Admissions Policy

Waterfront UTC is committed to straightforward, open, fair and transparent admission arrangements. The school acts fully in accordance with the School Admissions Code (September 2021), the School Admissions Appeals Code and admissions law as they apply to academies.

These admissions arrangements support the wider ethos of Medway, as a hub of innovation and Waterfront UTC aspires to be the Year 9 - Year 13 establishment of choice for both pupils and employers across the region.

In developing our admissions policy, we have looked to strike a balance between admitting Medway students as well as students from other districts whilst minimising the impact on any individual school. We have also ensured that no individual will be advantaged in gaining admission to the UTC by virtue of where they live.

Admissions Arrangements

1. The Waterfront UTC Admissions Process is managed by Waterfront UTC for places in Years 9 & 12.
2. All applicants for Years 9 & 12 should apply directly through the UTC website. 
3. For September 2024, Waterfront UTC will accept applications for Year 9.
4. Where the Local Authority have named Waterfront UTC on a child’s Education Health and Care Plan, after consultation with the college, if Waterfront UTC can meet the need, provision will be made and a place may be offered. In addition, Waterfront UTC complies with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act.
5. All applicants must have a demonstrable interest in Construction and Engineering, as WUTC is a specialist college, and the curriculum foci completely reflects this.
6. All applicants to Year 9 & 12 must apply directly to Waterfront UTC. Following the application, the student will be invited to the college to have an informal discussion with a member of the Leadership Team and a tour.
7. All Year 12 applicants must have a demonstrable interest in the Post 16 options they select.
8. All applicants to Year 12 must apply directly to Waterfront UTC. Following the application, the student will be invited to the school to have an informal discussion with a member of the Leadership Team. The discussion will ensure that the student understands the model of education taught at Waterfront UTC. A formal offer will be made after this stage has taken place. All offers are conditional on the student meeting the minimum requirements set out below.
9. All applicants for the Level 3 Programme of Study will need to meet a minimum entry requirement of 5 GCSEs at Grade 5, or equivalent, including Maths, with English at a Grade 4 or above.
10. In addition, students must achieve Grade 6 or above in Maths and Physics if they wish to study them at A Level.

Oversubscription Criteria

If there are more applicants than places, the following process will apply.

After the potential admission of students with EHCPs in which Waterfront UTC is named, as outlined above, criteria will be applied to those students who have a demonstrable interest in our specialisms for the remaining places in the order in which they are set out below:

1. Any Looked After Children in the care of a local authority, and previously looked after children, regardless of where they are resident.
2. Children who have a sibling currently on roll at Waterfront UTC.
3. Children of staff.
4. Places for all other applications will be allocated on the basis of distance measured in a straight line from the child’s home to the WUTC.

Oversubscription Criteria for Year 12

1. If there are more applicants than places, the school retains the right to select based on appropriateness for the Waterfront UTC curriculum.

Waiting List Provisions

Where, in any year, Waterfront UTC receives more eligible applications than there are places available, a waiting list will be maintained by Waterfront UTC until the end of the first term of the school year. If and when places become available, they will be allocated to those on the waiting list in line with the Oversubscription Criteria set out above. 

An offer will only be withdrawn if it has been made in error, a parent has not responded within 20 working days, or if the offer was made via a fraudulent or misleading application. Where an offer has not been responded to within the designated time frame, the Local Academy Board will give the parent a further opportunity to respond and will explain that the offer will be withdrawn if they do not. If any application is found to be fraudulent after a child has started at the school in the first term of the new academic year, the school may withdraw the place. 

Casual Admissions

You can apply for a place for your child at any time outside the normal admissions round. To do so, please email office@waterfront-that.org.uk to request an in-year transfer application form. 

As is the case in the normal admissions round, any children whose EHCP names the college after consultation with the Local Authority may be admitted, if there are available spaces in the relevant year group and Waterfront can meet the need. 

If there are no spaces available at the time of your application, your child’s name will be added to a waiting list for the relevant year group. When a space becomes available it will be filled by one of the children on the waiting list in accordance with the Oversubscription Criteria listed in Section 5 of this policy. Priority will not be given to children on the basis that they have been on the waiting list the longest. 

Where the college has places available in year, it will offer a place to every student who has applied for one where the student has a demonstrable interest in studying Construction and Engineering as academic subjects, unless to do so would be to prejudice the efficient provision of education or use of resources and where the student has a demonstrable interest in Engineering and Construction.