Admissions and appeals

Year 7 intake in September 2026

If you are interested in applying for a place at our academy and you have not yet completed a local authority Common Application Form (CAF), you should complete the late Year 7 application form available in the downloads section below and list our academy as a preference. 

If you completed a CAF but did not make five preferences, and would like to apply for a place at our academy, then you can complete the Year 7 additional preference form, and add additional schools up to a total of five.  A copy of the form is available in the downloads section below.

If you have already made five preferences, but would like to apply for a place at our academy, you can complete the waiting list form (available in the downloads section below) and tick our academy on that form.

For further information, please contact us.

Year 7 intake in September 2027

Applications to the Academy should be made via the local authority (council) common application form (CAF).  More information about the application process and a link to the form can be found on Bradford Council’s website in September.  You will need to name the Academy as one of your school preferences on that form.  If you live outside of the Bradford area, you will need to apply via your own local authority’s website.  The deadline for the council form is 31 October 2026.

Exceptional medical or social need and Children of staff criteria

If you wish to apply under the above criteria, please read this guidance document for further information and a link to the separate application form.  The deadline for applications is 31 October 2026.  This form is required in addition to naming the Academy as a preference on the local authority application form.

The published admission number (PAN) for this Academy is 180.  If the Academy receives more applications than there are places available, places will be ranked in the order of the oversubscription criteria (see table below). Full details of the admissions arrangements, including the criteria, please read the Admissions and Appeals Policy 2027-28 (available from the Downloads section below).

The table below shows the number of applications there were last year and the order of the oversubscription criteria:

Further information about the Academy can be found on this website or by contacting the Academy via:
e-mail:             info@dixonsco.com 
telephone:      01274 089900

Open Event

An open event is planned to take place on Tuesday 15 September 2026.  Arrival is from 4.15pm and the event will close at 7.00pm. Presentations will take place at 4.30pm, 5.30pm and 6.00pm.

In-Year Applications

The funding agreement for the Academy dictates how many students it will be funded for in total. The Academy plans its operations such as staffing, timetabling, and provision of resources based on the funding received; this equates to the following provision:

• There are 900 places across the year groups 7 to 11.

If a child is refused a place, this is because admission of another child would prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources.

Where vacancies occur, places are not offered based on the length of time children have been on the list but are filled in coordination with the local authorities and in line with the oversubscription criteria.  It is, therefore, possible that a child may be added to the list who qualifies more highly within the criteria than children already on the list because each time a child is added, the list will be ranked again in line with the published oversubscription criteria.  Looked-after children, previously looked-after children, and those allocated a place at the Academy in accordance with a Fair Access Protocol take precedence over those on a waiting list. 

Applications should be made on Bradford local authority’s ‘In Year Common Application Form’ (ICAF) which is available from the website.  Once completed, the form needs to be returned directly to the local authority.  The form needs to be submitted directly to the local authority.  On receipt of the form, the local authority will process this and then write to you with the outcome.

Should you have any questions about the admissions process, please e-mail: schooladmissions@bradford.gov.uk or telephone: 01274 439200

Appeals

Year 7 appeals: September 2026

Any appeals submitted now will be heard after the start of the academic year and be considered as in-year appeals.  Details of the appeals process and the appeal form can be found here.

In-Year appeals

Before you can make an appeal, you must first have completed and submitted a recent In-Year Application Form to Bradford local authority. Details of how to do this can be found on the admissions page under the heading In-Year admissions.

Once you have received a letter advising you that a place cannot be offered, you can then proceed to make an appeal for the academy of your choice.

The academy can only proceed to the appeals stage if the year group is full.  Places are not ‘reserved’ for those whose appeals are upheld, so any upheld appeal will result in an additional child in the year group.

Appeals made during the academic year (in-year) will be heard within 30 school days, or as soon as reasonably practicable.

Appeal forms and information

Bradford local authority processes the applications and appeals for our academy. Details of the appeals process and the appeal form can be found here.

If you need to speak to someone about the appeal process, you can contact the local authority via:

• Telephone:  01274 439200
• E-mail:  schoolappeals@bradford.gov.uk