specified and confirmed to parents at the time of allocation). To remain on the CI list after this time, parents must confirm they are still interested in a place by completing an In Year application form from Hertfordshire County Council.

Parents wishing to appeal who applied through Hertfordshire’s online system should log in to their online application and click on the link “register an appeal”. Out of county residents and paper applicants should call the Customer Service Centre on 0300 123 4043 to request their registration details, log into http://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/schoolappeals and click on the link “log into the appeals system”.

1.10 Out of Year Group Applications

Hockerill Anglo-European College’s policy is for children to be educated within their correct chronological year group, with the curriculum differentiated as necessary to meet the needs of individual children. This is in line with DfE guidance which states that “in general, children should be educated in their normal age group”.

If parents/carers believe their child(ren) should be educated in a different year group they should, at the time of application, submit supporting evidence from relevant professionals working with the child and family stating why the child must be placed outside their normal age appropriate cohort. DfE guidance makes clear that “it is reasonable for admission authorities to expect parents to provide them with information in support of their request – since without it they are unlikely to be able to make a decision on the basis of the circumstances of the case”

The exception to this will be summer born children who delayed their entry into Reception and have been educated out of year ever since. The parents of a summer born child may choose not to send that child to school until the September following their fifth birthday, which means that they would transfer to secondary school a year late.

NOTES FOR DAY APPLICANTS

  1. Parents/ carers should note that the College has a timetable that operates from Monday to Saturday with lessons finishing at 12.20pm on Saturdays.
  2. Those wishing to apply for a day place may also apply for a boarding place providing these are listed as separate school preferences on the application to the Local Authority. Applications for each are treated separately and therefore, the oversubscription criteria for day would be applied to the day application and the oversubscription criteria for boarding would be applied to the boarding application.
  3.  Decisions on allocation of places will be communicated in line with the nationally co-ordinated process on 1 March 2025.
  4. Parents/ carers will be asked to confirm acceptance of any day place offered and lack of confirmation of acceptance may lead to withdrawal of an offer of such a place.

Additional Statutory Information

Hockerill Anglo-European College’s key policies are available in the Policy section of this website.

PART 2

BOARDING PLACES

2.1 Application Procedure

There are three different types of boarding at the College. Full Boarding, Weekly Boarding and Flexi Boarding. A more detailed description of these can be found on the College website. The College is a state boarding school and the Governors are committed to providing an education which combines the best aspects of boarding school life with the benefits of strong links internationally. In order to be eligible for admission to the College, prospective students (or their parents/carers) must have full UK citizenship, have or be eligible for a full UK passport, or the right to a state education in the UK.

The boarding student admissions procedure is set within the nationally co-ordinated arrangements. A Secondary Transfer Form (STF) must be submitted by Hertfordshire residents to Hertfordshire County Council by the closing date 31 October 2024. Residents outside Hertfordshire should comply with their own Local Authority’s arrangements where necessary. Applicants living overseas should apply directly to the College and to Hertfordshire County Council.

Parents/carers should also complete the College’s Boarding Supplementary Information Form and return it to the College by the closing date for application. If a Supplementary Information Form is not completed the governing body will apply their admission arrangements using the information submitted on the information provided to us by the relevant Local Authority only, which may result in your application being given a lower priority.

Parents/carers of prospective applicants should also read carefully: “Notes for boarding applicants” and “Suitability for Boarding”.

2.2 Boarding Oversubscription Criteria

Once an applicant has been established as suitable for boarding, and if there are more applications than places available, places will be allocated using the following criteria in the order set out below:

The following criteria apply in the event of oversubscription for boarding places:

  1. Children who are looked after by a local authority in England and Wales, in accordance with section 22 of the Children Act 1989, and all previously looked after children, including those children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care[3] as a result of being adopted. Previously looked after children are children who were looked after but ceased to be so because they were adopted, or became subject to a child arrangements order, or special guardianship order.
  1. Children of members of the UK Armed Forces who qualify for Ministry of Defence financial assistance with the cost of boarding school fees.
  1. Candidates who have satisfied the Governors’ Admissions Panel that they have a significant degree of boarding need (see below). Evidence which clearly demonstrates why there is a boarding need to support the case for admissions must accompany the application and will be treated in the strictest confidence. For example, a letter from an appropriate professional.
  1. Children who have a sibling as a boarding student at the College at the time of application unless the sibling is in the last year of the normal age range of the school, [Year 13] or the sibling has already indicated that he or she will not be attending the school at the date of admission. A sibling means the sister, brother, step or half brother or sister, adopted or foster sibling, including a child of the parent/ carer permanently living at the same address as the brother or sister.
  1. Should any places remain after applying the above criteria the Governors will use a random allocation system which will be independently verified.

