Applicaa- 6th form ranking

[Whatisagoodname]

Just wondering, is it right that Applicaa is asking that applicants rank school choices in their sixth form applications. They then make the ranking known to the schools/colleges. They even say on there, if you rank a school 7th, they may not make you an offer.

Considering primary, secondary schools and universities don't know how applicants rank them. This feels wrong and unfair.

Has anyone ranked a school low but got a place. Mine likes 3 schools and can't decide ranking.

@Whatisagoodname this doesn't happen in my area. Maybe some local authorities do coordinate sixth form admissions, but if so then I haven't heard of it. Which area are you in? Are they school sixth forms, or colleges, or a combination?

Have you checked the individual admissions policies to see what, if anything, they say about ranked preferences?

A lot of schools and colleges are processing applications through them now, even some independent schools. It doesn't seem to be about area. It's if the school/college has signed up. They say they have 2,000 signed up.

I'd think schools shouldn't know where they are in the applicant's ranking. I've just sent an email to applicaa to ask why they're doing this.

I know it all depends on results on exam day and might all change but they're lowering students chances of being accepted initially in my view as it might be too late on results day.

And the schools don't mention the ranking at all. It's only mentioned on applicaa.

Interesting. Some schools in my area do use Applicaa, but when my kids applied they didn't need to rank them.

I am a school governor so know the national Schools Admissions Code well. If state school sixth forms are asking for this info via Applicaa, and it isn't in their policies, then they are in breach of clause 2.4 the Code, which says they can only ask for info that has a direct bearing on decisions.

If they don't make you an offer, you can appeal on grounds of a Code breach.
Tagging @prh47bridge (lawyer) for a second opinion.

The responsibility lies with the admissions authority (e.g. LA or academy trust), not with Applicaa, though its possible that Applicaa are misadvising schools when they create their admissions forms.

N.B. The Admissions Code doesn't apply to stand-alone sixth form colleges.

p.s. Do check you local authority website to see if they have introduced some sort of coordination scheme like the one they are obliged to run for Reception and Year 11. (But even so, I don't think schools can refuse to give an offer on this basis if they don't reference any such scheme in their policy).

Thanks @sprinklin I can quote the code you refer to when/if they hopefully reply.

No, it's not local authority because some local schools still run their own i.e. you submit the form on their website. However, a lot of them use applicaa.

My older one applied 2 years ago or so and 1 or 2 via applicaa but there was nothing about ranking then.

Agree with @sprinklin that this is a breach of the Admissions Code for school sixth forms.

Sixth form colleges and independent schools are not required to follow the Admissions Code, so they can do whatever they want. State schools (including academies), however, have no choice. They may not 'give extra priority to children whose parents rank preferred schools in a particular order, including ‘first preference first’ arrangements' (paragraph 1.9(c)). Stating that a school may refuse to make an offer just because you name it as your 7th preference is simply wrong.

Paragraph 2.4 of the Admissions Code says that schools can only request information that has a direct bearing on decisions about oversubscription criteria, or for the purpose of selection by aptitude or ability. Schools cannot therefore request information about where they have been ranked. If Applicaa is attempting to co-ordinate sixth form admissions in the way LAs do for Reception and Y7, it is poor practice for them to tell schools where they are ranked and, if they do, it is absolutely forbidden for schools to make use of this information.

Thanks @prh47bridge I'll see what they say and quote the code to them as I said.

We're applying to state schools (not colleges).

Thanks.

@Whatisagoodname @prh47bridge here is Applicaa's help text for schools which makes it clear that the preference ranking will be shared with them: https://helpdesk.applicaa.com/how-does-student-preference-ranking-work

It's described as a new feature, but it's not clear when it was published.

@Whatisagoodname it also says its a feature of the 'Applicaa One' account - was it compulsory to create one of those or could your child have applied without creating the account? (From memory, my kids just applied to one school via Applicaa and had a login just for that application rather than an account.)

Interesting.

Schools being able to see the ranking is not a great idea, but it is not of itself a breach of the Admissions Code. However, if a school uses that ranking to decide which applicants will be offered places, that is a breach.

Thanks again both.

They're sticking to providing the ranking to schools and will be removing the impact on interviews (which leads to no offer) from their FAQs. Attached are my email exchanges with them, if anyone's interested in their response.

