Admissions & Appeals

Admissions

Year 7 intake in September 2026

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 applications is 31 October 2025.

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, can be found in the Admissions and Appeals Policy 2026-27 and the Dixons admissions guidance 2026 intake (available from the Downloads section below).

If you wish to submit an application under exceptional medical or social need criterion, or children of staff criterion, please read this guidance document for further information and a link to the separate application form.  The deadline for applications is 31 October 2025.  This form is required in addition to naming the Academy as a preference on the local authority application form.

The table below shows the number of applications there were last year and how many places were allocated in each of the criteria:

The distance of the home address of the last child admitted under ‘other children living outside the priority admissions area’ criterion can change each year, as this is dependent upon factors such as the number of children applying that year, the number who qualify under the higher criteria, and the number of children who list the Academy as their 1st preference.  As a guide for parents who are considering applying to the Academy, the furthest distance allocated under that criterion in September 2025 was 5.017 miles.

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 Wednesday 17 September.  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 180 places in each of years 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.  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.

If you need a paper form, or have questions about the admissions process, please contact the Council’s Admissions Team via:

Email: schooladmissions@bradford.gov.uk

Telephone: 01274 439200

Appeals

In-Year appeals

These appeals are for children transferring between schools mid-year.

Before you can make an appeal, you must first have applied to the Academy for a place by completing a recent In-Year Application Form for the local authority. Details of how to do this can be found above 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 if you wish to.

You can make a formal appeal to an independent appeal panel, for any school that you have applied for where admission has been refused. This is a legal process and places are not ‘reserved’ for appeal panels to offer. As a guide, one in five appeals are successful.

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

The local authority (Council) processes the applications & appeals for this 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