Catholic school admissions

[ivfbabymomma1]

Hi all

Does anyones children go to a catholic school when they aren't catholic?

My son is christened CofE but there is a really good catholic primary school 2 minutes walk from my house...

So I have a chance?

Thank you!!!!

Depends on how competitive it is for places. Many in London require family church attendance for some years to stop non-Catholics trying to scam a spot…

You need to look at the admission criteria for the individual school and find the data on admissions for the school to get a rough idea.

It depends on the area.

Locally a Catholic school was undersubscribed so people with no offers were given places.
In other places you have to worship in the right church, be baptised etc.

What does their admissions policy say?

Why are you asking here and not the school?

Sorry if this sounds snippy but my children are at Catholic school, and the church attendance and signing in we did, came from a place of real faith. Yes we have people at our school who aren’t Catholic but they too went through the correct procedures for application.

I just can’t understand the whole “is there a eye of the needle chance that someone will post to say their kid got in really easily somewhere 200 miles from me. So this gives me a chance!”

Ask the school you want to apply for, their admission criteria.

My DC’s attend a catholic school and there’s about 3 in my eldest’s class who aren’t practising. It doesn’t seem to matter mostly and they just do other things when they are doing communion pre etc

Depends on the admissions criteria, my son's school started with chidren who were Christened - cant remember if it stated a Catholic Christening, though my son was christened Catholic, children who had siblings at the school, children who live nearest the school as the crow flies, then everyone else. It could all change that was about 20 odd years ago.

You'd really have to check the criteria.

I do know their admissions criteria! It says catholic children will be given the first spots and if there's spaces left they will go to non baptised children but I was just asking what the chances are of getting a spot on this basis. Just looking for other peoples experiences really, any positive stories etc

I think they should be able to tell you how many children last year were given a place under each limb of the criteria? So you should be able to tell if there were any non catholic kids admitted last year.

It spends on how over subscribed they are. At DSs primary no you wouldn't have got in- other Catholic schools in the borough you may well have done.

And if location comes in to it as in 2 minutes away. I know no one can tell me as it depends of the area, I know this. I was looking for some hope that some children out there got accepted without being baptised.

Theres a small chance that a non-catholic child can get into a catholic school, yes. Most people know of a non-catholic child that goes to a catholic school.

HTH

You don’t need hope from total strangers who live in completely random geographies in a case like this.

You need what the PP said, which is the data on how many children were admitted based on each criteria. From there you’ll know if your children have a chance.

Until then, wishing you the best of luck, but I would also say that it’s best not to get over invested in a school where you are in the outer categories of admissions criteria.

Depends on the school, my friends are in the catchment for their Catholic school, are baptised and have to have been going to the attached church at least 2-3 times a month (and have their book signed by the priest) for 3 years before applying (which they have been doing) and they have no guarantees of getting in! It’s massively over subscribed.

my local Catholic school is also over subscribed, has no church commitments I think order of priority is a looked after child, baptised Catholic, a sibling living in the catchment, living in the catchment. So religion pretty high up.

the Catholic high school I attended had all manner of religions attending though so I guess it varies everywhere!

My DC are baptised Catholic (we are practising Catholics) and are starting Reception in September. Most of the children are not Catholic in this year's R intake.

I was looking for some hope that some children out there got accepted without being baptised.

I will never understand the rationale behind this thinking. Even if some posters do report their children got accepted without being baptised to their local Catholic school, that data is not indicative for you - because it depends on the following factors (not exhaustive):

a) the admissions criteria for their local Catholic school (not yours); and

b) the number of eligible children in THEIR area (which data has no relationship to the number in yours).

OP there is no way anyone on Mumsnet or anywhere else can possibly know. It depends on the number of applicants, number of siblings who will automatically get a place, etc. You may end up with a year group where 75% of kids are siblings of existing students so there is a mad scramble for the remaining 25% of places and the catchment shrinks to 50 metres. Or not. Without knowledge of the demographic of the particular school no one can make even an educated guess.

It all depends on how many kids apply every year. An oversubscribed school? Not a chance sometimes even if you are Catholic.

If they have plenty of spaces , then it goes by distance and you have a good chance.

DD's intake was similar.15 kids in her class are siblings so those spaces were automatically taken.

You could look at recent years' admission data as to how many places go to which priority criteria. Catholic baptised and regular Mass attending applicants probably take precedence over other baptised and non baptised children , but there may also be a category for those living within a parish/parishes, siblings etc.

My unchristened, from a totally atheist family, DD goes to catholic school. Her year group is full but the year below only had 18 children and is undersubscribed again for Septembers intake.

So yes there is a chance you can get in when you’re not catholic.

You need to look at what happened in previous years - many catholic schools in London, for example, don’t even get through their criteria beyond baptised Catholic church who attend church every week, and live within a (say) .5 to 1 k radius of the school.

However, there’s often a greater chance of getting into the school “in year”, ie at a later stage, as some people invariably move house etc and spaces appear.

Wouldn’t you want your child in a CofE school or are you happy for the Catholic teaching that school will offer?
will your priest be able to sign your form to confirm regular attendance?

it really does depend on the school. Just because other may of gotten non Catholic children into a Catholic school, it doesn’t mean you will.

It's going to depend on the school. Why don't you ask?

@Icouldabeenalawyer how come you didn’t have them baptised in the Catholic Church if you wanted them to be practising Catholics?