The ones that start with "to: info" are my replies to them. Will just hope we get the right offers.

And the final response today as I can only upload 5 images a time.

Good result @Whatisagoodname ! However, if students are forced to use this system, and forced to give a ranking as part of the application process, then I'm pretty sure the adjudicator would consider it a breach of clause 2.4. If just one school was found in breach of this clause, they would have to cancel their contract with Applicaa, and the same judgement could be tacitly applied to all other schools who use Applicaa. If they have any sense they will recognise this as a threat to their business model.

They have other breaches of clause 2.4 too - e.g. their form asks for career plans and hobbies, and ethnicity, SEN, EAL, etc

They've obviously not taken the time to familiarise themselves with the admissions code, just want to get as many schools on board as they can.

It's good to ask questions! I didn't know all those other questions are breaches too. Perhaps I should send them a link to this thread. Hmmm.

Thanks!

I haven't seen the form but yes, these kinds of questions are a breach of the Admissions Code. Schools can only ask for information that has a direct bearing on their oversubscription criteria, or for the purpose of selection by aptitude or ability. These are not the kind of things that schools can use for either of these purposes. Sixth form colleges and independent schools can ask whatever they want, but not state schools or academies.

If I were you I would lodge a complaint with the Schools Adjudicator about some of the schools using Applicaa, pointing out that they are in breach of Admissions Code paragraph 2.4. I would expect the complaint to be upheld, which should force changes.

@Whatisagoodname , not sure what your comment about a reference to the impact on interviews actually referred to, but sixth forms which are part of a state school are also not allowed to interview applicants (as in the sense of a job interview-like assessment). They can invite the applicant to attend a discussion re e.g. the suitability of their planned A level choices, or to assess their suitability for boarding, if relevant, but cannot use the interview as part of the decision-making process.

@Whatisagoodname @prh47bridge just coming back to this thread to let you know some schools using Applicaa have now been found by the Schools Adjudicator to be in breach of the Admissions Code. It doesn't bode well for Applicaa's software design and/or business model:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hampstead-school-and-haverstock-school-12-january-2026

What these cases also demonstrate is that some (probably most) Local Authorities turn a blind eye to sixth form admissions code breaches.

@sprinklin - Thanks. I'm not surprised.

Interesting to come across this thread. DC applied to sixth forms through Applica. A few choices were school sixth forms in Camden, just like Hampstead and Haverstock. They were asked to rank their preference, which I thought seemed odd.

We also had a sixth form college on there and a school sixth form out of Borough.

@CSGCSG Is your DC applying for Sep 2026? It'll be interesting to see what happens with current applications because Camden Local Authority are obliged to make sure all their schools revise their 6th form admissions policies to make them lawful. It looks like the LA was tardy in responding to the Adjudicator, so its probably too late to revise their 2026 policies (leaving them wide open to appeals) and also almost too late to liaise with schools about revising their September 2027 policies too (because they need to be determined by Feb 15th 2026). Messy.

Last year @sprinklin , and I thought that ranking preferences didn’t look right, but was too stressed to look into it. I can’t remember now if you had to rank preferences, or if it was an option.

Applicaa forces you to rank multiple applications (unless you create a separate account for each application).

Watch out for the Applicas thing. It is a platform used by some schools but is not coordinated in a meaningful way.

DC accepted first offer on day (went to school in person) then I became concerned that the school he had then decided he wanted (had to confirm online) was not clearly showing as confirmed so I rushed down there day after results half an hour before closing and applicaa prevented them accepting his place as he had accepted the other one. It then got sorted. He would have lost the place. My assumption and that of everyone I knew was that you had to accept as you went, because you didn’t know the next place would take them.

Preferences didn’t seem to make a difference pre results day, it all happens on the day so make sure to confirm it all! Good luck

This is good to see. Other part of London but it was absolute Wild West out there and someone needs go get a grip on it.

Sorry to butt in, I have a related question, which is that my daughter has been given an offer from her preferred school for a levels, she’s accepted the place, but applicaa just says her application is ‘pending’. This is for well over a month now. Should I leave it to sort itself out or should I chase up the school (or someone else?).