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Prospective Year 7 Students for Entry in September 2025

Montpelier High School is the only non-fee-paying school for girls in Bristol. We accept girls of all talents and abilities and pride ourselves on being culturally diverse, welcoming students of all faiths and backgrounds. Quality teaching and an inspired curriculum have ensured our place in the top three secondaries in Bristol for progress, and a long history of outstanding achievement. Since 1891 generations of students, staff and parents have been proud to be a part of this vibrant, caring and highly successful learning community.

Our students are taught to be independent, curious and resourceful in their learning, to seek knowledge and opportunities and to achieve more than they ever thought possible. They are supported in their learning through the very best personalised teaching while mutual respect and responsibility lie at the heart of the school. 

Thank you to all those families that came along to our popular open evening on Thursday 26 September 2024. See below for details on how to book a place at one of our open morning sessions in October and March. Please click here to view our Prospectus. There is also information available on the Government's Compare Schools website (click here).

Year 7 Open Mornings

Our next open morning, for year 6 pupils, is on Wednesday 12 March 2025 (booking required). The booking form will be live from 3 March by clicking on the date. More dates are planned for the summer term, and will be added soon.

 

How to Apply for a Secondary School Place

All applications for Year 7 places at Montpelier High School should be made on the Common Application Form (CAF), which is provided and administered by the applicant’s home local authority. The deadline for receipt of the CAF by your local authority is 23:59 31 October 2024.

If applying through Bristol City Council, applications are made online. 

The CAF is the only form that is required to be completed by those wishing to apply for a place at Montpelier High School, unless they are currently being educated outside their normal age group. (Please see below.)  

Applicants applying under the two oversubscription criteria below must record this on the Common Application Form. When using the on-line version of the Common Application Form through your local authority, plese ensure that you record if you applying under:

  • Sibling
  • Staff

Further information is available in the Admissions Policy 2024/2025, section 5.1.

Late Applications 

Late applications are those that are received after the deadline for receipt of the Common Application Form (31 October). This includes any change of preference received after the submission date, even if the original application was an “on time” application. Late applications will be considered under 5.1 e) Remaining Places only, as detailed in the Admissions Arrangements 2024/25.

Places are available in Year 7 for the current academic year (2024/2025). Please contact mhs-admissions@mhs.e-act.org.uk for an application form or download one from the documents below.

Admissions Arrangements 2025

Montpelier High School will admit 140 pupils moving from primary Year 6 to secondary school Year 7. All applications will be considered.  If the number of applications exceeds the number of places available, the oversubscription criteria as outlined in the Admissions Policy 2025/2026 will be applied.

The School is committed to a fair and equal treatment of all pupils regardless of disablement. The School welcomes applications from students with disabilities who wish to join the School community.

Important Dates

The School will operate the following timetable for admissions in 2025/2026:

September 2024

  • Information available on the Admissions Policy, including oversubscription criteria, for entry in 2025/2026.
  • Open Evening: Thursday 26 September
  • Open Mornings: Thursday 3 and Wednesday 16 October
  • The school will provide information to the Local Authority for inclusion in the composite prospectus.

January 2025

A list of all pupils to be offered a place at the school will be sent to the Local Authority early in January 2024.

March 2025

Parents will be informed on Monday 3 March 2025 by their Local Authority of the outcome of their application and the school that their child has been offered.  Due to restrictions under the School Admissions Code, the school is unable to discuss such outcomes with parent(s)/carer(s).

  • Open Morning: Wednesday 12 March

Year 7 Entry in September 2025

Offers of Year 7 places for entry in September 2024 will be made by the applicant's home local authority (usually Bristol City Council or South Gloucestershire Council) on Monday 3 March 2025.  If parents/carers do not receive any notification, either by email or post, they will need to contact their local authority's school admissions team .

Next Steps for Year 7 Transition

Once you have received your offer of a school place, parents/carers will need to formally accept this. The local authority will provide you with full instructions on how to accept an offer, how to go on the waiting list for alternative or higher preference schools.

There will be a second round of allocation in early May, and once any spare places have been allocated, we will prepare to send out a 'welcome' pack to support your child's transition to Montpelier High School. 

Admission Procedures

Montpelier High School will admit pupils with Education, Health and Care Plans where Montpelier High School is named in the Plan.

Procedures where Montpelier High School is oversubscribed:

Where the number of applications for admission is greater than the published admission number of 140, applications will be considered against the criteria as set out in order below:

a)     LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN / PREVIOUSLY LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN

Highest priority will be given to ‘Looked after Children’.

The definition of this is a ‘looked after child’ and all previously looked after children, including those children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.  

A looked after child is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (see the definition in section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989).

All references to previously looked after children mean such children who were adopted (or subject to child arrangements orders or special guardianship orders) immediately following having been looked after and those children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.

b)     SIBLING

Children who, on the date of admission, will have an older sibling on the roll of Montpelier High School including sixth form.

In order to be considered under the sibling criteria, parent(s)/carer(s) must indicate this on the Common Application Form by the deadline of 31 October 2024.

The term “sibling” is defined as a brother or sister, but not cousins or other family members, under one of the following categories, and who will be living permanently with them at the same address at the date of their entry to the School.

Categories of Sibling

         i)   Full
         ii)  Half
         iii) Step
         iv) Adopted

This includes the child of the parent’s partner, if they live as one family unit at the same address, as well as children who are brought together as permanently a family by a same sex civil partnership.

