Admissions

St Joseph’s is a Roman Catholic Primary School provided by the Diocese of Salford and is maintained by Bolton Local Authority as a voluntary aided primary school. The Governing Board is the admissions authority and is responsible for taking all decisions on applications for admissions. The co-ordination of admissions arrangements is undertaken by the Local Authority.

The Governing Board’s planned admission number is 30.

 

Timetable for admissions 2025/2026

September 2025	Admissions portal and online application available.
31 October 2025	Closing date of online applications for secondary school (Year 6 pupils only)
Date TBA	Reception Open Evening
15 January 2026	Closing date of online applications for Reception admissions. Evidence of the child’s permanent home address must be provided in all cases. It may be necessary to seek further evidence or clarification. Supplementary forms, public care confirmation for looked after children and medical evidence must be provided by this date. Evidence received after this date will not be considered
2 March 2026	National offer day for secondary schools (Year 6 pupils only)
16 April 2026	National offer day for primary schools
30 April 2026	Deadline for acceptance of places offered. Failure to accept may result in the place being re-offered.
April – Autumn term 2026	Waiting list of children held for schools that are oversubscribed and that we have been unable to offer a place. If any places become available, the parent/carer will receive another written offer of a place
May/June 2026	Appeals for schools held

  
Note: This timetable applies to parents/carers resident in the Bolton Council area. If you live outside of Bolton the timetable may differ.

 

Admission to the school will be made by the Governing Board in accordance with the stated parental preferences it receives subject to the following criteria which will be used to form a priority order if there are more applicants for admission than the school has places available.

1. All Looked After Children including; Baptised Catholic Looked After Children, and Baptised Catholic previously Looked After Children (including international Looked After Children and those adopted overseas.)
2. Baptised Catholic children resident in the former parish of St. Joseph’s
3. Baptised Catholic children who have a sibling in the school at the time of the admission.
4. Other children who have a sibling in the school at the time of admission.
5. Other baptised Catholic children.
6. Baptised Catholic children of staff at the school may be conferred priority where the member of staff has been employed at the school for two or more years at the time of the application is made or the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post where there is demonstrable skill shortage.
7. All remaining applicants.

If it is not possible to offer places for all applications within any criterion above, priority will be given to those living closest to the school measured by google maps between the pupil’s home address and school.

Parents are reminded that attendance at our Nursery does not guarantee a place at the school.

 

Transferring between Primary Schools

Bolton Council is responsible for co-ordinating admissions into all schools for those families resident within the Bolton Metropolitan Borough. This includes:

• Children wishing to change from one school to another school within the borough
• Children who have arrived into the borough requiring a school place
• Children wishing to move from an independent school to a school maintained by the Council
• Children resident in the borough but requiring admission to a school in another borough

If you live in the area of another local authority then you must make an application through the school admission team for that authority.

 

In-Year Applications

An application can be made for a place for a child at any time outside the admission round and the child will be admitted where there are available places.  

Applications for moving during the school year can only be made online using the Citizen Portal.  Once the application has been processed and a decision reached (10 – 15 school days), you will receive an email informing you that your child’s school place details are available in the Citizen Portal.  To view the offer information, you will need to log into the Citizen Portal.  This will advise you of the school place offered to your child and what you need to do next. 

Answers to some frequently asked questions can also be found at: https://www.bolton.gov.uk/admissions/moving-school-year

If you have any questions in relation to in-year admissions please contact the school office on 01204 33 3055 or email the school office at office@st-josephrcp.bolton.sch.uk.  You may also wish to discuss in-year applications with the local authority, their email is admissions@bolton.gov.uk

 

Appeals

If you are not happy with the place you are offered by the Local Authority, you have a statutory right to submit an appeal for a place at your preferred school. For information about the appeal process and the appeals timetable, please visit https://www.bolton.gov.uk/admissions/school-admission-appeals

 

Please see the Bolton Council admissions area by clicking the link below where you can find more information.