We hold a series of school tours during the autumn and spring terms for families who are interested in finding out more about Fern Hill, with a view to applying for a place in Reception or Nursery for September 2025. Please note that these tours are not suitable for those families who may be applying for in-year admission to the school. In this case, please contact the school office.

Find out more and register for a tour here. 

Applications for September 2025

Children born between 1st September 2020 and 31st August 2021 are due to start Reception class at primary school in September 2025.

Applications for a place in Reception at Fern Hill Primary School are made online through the pan London eAdmissions website from 1st September 2024. Applications are not made directly to the school but are managed on behalf of the Trust by the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, which also holds the waiting list for the school.

The closing date for applications is Wednesday 15th January 2025.

A booklet is available to help guide you through the application process: Admission to Kingston's Primary Schools.

For further information, please refer to the AfC Kingston and Richmond website or contact Kingston School Admissions (see contact details below).

Applications for September 2025

If your child was born between 1st September 2021 and 31st August 2022, you can apply for a place at Fern Hill Nursery starting September 2025. 

Applications for a place in Fern Hill Nursery are made directly to the school using the online application form linked below. 

Fern Hill Primary School Nursery Pupil Application Form 

The closing date for applications for September 2025 entry is 7th March 2025 and places will be offered by 2nd May 2025.

Further information on nursery schools in Kingston, including the funding provision and the admissions process, can be found on the AfC Kingston and Richmond website here.

The Determined Admission Arrangements are linked below.

Number of places

Fern Hill Primary School has a published admissions number (PAN) of 90 places in each year of entry.

If there are more applications than places available, a set of criteria will be used to determine to whom places should be offered.  Fern Hill converted to an academy in January 2022 and Kingston Educational Trust is now the admissions authority for the school. The trust board has determined that it will use the oversubscription criteria as set out below for the current year and for September 2024 and 2025 years of entry.

Please note that no priority is given to children applying for a Reception place who are already attending the Nursery.

Where more applications are received than there are places available, places will be offered in the following order of priority:

1. Looked After and Previously Looked After Children: places will be offered firstly to looked after children* i.e. children who are looked after by a public authority and are in public care and previously looked after children** who were adopted, or subject to a residence order, or special guardianship order, immediately following having been looked after, 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.  Applications made under this criterion must be accompanied by details of circumstances and professionally supported evidence (e.g. from a social worker);
2. Siblings: places will be offered next to siblings, children who have a brother or sister — including an adopted, foster half- or step-brother or sister living at the same address and attending Fern Hill in Reception to Year 6 at the time of admission;
3. Exceptional Need: places will then be offered in cases of exceptional family, social or medical need requiring attendance at Fern Hill rather than any other school. Such needs must be supported, at the time of application, by reports or letters from suitable professionals such as GPs, consultants or social workers; (Please note: if your child has special educational needs or if your child may need additional support in school but does not have an education, health and care plan (EHCP) it is not possible to consider these needs under this criterion, as all schools are able to meet them.) 
4. Children of school staff: places will then be offered to children of members of staff who have been employed at the school for two years or more at the time of application and will continue to be employed at the school at the point of admission or the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage. This priority applies to both teaching and support staff;
5. Distance: the remaining places will be offered to children who live nearest to the school, as measured by a straight line to the nearest school gate. All distances will be measured using the local authority’s computerised Geographical Information System. See further details regarding measuring distance and the home address for admissions purposes below.

If there are more applicants than places within each criterion, the tiebreaker will be applied as described below.

* 'Looked after children' means children who are (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 (as defined in Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989) at the time of making an application to a school.

** 'Previously looked after children' means children who were previously looked after but immediately after being in care became adopted from local authority care or subject to a child arrangement order under the terms of the Children Act 1989 or special guardianship order. A special guardianship order is defined in section 14A of the Children Act 1989 as an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian or special guardians. This provision includes 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 child is regarded as having been in state care outside of England if they were in the care of or were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation, or any other provider of care whose sole or main purpose is to benefit society.

Tie-breaker

If there are more applicants within each criterion, distance from home to school will be used as a tie-breaker and will be measured using the local authority’s computerised geographical information system. For applicants who live the same distance from the school, random selection by the drawing of lots is used as a final tie-breaker.

If a parent applies for entry into the same year group for more than one child and there is only one place available, random selection by the drawing of lots is used as a final tie-breaker to decide which child should have the place. The remaining brothers or sisters will be added to the waiting list in accordance with the sibling criterion.

Measuring home to school distance

A standard method of measuring home to school distance in a straight line is adopted, using the local authority’s computerised Geographical Information System and data supplied by Ordnance Survey (OS).

The starting point is a grid reference point, which is supplied by Ordnance Survey. Residents of every floor level in a particular block of flats are given an identical start point, regardless of the distance to ground floor level. The end point is measured to the nearest school gate.

Home address for admissions purposes

Any offer of a place on the grounds of distance must be based on the child’s permanent address. Proof of address will be sought and may be the subject of further investigation. A business address, a childminder’s address, or any address other than the child’s permanent home will not be accepted. Where the child lives equally with both parents at different addresses the authority will consider all available evidence in order to confirm which address will be used to process the application.