2.3 Boarding Need

This category includes but is not limited to:

  • children of Crown Servants serving abroad
  • children at risk or with an unstable home environment
  • children whose parent/s spend much of the year abroad for work purposes
  • children whose parent/s is/are temporarily or permanently resident abroad
  • children who will be subject to a high degree of mobility over the next 7 years
  • children whose parents’ work pattern compromises their effective care outside the normal day school hours

The Governors’ Admissions Panel (the Panel) consider all applications that make a case for boarding need very carefully. The Panel consists of the Principal and two other governors. In reviewing each application, the Panel considers all the submitted evidence on a case by case basis and uses their experience to rank the boarding need of each applicant based on the strength of the case. Places are then offered to those ranked highest.

2.4 Continuing Interest List

After places have been offered, Hertfordshire County Council will maintain a Continuing Interest (CI) list on behalf of the College for applicants who have not been allocated a place for Year 7.

A child’s position on a CI list will be determined by the admission criteria set out above and a child’s place on the list can change as other children join or leave it. The County Council will contact parents/ carers if a vacancy becomes available and it can be offered to a child. Continuing Interest lists will be maintained until the summer term (date to be specified and confirmed to parents at the time of allocation). To remain on the CI list after this time, parents must confirm they are still interested in a place by completing an In Year application form from the County Council.

Parents wishing to appeal who applied through Hertfordshire’s online system should log in to their online application and click on the link “register an appeal”. Out of county residents and paper applicants should call the Customer Service Centre on 0300 123 4043 to request their registration details, log into http://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/schoolappeals and click on the link “log into the appeals system”.

2.5 Suitability for Boarding

The College has a legal duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of its boarders. The College takes the duty seriously and ensures that all reasonable steps are taken to discharge this duty.

Candidates for boarding places are assessed to determine their suitability for boarding in the Michaelmas term and prior to the application of the oversubscription criteria. This is to determine according to the statutory criteria, whether an applicant would, if admitted, present a serious health and safety hazard to other boarders and whether an applicant would be able to cope and benefit from a boarding place.

This assessment includes the following:

  • An interview or interviews, which includes the opportunity for each child to be present without their parents/carers.
  • Information from the candidate’s present school and/or a previous school where the applicant is not currently at school or has recently changed school.
  • Consideration of any other information that the parent/carer of the applicant provides to support the application, or which may be provided at the request of the parent/carer by another person.
  • Information provided by a Local Authority (or equivalent outside England and Wales) where relevant.

In determining whether or not an applicant is suitable to board, Hockerill Anglo-European College has regard to the following questions:

  • Does the applicant wish to board?
  • Does the applicant have experience of staying away from their parents/carers whether or not they are currently a boarder?
  • Does the applicant show evidence of self-reliance and independence?
  • Does the applicant show evidence of understanding and relishing the challenges of a communal life?
  • Does the applicant show understanding of the responsibilities of being a member of a boarding community?
  • Is there any medical or psychological reason why boarding would not be appropriate, or any need that could not be met by reasonable adjustment to the boarding accommodation, routine and practice?

Decisions will be communicated in line with the nationally co-ordinated process on 1 March 2025. Parents/ carers will be asked to confirm acceptance of any boarding place offered and lack of confirmation of acceptance may lead to withdrawal of an offer of such a place.

A boarding place is distinguished by statute from a day place. Therefore a place accepted as a boarding place cannot subsequently be converted to a day place under any circumstances. However, after Year 11 a boarding place may be relinquished and an application made for a Year 12 day place.

NOTES FOR BOARDING APPLICANTS

  1. Applicants for a boarding place at Hockerill Anglo-European College must have full UK citizenship or have other legitimate residential status within the UK which confers the right to education at public expense. The College may require proof of eligibility before processing an application.
  2. All applicants must attend for an interview to establish suitability for boarding as stated in the Admissions Code 2021 published by the Department for Education (DfE).
  3. Applicants whose parents do not normally live in the UK or who travel frequently away from home will be required to identify or appoint an Educational Guardian who resides within reach of the College.
  4. All applicants for boarding places will be required to pay a deposit as acceptance of the place on receipt of an offer. They may additionally be asked to verify ability to pay the boarding fees and expenses incurred at the College.
  5. Those wishing to apply for a day place may also apply for a boarding place providing these are listed as separate choices on the application to the local authority. Applications for each are treated separately and, therefore, the oversubscription criteria for day would be applied to the day application and the oversubscription criteria for boarding would be applied to the boarding application.

