Due to Covid-19 The Transfer Test did not take place in 2020 and special criteria where used that year.

These Admissions criteria reflect those used in previous years for entry in the following  September.

Admission No: 100

Enrolment No: 800

To Parents/Guardians naming Bloomfield Collegiate School (“the School”) as a preference on your child’s Transfer Form.

Entrance Test Results

Please ensure that you provide the following information on Section C of your child’s Transfer Form:

• The School will initially consider candidates who have taken the Common Entrance Assessment [CEA] provided by the Association for Quality Education [AQE]. The score in the AQE CEA should be entered in Section C of the Transfer Form in the following format:

The score in the AQE CEA and the AQE candidate number should both be entered in Section C of the Transfer Form. The original notification received from AQE indicating your daughter’s AQE CEA score should be attached to the Transfer Form. 

Special Circumstances 

If you are making a claim for your child to be considered under Special Circumstances please note that you should:

• Complete Form SC16, available from the School or from AQE and attach it with appropriate documentary evidence to the Transfer Form. 

      (Refer to Section 3 “SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES” below for details of appropriate documentary evidence.)

Special Provisions

If you are making a claim for your child to be considered under Special Provisions please note that you should:

• Contact the School as soon as possible. 

• Complete Form SC16, available from the School or from AQE and attach it with appropriate documentary evidence to the Transfer Form. 

• For those pupils whose parents wish them to transfer from schools outside Northern Ireland, application for Special Provisions should be made by 6 April 2017. 

RESPECTIVE FUNCTIONS OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS AND PRINCIPAL IN RELATION TO ADMISSIONS TO THE SCHOOL

The Board of Governors draws up the admissions criteria and delegates to an Admissions Sub-Committee, which includes the Principal, the responsibility for applying these criteria.  Any reference herein to the term the Board of Governors includes any Committee or Sub-Committee appointed by the Board of Governors for the purposes of applying the Admission criteria set out herein.

ADMISSIONS POLICY

ADMISSIONS CRITERIA FOR ENTRY OF PUPILS INTO YEAR 8 IN SEPTEMBER 

Definitions

“applicant” means the parent or guardian who completes and signs the application form/Transfer Form on behalf of the candidate;

“child of the family” will mean individuals who have both parents in common or children who reside with the same family at the candidate's normal home address (including foster children and step brothers and sisters living with the candidate at her normal home address); 

“candidate” means the child who is stated on the application form/Transfer Form as seeking to gain admission to the School; 

“entitled to Free School Meals” will mean candidates who, at the date on which they have signed their post-primary Transfer Form, or at any date up to and including 10 May 2017, have communicated within their application that they are listed on the Education Authority register as entitled to Free School Meals;

“mother” will mean a person who at the date of application has legal responsibility for the candidate;

“normal home address” will mean the candidate’s permanent home address at the time the application form is being completed. This should be where the parent and candidate live and where the candidate spends the majority of the School week (Monday to Friday including nights).  Where the candidate lives with parents with shared responsibility, it is for the parents to determine which address is to be used;

 “parent” will mean a person who at the date of application has legal responsibility for the candidate;

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Bloomfield Collegiate School (the School) is a grammar school for girls offering a wide-ranging curriculum of academic courses. The School will initially consider those candidates who have taken the Common Entrance Assessment [CEA] provided by the Association for Quality Education [AQE] and who have been awarded a result in the form of an overall score. The School will use this ‘score’ as notified to parents by AQE, subject only to consideration by the Board of Governors of those pupils claiming Special Circumstances or Special Provisions, as explained in Sections 3 & 4 below.

The score in the AQE CEA and the AQE candidate number should both be entered in Section C of the Transfer Form. The original notification received from AQE indicating your daughter’s AQE CEA score should be attached to the Transfer Form.

Information regarding the CEA is available from School or on the AQE website (www.aqe.org.uk).

