Admissions guidelines

Prospectus

Please follow this link to view the school’s online prospectus. If you would like a hard copy, please contact the school.

Admissions to Gillotts School are coordinated, on behalf of the Governing Body, by Oxfordshire County Council.

To apply for a place for next September in Year 7, follow this link:
https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/content/secondary-school-applications

To apply for a place at any other time or in any other year group, follow this link:
https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/content/transferring-or-moving-different-school

Contact details for the Oxfordshire County Council Admissions team are as follows:
School Admissions
Oxfordshire County Council
County Hall
New Road
Oxford
OX1 1ND
Tel: 0345 241 2487
Email: admissions.schools@oxfordshire.gov.uk
Web: www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/admissions

Admissions guidelines

Gillotts is an 11-16 mixed comprehensive school and the only secondary school in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. The main principle of admission to Gillotts is to maintain the character of the school as a comprehensive school, providing for the needs of young people within the 11-16 range, who live in Henley-on-Thames and the surrounding areas defined below or attend the listed partner primary schools. There is no guarantee of a place for children living in our priority admission area or who attend one of the partner primary schools.

Admission to our school is not dependent on any ‘voluntary’ contribution.

Pupils will be admitted at the age 11+ without reference to ability or aptitude. The admission number PAN is 180.

We admitted over our PAN by 20 students for Year 7 in September 2022, and so admitted 200 students.  The decision to do this was made at a meeting of the full Governing Body on 15 February 2022.  This decision was made in order to help satisfy demand for places, to try to ensure that children from our linked families (those with siblings already in the school, and in our partner primary schools) were offered a place on 1 March. Note that we have not determined a higher published admission number – we have simply determined to admit over our published admission number for September 2022.

We similarly admitted over our PAN by 20 students for Year 7 in September 2021 and September 2019.

The school participates in the Local Authority (Oxford County Council) co-ordinated scheme and all deadlines within that should be adhered to by applicants. The school follows the current published LA admission rules for Years 7 to 11 at community and voluntary controlled secondary schools. Children with Education and Health Care Plans naming the school must be admitted and will count towards the PAN if the information is available before the offer date.

Note

We often have a high number of applications.  This means it is usual for a high number to be refused when the first round of offers are made on 1 March.  However, as soon as these offers are made, we expect about 30 to 40 to be refused, because parents have accepted places at independent schools.  These released places will be offered again in the second round of offers in early May.  However you will only be considered in the second round if you are on the continued interest list. 

If you live in Oxfordshire, you must ask to be on the continued interest list.
If you live in Reading, you are automatically added to the continued interest list.
If you live in Buckinghamshire, you are automatically added to the continued interest list.
If you live in Wokingham, you are asked if you wish to remain on the continued interest list but it is assumed that you do, unless you tell them otherwise.

We strongly advise parents whose application for a place at Gillotts is refused to check their child is on the continued interest list.  Because of the number of places offered that will be refused, the true picture of who will finally be allocated a place only emerges after the second allocation in May.

We have information on the home addresses of all children offered places and all children refused, and we also have up to date information on how many offers have been declined.  If you wish to discuss your child’s application, please contact the school on 01491 574315 and ask to speak to the Admissions Secretary, Kerry O’Brien, or the Headteacher, Catharine Darnton.

The distances from the school of the last child admitted to Year 7 in advance of the start of the autumn term are as follows:
2023 – 10.297 miles – straight line distance
2022 – 3.162 miles – straight line distance
Note that all the distances below are ‘shortest designated route’ distances, which will be longer than straight line distances
2021 – 5.611 miles
2020 – 4.645 miles
2019 – 5.332 miles
2018 – 5.957 miles
2017 – 4.956 miles
2016 – 5.277 miles

Paragraph 1.49 of the 2021 School Admissions Code requires Admission Authorities to determine Admission Arrangements each year regardless of whether a consultation has taken place.  Paragraph 1.50 requires Admission Authorities to display the determined arrangements on their website. Paragraph 1.53 requires Admission Authorities to provide information about how to object to the Schools Adjudicator about the determined rules.

The admissions appeals timetable can be found here.