Admissions

Phil and Jim has a well-earned reputation in North Oxford as an excellent school, and some years can be oversubscribed. However, a two-class intake and a fairly mobile population mean that places in all years can become free during the course of the school year. In particular, there is often a lot of movement over the summer term. While there are many applications for Foundation Stage, places often become free in later rounds of the admissions process over the summer term, summer holidays, and into the autumn term itself. We always maintain a continued interest list for the academic year. If you would like your child to attend the school, please consult our Admissions Policy below and feel free to contact the school office with any queries.

 

Admission Arrangements

Phil and Jim has a distinctive Christian ethos which is at the centre of school life. We provide an inclusive, supportive and caring environment, shaped by Christian values in which children are motivated to acquire skills for life and a love of learning. We welcome applications from all members of the community without reference to ability or aptitude, and irrespective of whether they are of the Christian faith, another faith or no faith, but we expect parents to respect the Christian ethos of our school.

Phil and Jim has a well-earned reputation in North Oxford as an excellent school, and some years can be oversubscribed. However, a two-class intake and a fairly mobile population mean that places in all years can become free during the course of the school year. In particular, there is often a lot of movement over the summer term. While there are many applications for Foundation Stage, places often become free in later rounds of the admissions process over the summer term, summer holidays, and into the autumn term itself. We always maintain a continued interest list for the academic year. If you would like your child to attend the school, please consult our Admissions Policy and feel free to contact the school office with any queries.

The school’s Admissions Policy is a legal document, which explains how the school ranks applications, but all applicants need to go first to the Local Authority.

 

To apply to Phil & Jim, it is helpful to complete a Supplementary Information Form. This form provides the school with useful information for getting in touch with applicants.

In addition, if you wish to apply for a church place, you must also complete a Declaration of Christian Commitment Form. Both forms are available from the School Office and should be submitted to the school.

This is a short explanation of how the process works, but we recommend that prospective parents read the full Admissions Policy above.

Applications are assessed by allocating them to the following categories, which are listed in the order of priority in which places are offered:

  1. ‘Looked-after’ children, regardless of where they live, and children who were looked after but have ceased to be so because they have been adopted or have become subject to a residence order or special guardianship order.
  2. Children with disabilities who need to be admitted to an accessible school.
  3. Children living in the catchment area with a sibling in the school and wanting a ‘Church place’.
  4. Children living in the catchment area with a sibling in the school.
  5. Children living in the catchment area and wanting a ‘Church place’.
  6. Other children living in the catchment area.
  7. Children living in the northern part of the city with a sibling in the school and wanting a ‘Church place’.
  8. Children of ‘key staff’ (as agreed with the Governors).
  9. Children living in the northern part of the city with a sibling in the school.
  10. Children living in the northern part of the city and wanting a ‘Church place’.
  11. Other children living in the northern part of the City or the United Benefice of St Giles and SS Philip and James with St Margaret’s or the remainder of St Andrew’s Parish.
  12. Other children with a sibling in the school.
  13. Any other children wanting a ‘Church place’.
  14. Any other children.

(All the definitions of these terms are given in the Admissions Policy above)

Once all the applications have been categorised, the applications within each category are ranked based on their distance from the school, so that, for example, all children with a sibling in the school (category 4) who live closer to the school will be ranked above those who live further away, but all of them, irrespective of distance, will be below the category of applications who have a sibling already in school and qualify for a ‘Church place’ (category 3).

Each year, the number of applications for Foundation Stage is different, which means that one year the limit (of 60 children) may fall in category 10, while in another year it may fall in category 6. In Years 1 and 2, class sizes are also limited by law to 30, which means that new places are less readily available. In Years 3 to 6, it is possible to have more than 30 pupils in each class; however, the total number of pupils in the school may not exceed 420. This, and the fact that the population of the area is relatively mobile, means that places do often become available in the older year groups.