 

PART 3

IN YEAR ADMISSIONS

3.1 In Year Day Applications

When applications are received by the College for admission, other than for the start of Year 7, any available places will be allocated using the oversubscription criteria for day applicants on page 2 of this Policy, excluding Criterion 3 (Aptitude) and Criterion 5 (Distance). Any places that remain will be allocated to pupils who live closest to the College, measured by the ‘straight line’ distance from the applicant’s home address as determined by the Local Authority’s distance measuring system. Hertfordshire County Council’s ‘straight line’ distance measuring system is used for all home to school distance measurements. Distances are measured using a computerised mapping system to two decimal places. The measurement is taken from the AddressBase Premium address point of your child’s house to the address point of the school. AddressBase is a nationally recognised method of identifying the location of schools and individual residences.

For day places the College will remain part of Hertfordshire County Council’s coordinated In Year admissions scheme. A child’s position on a Continuing Interest (CI) list will be determined by the oversubscription criteria for day places and a child’s place on the list can change as other children join or leave it. The County Council will contact parents/carers if a vacancy becomes available and it can be offered to a child.

Continuing Interest lists will be maintained for every year group until the summer term (date to be specified and confirmed to parents at the time of allocation). To remain on the CI list after this time, parents must confirm they are still interested in a place by completing an In Year application form. In Year applications should be made online at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions. A paper application form can be requested from the Customer Services Centre of the Council Telephone 0300 123 4043.

Children who are the subject of a direction under an In Year Fair Access Protocol will take precedence over others on the Continuing Interest List and may be admitted above the PAN if required.

3.2 In Year Boarding Applications

For boarding places, the College accepts In Year applications direct. Please complete the Boarding Supplementary Information Form which can be found on the Hockerill website. The College maintains boarding Continuing Interest (CI) lists for all year groups for the In Year application process. The oversubscription criteria will be applied as stated in the oversubscription criteria for Boarding places.

3.3 In Year Appeals

Parents/carers have the right to appeal if an in year day or boarding place is not offered. Appeals are managed by Hertfordshire County Council Appeals Service.

Boarding applicants will receive written notification of the outcome of their application from the College. Boarding applicants wishing to appeal should call the Customer Service Centre on 0300 123 4043 to request their registration details, log into http://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/schoolappeals and click on the link “log into the appeals system”.

Day applicants will be written to by the County Council with the outcome of the application and, if the application is unsuccessful, this will include registration details to enable them to login and appeal on line at: http://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/schoolappeals.

PART 4

ADMISSIONS POLICY FOR SIXTH FORM ENTRY SEPTEMBER 2025

4.1 Overview

Hockerill Anglo-European College is a co-educational state day and boarding school. It has a significant proportion of boarding students and is, therefore, essentially organised and staffed as a boarding school: but within this boarding structural framework, it also serves as a centre of educational excellence for the local community. It attaches great importance to the international dimension of the College community and the curriculum and to its status as a high performing specialist Language College and Music College. It intends to remain relatively small and to continue to develop a challenging academic curriculum. In the Lower College this is modelled on the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years programme and within the Sixth Form the College offers only the academically demanding IB Diploma programme.

The overall capacity of the Sixth form is 300 students with a Published Admission Number of 60 external students. To be considered for a place in Year 12, all applicants are expected to achieve a minimum of GCSE Grade 7 or 6, or equivalent, for the subjects (or related subjects) that they wish to study at Higher Level.

In addition, each subject will have its own specific entry requirement. Details of these are available in the Sixth Form Prospectus. Existing students wishing to enter the sixth form will be able to do so providing they meet the minimum entry requirements.

4.2 External Applicants

Applicants joining Hockerill Anglo-European College Sixth Form from another school will be considered on the basis of their estimated grades/examination results in line with the minimum entry requirements. The College welcomes and gives full consideration to applicants from the international community who have full UK citizenship, have or are eligible for a full UK passport or have the right to a free education in the UK. The College may require proof of eligibility before processing an application.

