Admissions
Students joining in September 2024
Valley Park School has a published admission number (PAN) of 240 students, to be admitted into Year 7 each year. Applications for places will be made in accordance with Kent local authority’s coordinated admission arrangements and will be made on the Secondary Common Application Form (SCAF), provided and administered by the Kent Local Authority. Please note that a Supplementary Application Form is only required if you are applying for a scholarship.
Admissions Process Timeline
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Registration for testing opens |
Thursday 1 June 2023 |
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Closing date for registration |
Monday 3 July 2023 |
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Application for Secondary Transfer opens |
Friday 1 September 2023 |
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Test date for pupils in Kent Primary schools |
Thursday 7 September 2023 |
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Test date for pupils not in Kent Primary schools from |
Saturday 9 September 2023 |
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Assessment decision sent to parents |
Wednesday 18 October 2023 |
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National closing date for application forms |
Tuesday 31 October 2023 |
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Final date for acceptance of on time changes to application details |
Friday 8 December 2023 |
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Summary of applicant numbers sent to Secondary schools (plus info for those needing to arrange additional testing) |
Wednesday 13 December 2023 |
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Full applicant details sent to all Kent Secondary schools for ranking against their over- subscription criteria |
Thursday 4 January 2024 |
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Ranked lists returned to Kent County Council by all schools. Deadline for school to inform Kent County Council of wish to offer in excess of PAN |
Monday 15 January 2024 |
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Secondary schools sent list of allocated pupils - Primary schools informed of destination of pupils |
Friday 23 February 2024 |
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National Offer Day: e-mails sent after 4pm |
Friday 1 March 2024 |
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Schools send out welcome letters no earlier than |
Tuesday 5 March 2024 |
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Deadline for late applications and waiting list requests to be included in the Kent County Council reallocation stage. Also the date by which places should be accepted or declined to schools. |
Friday 15 March 2024 |
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Date Kent County Council will send schools reallocation waiting lists for ranking against their over-subscription criteria |
Friday 22 March 2024 |
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Schools to send their ranked reallocation waiting list and acceptance and refusals to KCC |
Thursday 28 March 2024 |
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Deadline for lodging appeals |
Thursday 28 March 2024 |
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Kent County Council to reallocate places that have become available from the schools’ waiting lists. After this point, schools will take back ownership of their waiting lists. |
Thursday 25 April 2024 |
In Year Admissions
If you are looking for a place at Valley Park School because you have recently moved into the area, or your child is at another secondary school and you feel that a change of school would benefit their education and/or general well being, you are entitled to apply for a school place.
Please contact the Admissions Team to request an In-Year Admissions Form or download a copy from our website. This form must be completed and returned to the Admissions Team.
The school will notify applicants of the outcome of their application in writing within 15 school days detailing any reason for refusal and information about the right to appeal.
Appeal Dates & Information
Appeal Dates & Information Academic year 2024/2025
If you have not been offered a place following an in-year application, the law entitles you to appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel. This panel is completely independent of the school and the Local Authority. In accordance with the 2022 School Admission Appeals Code Appeals, the admission authority and panels have elected for all admissions appeals to be held online.
If you wish to appeal, please use this link to complete your appeal online. Please do NOT use ANY other appeal form or send your form to your local authority. It is highly recommended that you download the explanatory booklet about appeals which you should read before you complete the appeal form.
You should include any evidence or supporting material with your appeal form and you MUST state the grounds of your appeal at the time you lodge your appeal form. Your appeal form will not be accepted unless you give the grounds of your appeal. You may appeal for more than one school.
Please note that the online form will ask you to download two utility bills dated in the last THREE months. If you do not have access to a scanner, please take two photographs using a mobile phone and upload the photographic files.
If you wish to contact the clerk – email : clerk@educationappeals.com
Information about Secondary Transfer appeals will be posted on this website before 28 February 2025.
The timetable for ‘in-year’ appeals is as follows: -
The timetable for ‘in-year’ appeals | |
| Last day for lodging appeal forms | 20 School days after the decision letter informing you that you had not been offered a place. |
| Invitation letter giving details about your hearing will be sent by the Clerk to the Independent Appeal Panel | At least 10 school days before the hearing. This MAY be emailed. All in-year appeals will be heard within 30 school days of the appeal form being lodged. |
| Closing date for any additional supporting evidence | FIVE working days before your hearing. You are advised that additional paperwork received on the day of the appeal hearing will not be taken into account. Please email files to clerk@educationappeals.com Please note that slightly different rules will apply for any summer transfer appeals into Year 7. |
| Letter from the Clerk informing you of the decision of the independent appeal panel | Due to the high number of appeals, an email is sent a few working days after your hearing with the decision of the panel. This is followed up around 10 working days later with a letter outlining the panels’ reasons. |
The timetable for Sixth Form appeals | |
| Last day for Lodging appeals | 4pm on Thursday 31 August 2024 to guarantee that your appeal will be heard in early to mid-September. You MUST state the reasons for your appeal on the online form and supply any documentary evidence at this stage to include a copy of your result sheet. Please note the timetable is very short to enable those appellants who win appeals to start as early into the school year as possible. The form will only be available from results day. Click here for the 6th form appeal form. If this link does not work, it means you are too late to appeal. |
| Appeal dates | The appeal will be during the month of September 2024. |