After places have been allocated, the parent(s)/carer(s) may be required to supply proof of the sibling relationship by providing documentary evidence which might include birth date, adoption certificate, relevant court order, Home Office documents, proof of abode. In certain circumstances, Montpelier High School may reasonably require further evidence.

c)     STAFF

Children who have a parent/carer who is a member of staff at Montpelier High School who has been employed for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made, and/or the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage.

In order to be considered under the staff criteria, parent(s)/carer(s) must indicate this on the Common Application Form by the deadline of 31 October 2024.

d)    RANDOM ALLOCATION

Places will be allocated by Random Allocation.This process will be independently verified by a person not connected with Montpelier High School or Venturers Trust.

i)   75% of these places will be offered to an inner catchment area which will include all addresses in post codes BS1 – BS16

ii)  25% of these places will be offered to an outer catchment area which will include all addresses in post codes BS17 to BS49, BA1 to BA3, GL9, GL12,  GL13, SN14

e)     REMAINING PLACES

Where places are still available, these will again be allocated by random allocation to those applicants living outside the above areas, detailed in 5.1 d).

For families of service personnel with a confirmed posting to the area, or crown services returning from overseas to live in the area, who do not currently live in the area, a Unit postal address or quartering area address will be used as the home address, provided that the application is accompanied by an official letter that declares a relocation date and the address.

Out of Normal Age Group Applications

If your child is currently educated out of their normal age group, you should seek the Headteacher’s agreement to make an application to year 7.  

You should do this before the normal admissions round closes for your child’s normal age group. This will be on 31 October 2024 for children born between 1 September 2013 and 31 August 2014. This is so you know the outcome of the decision in time to submit an application for your child’s normal age group, should your request be turned down.

Waiting List

If applicable, the waiting list for Year 7 places will be operated by Bristol City Council, under the Co-ordinated Admission Scheme.  From National Offer Day (1 March or next working day) until the start of the new academic year in September, the waiting list will be maintained by Bristol City Council.  It will be open to any parent(s)/carer(s) to ask for the applicant’s name to be placed on the waiting list, following an unsuccessful application for admission.

After the start of the new academic year (1 September), Montpelier High School will take over responsibility and operate a waiting list for in-year admissions.

The child’s position on the waiting list will be determined solely in accordance with the oversubscription criteria set out above. Where places become vacant they will be allocated to children on the waiting list in accordance with the oversubscription criteria.

 

Appeals

If the School receives more applications for places than there are available, the oversubscription criteria will apply.  Parents whose applications are unsuccessful have the right to appeal.

A copy of the full Admissions Policy is available on the link shown below.

 

Out of Normal Age Group Requests

Students are normally educated in school with others of their age group. However, parents may request that their child is exceptionally admitted to an age group outside of the child’s actual age.The Headteacher will decide whether the child’s circumstances make this appropriate, taking into account the child’s individual needs and abilities and considering which year group these needs can best be met. Such requests will only be agreed in exceptional circumstances.  Please download an application form to make such a request (see below).

Decisions will be made based on the circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the child concerned. This will include taking account of the parent’s views; information about the child’s academic, social and emotional development; where relevant, their medical history and the views of a medical professional; whether they have previously been educated out of their normal age group; and whether they may naturally have fallen into a lower age group if it were not for being born prematurely.

All requests should include recent professional evidence of the child’s circumstances which make education outside the age group necessary. Evidence must be of the individual child’s need, rather than general factors which relate to a wider group of children born at a similar time.

Parents requesting admission to an age group below the child’s actual age should submit an application for the child’s actual age group before the relevant closing date in the normal way. The request for later admission should accompany the submission of the Common Application Form to home local authority. This enables the application to be processed and a school place secured in the child’s actual age group if the request for admission to an age group below the child’s actual age is refused.

The decision will be made by the headteacher, in consultation with the governing body.  Parents have a statutory right to appeal against the refusal of a place at a school for which they have applied. This right of appeal does not apply if a place is offered at the school even if it is not in their preferred age group.

 

Applying for an in-year transfer

If you are applying for a transfer to Montpelier High School from your current secondary school, please complete and return an in-year application form (see documents below or request one via mhs-admissions@e-act.org.uk).  Paper copies are available from the school office.

We currently only have spaces in year 7. Waiting lists are open for any parent/carer to add their child at any time. Places are allocated in accordance with the oversubscription criteria, above. 

Under the School Admissions Code we are unable to give you any indication as to the likelihood of being able to offer a place and for this reason we are unable to offer individual visits to the school. If a place does become available for your child, we will invite you to meet with the relevant Head of Year at the school.

In-year applications will be acknowledged within 10 school days. If we are not able to offer your child a place, you have a right to appeal and information will be provided in the letter of acknowledgement.  A request for an in-year appeal can be found at the end of this web page. 

 

Useful Contact Information

Montpelier High School Admissions
Tel:            0117 942 4328
Email:        mhs-admissions@mhs.e-act.org.uk
Website:    www.montpschool.org

Bristol City Council
Tel:            0117 903 7694
Email:        school.admissions@bristol.gov.uk
Website:    New year 7 secondary school place (bristol.gov.uk)

South Gloucestershire Council
Tel:             01454 868 008

PDF links regarding all Academy Admissions can be downloaded below