The Governors would like to encourage applications from parents who will actively support the College’s traditional values on behaviour, dress and prep and whose children will make the most positive contribution to the College’s strong sense of community, its outstanding range of extra- curricular opportunities (including sport, music and drama) and its unique international ethos.

In addition, the following conditions of offer apply to the IB Diploma programme:-

  • Acceptance of CAS (Creativity, Activity and Service) programme
  • Acceptance of TOK (Theory of Knowledge) course
  • Acceptance of Extended Essay
  • Acceptance of attendance requirements
  • Acceptance of minimum of 12 hours of study at home or in boarding prep per week

OVERSUBSCRIPTION CRITERIA

If there are more applicants from outside the College satisfying the admissions threshold than places available, then places will be allocated by applying the following criteria in the order set out below:

4.3 Day Sixth Form

  1. Children who are looked after by a Local Authority in England and Wales, in accordance with section 22 of the Children Act 1989, and all previously looked after children, including those children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England[4] and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. Previously looked after children are children who were looked after but ceased to be so because they were adopted or became subject to a child arrangement order or special guardianship order.
  1. Children who have a sibling as a day student at the College at the time of application unless the sibling is in the last year of the normal age range of the school, [Year 13] or the sibling has already indicated that he or she will not be attending the school at the date of admission. A sibling means the sister, brother, step or half brother or sister, adopted or foster sibling, including a child of the parent /carer permanently living at the same address as that brother or sister.
  1. Children of staff directly employed by the school in either or both of the following circumstances:
    1. where the member of staff has been employed for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made,

and/or

  1. the member of staff is permanently employed to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage, where the child would require the place at the time of the member of staff taking up the post.

Children of staff are those where the staff member is the child’s parent by blood or adoption, or the member of staff has legal parental responsibility for the child. The child must have lived at the same address as the parent employed by the school for at least one year at the time of application.

4.4 Boarding Sixth Form

Once an applicant has been established as suitable for boarding (through the process outlined in Part 2 above) and if there are more applications than places available, places will be allocated using the following criteria in the order set out below:

  1. Children who are looked after by a local authority in England and Wales, in accordance with Section 22 of the Children Act 1989, and all previously looked after children, including those children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care[5] outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. Previously looked after children are children who were looked after but ceased to be so because they were adopted, or became subject to a child arrangement order, or special guardianship order.
  1. Children of members of the UK Armed Forces who qualify for Ministry of Defence financial assistance with the cost of boarding school fees.
  1. Candidates who have satisfied the Governing Body that they have a significant degree of boarding need (as outlined in Part 2)
  1. Children who have a sibling as a boarding student at the College at the time of application, unless the sibling is in the last year of the normal age range of the school (Year 13) or the sibling has already indicated that he or she will not be attending the school at the date of admission. A sibling means the sister, brother, step or half brother or sister, adopted or foster sibling including a child of the parent/carer permanently living at the same address as that brother or sister.

Should any places remain after applying the above criteria, the Governors will use a random allocation system.

All prospective applicants and their parents/ carers will be invited to discuss their application with senior College staff for advice on options and entry requirements.

NOTES FOR SIXTH FORM APPLICANTS

  1. The Sixth Form application form is available online via the College website www.hockerill.com from 1 September 2024. If you require a paper copy, please request one from the College, complete and return to The Registrar, Hockerill Anglo-European College, Dunmow Road, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts CM23 5HX.
  2. In the event that a child is not allocated a place at Hockerill Anglo-European College parents/ carers can request to be placed on the Continuing Interest (CI) list.
  3. Parents/carers have the right to appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel. If unsuccessful, applicants should email school.appeals@hertfordshire.gov.uk requesting further information on how to lodge an appeal or contact the School Appeals team directly at County Hall

[1] A child is regarded as having been in state care outside of England if they were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation or any other provider of care whose sole purpose is to benefit society.

[2] This is 10% of total admissions intake (as determined by School’s Admissions Code 2021, para 1.24)

[3] A child is regarded as having been in state care outside of England if they were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation or any other provider of care whose sole purpose is to benefit society

[4] A child is regarded as having been in state care outside of England if they were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation or any other provider of care whose sole purpose is to benefit society

[5] A child is regarded as having been in state care outside of England if they were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation or any other provider of care whose sole purpose is to benefit society