Can academies set thier own admission policies?

[MarioandLuigi]

DS1 is in year 5 and we are currently thinking about secondary schools. We are in the catchment area for a good school which is about to become an academy. Talking to some of the other parents it has been mentioned that as an Academy they can set thier own admissions policy, and so it might not on catchment but academic ability. Is this true? DS1 is just above average for most subjects but I dont think he could pass an 11+ without serious coaching.

Yes they can set their own admissions criteria. However, they must comply with the Admissions Code and if the school is not currently selective they are not allowed to start selecting on academic ability. So the parents who think the school might introduce an 11+ are wrong.

They are allowed to introduce something called "fair banding" which does involve a test but that is designed to ensure that the school admits children of all abilities. Essentially, the test is used to split the children into bands according to their ability and the school then admits a number of children from each band. There is no question of anyone failing the fair banding test. It doesn't work like that.

The other point to make is that most of the converter academies have said that they will initially not alter the admission criteria.
In effect the admission criteria for Septmber 2012, when your son would move has already been agreed and is going through the process for final approval in April. There is therefore unlikely to be any change from the current policy for your son's age group.