Waiting lists

Children's names are automatically put on the waiting list of any school which is a higher preference to the school offered. A parent/carer may ask for their child’s name to be added to the waiting list of a lower preference school to the one the child has been offered, or to one that they did not originally name as a preference.

The names of late applicants will be added to waiting lists regardless of the date the application was received.

Applicants are prioritised according to the published oversubscription criteria and each added child will require the list to be ranked again.

Waiting lists will be kept open throughout the academic year until the end of the summer term. After this date, waiting lists will be disbanded and parents who would like their child’s name to remain on any waiting list will need to request this in writing.

The Local Authority’s Fair Access Panel may make placements over the admission number if the school is full, for children who are deemed to be ‘hard to place’. Any children placed under the Fair Access Protocol will have priority over any children on the school’s waiting list.

Admission outside of the child’s normal age group (including summer born children)

Parents seeking admission outside of their child’s chronological year group should submit a separate written request and may provide supporting documentation should they wish to do so.

Each request will be carefully considered, and a decision will be made on the individual merits of each case. The decision will take into account parents’ views, information about their child’s academic, social and emotional development, their medical history and the views of a medical professional, if applicable. Consideration will be given to whether they may naturally have fallen into a lower age group if it were not for being born prematurely and whether they have previously been educated outside of their normal age group. Views of senior school staff, the manager of their current early years setting, and other professionals will also be taken into account.

For summer born children (that is children whose 4th birthday falls within April to August in the year of typical admission into Reception) a decision will be made as to whether a child should enter Reception or Year 1 in the September following their 5th birthday. A parent should make their application by 15th January for normal Reception entry, stating that they wish to enter Reception a year later than normal for their child’s age. If it is agreed that they can be educated in a younger year group, the application will be withdrawn and parents will need to re-apply in the following year for entry into Reception in September.

The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames

School Admissions
Achieving for Children
Guildhall 2
High Street
Kingston upon Thames
KT1 1EU

Email: kingston.admissions@achievingforchildren.org.uk

If you are a Kingston borough resident looking for a place at Fern Hill during the school year, please contact the Kingston School Admissions team directly. Applications are made through Kingston Admissions and not to the school. You can find further information on the AfC Kingston and Richmond website here.

Fern Hill admission appeals for September 2024 entry

Your local authority will tell you which school is offering a place for your child on National Offer Day, Tuesday 16th April 2024.  

If you wish to appeal against a decision not to offer your child a place at Fern Hill, you must lodge your appeal by Friday 17th May 2024 in accordance with the timetable for 2024 admissions appeals below.

You should request an appeal form from Surrey Schools Appeals Service, the independent body which organises admissions appeals on behalf of Kingston Educational Trust (either by email: surrey.schoolappeals@surreycc.gov.uk or by telephone: 020 8541 8092). The appeal form will be sent to you by email, together with comprehensive guidance notes. If you require hard copies, these may be obtained on request from Surrey Schools Appeals Service.

Completed appeal forms should be returned directly to the Appeals Service either by email: surrey.schoolappeals@surreycc.gov.uk or by post to:

Surrey School Appeals Service, Surrey County Council, First Floor Dakota, 11 De Havilland Drive, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 0YP

Applications can also be made online and the Appeals Service will provide details.

Fern Hill admission appeals timetable for September 2024 entry

Appeals for admission in September 2024 will be heard according to the following timetable:

Offer Day	Appeals to be lodged by	Appeals to be heard by
Tuesday 16 April 2024	Friday 17 May 2024	Friday 19 July 2024 (40 school days)

 NB: Appeals will not start being heard until after the closing date has passed.

Appeals lodged after this date will be heard within 40 school days of the appeal deadline or 30 school days of being lodged, whichever is the later date.

Timetable for notice of hearing and submission of evidence
At least 10 clear school days in advance of the hearing	Surrey Schools Appeals Service will send you notification of your appeal hearing date.
At least 7 clear working days in advance of the hearing	Surrey Schools Appeals Service will send you a copy of the school’s case.
No later than 5 pm on the day preceding three clear working days prior to the appeal hearing date.	If you wish to submit further evidence which was not included with your initial appeal, you must make sure that it is received by Surrey Schools Appeals Service by this deadline.  Any additional evidence or information received after this date might not be considered at the appeal hearing. The Appeal Panel would decide whether it should be considered taking into account its significance and the effect of a possible need to adjourn the hearing.

Fern Hill in year entry admission appeals

If you wish to appeal against a decision not to offer your child a place at Fern Hill you should request an appeal form from Surrey Schools Appeals Service, the independent body which organises admissions appeals on behalf of Kingston Educational Trust (either by email: surrey.schoolappeals@surreycc.gov.uk or by telephone: 020 8541 8092). They will also provide comprehensive guidance notes.

Completed appeal forms should be returned directly to the Appeals Service either by email: surrey.schoolappeals@surreycc.gov.uk or by post to:

Surrey School Appeals Service, Surrey County Council, First Floor Dakota, 11 De Havilland Drive, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 0YP

Applications can also be made online and the Appeals Service will provide details.

Appeals resulting from in year admission applications will be heard within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged. All appeals are heard by an independent admission appeal panel in accordance with the School Admission Appeal Code.

Details of how places have been offered in previous years are attached below. Note the information provided below is given for guidance only. The number of applications and the overall situation changes from year to year.