1.2 The School will not use the position of preference given to it on the Transfer Form as a criterion for admission. Therefore, an applicant who has chosen Bloomfield Collegiate as a second or subsequent preference School will not be distinguished from first preference applicants.

1.3 Girls resident in Northern Ireland at the time of proposed admission will be selected before those not so resident. 

1.4 The School’s Admission Number is currently 100.

2.   ADMISSIONS CRITERIA

2.1 The first 95 places from the School’s Admission Number will be allocated to candidates on the basis of the rank order of their respective CEA scores; those achieving higher scores being allocated places before those with lower scores. If several candidates are eligible for the 95th place because they have equal scores, then all such candidates will be allocated places up to the School’s Admission Number, using the criteria in section 2.4, if necessary.

2.2 Following the allocation of places as described in 2.1, and subject to the School’s Admission Number not being reached, a pool of 15 candidates will be identified by rank order of their CEA scores, with those achieving the highest scores being allocated to the pool. If several candidates are eligible for the 15th place in this pool because they have equal scores, then all such candidates will be allocated to the pool. Candidates from this pool, irrespective of their CEA scores, will be allocated the remaining places within the School’s Admission Number using the criteria in section 2.4.  

2.3 If, following application of sections 2.1 and 2.2, all the available places within the School’s Admission Number have not been filled, the School will consider candidates who have not taken the CEA. Allocation of any such remaining places will be made by applying the criteria in section 2.4. 

2.4 If the number of applications exceeds the number of available places, then the following criteria shall apply in the order stated:

(i) Candidates with a child of the family enrolled in the School as of 1 September 2016 or accepted for enrolment in September 2017; 

(ii) Candidates who have a parent employed by the School;

(iii) Candidates who are the eldest or only girl in the family (details to be supplied);

(iv) Candidates with a child of the family enrolled in Yrs 8-14 at Campbell College or RBAI as of 1 September 2016 or accepted for enrolment in September 2017 (details to be supplied);

(v) Candidates with a mother or child of the family who was, but is no longer, as of 1 September 2016,  a pupil in the School (name and dates of attendance to be supplied);

(vi) Candidates with the highest scores;

(vii) Candidates who are entitled to Free School Meals (FSME); 

(viii) If more than one candidate is eligible for the final place priority will be given to the candidate whose home is closer to the School. (Distance will be measured in a straight line using an Ordnance Survey web distance measurement tool from the candidate’s normal home address to the School’s front gate). 

The School emphasises that it is the responsibility of the applicants to notify the School on the Transfer Form where the above criteria apply, and to furnish relevant details.

3.   SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES

3.1 Bloomfield Collegiate School has academic performance as its first criterion, subject only to the consideration of medical or other problems which may have affected performance in the Common Entrance Assessment (CEA) and which are supported by documentary evidence of a medical or other appropriate nature.  These ‘medical or other problems’ are commonly referred to as ‘special circumstances’.  

Please note, if a claim for Special Circumstances is made in respect of matters for which Special Access arrangements have been granted for a candidate, the School will take into account the fact that the candidate has already been granted Special Access arrangements for those matters.

Parents who wish to apply to the School under Special Circumstances should complete Form SC16 obtainable from the School or AQE, and attach it with appropriate documentary evidence to the Transfer Form, as detailed below:

• Details of Medical or Other Problems

Where it is claimed that a candidate’s performance in the CEA has been affected by a medical or other problem, it is the responsibility of the parents to set out in the Form SC16 precise details of the problem and append evidence to corroborate its existence.  

Where the problem is a medical one of short term duration which affected the candidate only at the time of the CEA, the School will require documentary evidence that the candidate was examined by a qualified medical practitioner in relation to the illness at the time of the relevant assessment, or an explanation as to why this evidence is not available.

Where the problem is of a non-medical nature the parents should append appropriate evidence. 

Parents are advised that in all cases independent evidence is likely to carry greater weight than evidence that is not of an independent nature.

