Over the Autumn term Admissions Service are reviewing the guidance WCC provides to schools relating to the admission process. Today we are rolling out two changes to the existing practice as we strive to improve the experience of the admission process for parents and schools.

1. New functionality has been made available within Synergy Web (previously known as SAM) and is now live for schools to provide live updates on the number of pupils you have on roll in each year group. (Find here the Synergy Web guide)

We ask that all schools please check this information currently displayed and keep this information up to date as this will allow the admission teams to better advise parents and carers of spaces available at your school, the guidance below outlines the steps you will need to take with Synergy Web to update this information.

2. Previous School Information (PSI) (find here the document) questions will now be answered directly by the parents as part of the online application process for in year applications and available for schools to view as part of the application details within Synergy Web. The existing form has been a identified as a significant cause for delays in the processing of in year applications and has at times lead to children missing out on school unnecessarily while the admissions team wait for this information to be received. We intend to operate this new process for a trial period from now until the end of October and welcome any feedback heads may have on how this process can be improved further. 

Moving the collection of this data online aims to provide a simpler process for parents and still ensure schools have the correct information to identify if a child falls under the Fair Access Protocol.  The information schools now see will appear slightly differently than with the previous process and guidance on how to view this is outlined below.

We are committed to improving communication around admissions and remind heads there is now a dedicated inbox for any concerns or queries you may have regarding the Admissions process.