• Educational Evidence

It is the responsibility of applicants to provide educational evidence as detailed in Form SC16. This should include, where they exist:

a) the score achieved in the AQE CEA.

b) the results for the candidate of any standardised tests conducted in Year 5, Year 6 and Year 7 of primary school and the results in any end of year tests in English and Mathematics in Years 5 and 6.

c) additional comparative information, which has been verified, from the candidate’s primary school and which should include the results, without names, for other pupils in the candidate’s Year 7 class of any standardised tests conducted in Year 5, Year 6 and Year 7, the results in any end of year tests in English and Mathematics in Years 5 and 6 and, where available, the respective CEA scores.  

3.2 A panel of Governors will consider the application for Special Circumstances and where accepted, the panel will determine a score for the candidate. In determining a score, the panel will consider all of the academic information presented. Such candidates will then be considered with all other candidates who have received a CEA score, applying the Admissions Criteria in section 2.

4.   SPECIAL PROVISIONS

4.1 Special provisions will apply for:

a) candidates whose parents wish them to transfer from schools outside Northern Ireland;

b) candidates who have received more than half their primary education outside Northern Ireland;

c) candidates entered for the AQE CEA, who because of unforeseen and serious medical or other problems were unable to participate in any of the assessments.

Note:  It is expected that, all those seeking admission should sit the AQE CEA with the exception of those candidates who take up residence in Northern Ireland after the start of Year 7. 

Parents who wish to apply to the School under Special Provisions should contact the School as soon as possible. In addition, they should complete Form SC16, obtainable from the School or AQE, stating the precise reason(s) why they believe the candidate is eligible for consideration under Special Provisions and provide appropriate documentary evidence including any Educational Evidence as detailed under Special Circumstances above that might assist the panel to determine an appropriate score. A copy of SC16 and all the documentary evidence should be attached to the Transfer Form.

For those pupils whose parents wish them to transfer from schools outside Northern Ireland, applications for Special Provisions should be made before 6 April 2017. 

4.2 A panel of Governors will consider the application for Special Provisions.  Where Special Provisions are accepted, the following procedure will apply:

a) The School will also consider any other assessment information and may choose to commission an independent assessment of the pupil’s ability in English, Mathematics and/or Verbal Reasoning;

b) A panel of Governors will determine an appropriate score for the candidate. In determining a score, the panel will consider all of the academic information presented. Such candidates will then be considered with all other candidates who have received a CEA score, applying the Admissions Criteria in section 2.

DUTY TO VERIFY

The Board of Governors reserves the right to require such supplementary evidence as it may determine to support or verify information on any applicant’s Transfer Form.

If the requested evidence is not provided to the Board of Governors by the deadline given, this will result in the withdrawal of an offer of a place.  Similarly, if information is supplied which appears to be false or misleading in any material way, the offer of a place will be withdrawn.

WAITING LIST POLICY

Please note that Bloomfield Collegiate School operates a Waiting List Policy a copy of which is available on the School’s Website.  The section relevant to Year 8 entry is as follows:

Waiting List for entry into Year 8 after completion of the Admissions Process

1.1 Following completion of the Admissions Process, those pupils who applied to Bloomfield Collegiate School 

and were not successful in obtaining a place in Year 8 will have their names held on a Waiting List.  The names of these pupils will remain on the Waiting List for Year 8 entry until 30 June 2018.

1.2 Parents of a pupil who did not apply for a place in Bloomfield Collegiate School during the Admissions 

Process can apply to have their daughter’s name added to the Waiting List for entry into Year 8 by putting a request in writing to the Principal.

1.3 Pupils whose names are on the Waiting List will be considered for any vacancies which may arise in Year 8 

following completion of the Admissions Process and during the academic year up until 30 June 2018.  Any vacancy will be filled from the Waiting List which exists at the time the vacancy occurs, using the same transfer criteria which applied during the Admissions Process.

1.4 The School will take into consideration any new information which may come to light after the Admissions 

Process is complete.