Admissions policy
Applying for a place
You will need to apply for a reception place for your child if he or she was born between 1 September 2018 and 31 August 2019.
Applications for admission in September 2023 must be received by 15th January 2023. Allocations are announced by the council via email on 17th April 2023. If you apply online you will receive the outcome of your application on the evening of 17th April 2023.
Ark Swift is a two form entry, non-denominational, mixed primary academy for local children. We admit 30 reception places each year. We also provide 26 fully-funded full time equivalent places for nursery children. Places in the nursery school may be full time or part time (mornings or afternoons) and are offered to children in the year before they would start reception (so typically aged three and a half and above).
Applications for reception must be made through the London Borough of Fulham and Hammersmith (LBHF). You can find all the information you need about Ark Swift on our website, in our prospectus or at one of our open days.
You can find out more about applying for a school place in Hammersmith and Fulham on the LBHF website. Copies of the LBHF's brochure ' Starting School for Parents' are available on the LBHF website.
Apply online
You can use https://www.eadmissions.org.uk/eAdmissions/app to apply online for a place at Ark Swift Primary Academy. Please contact the LBHF admissions team for further information on 020 8753 1085 or email school.admissions@lbhf.gov.uk.
In-year admissions
Applications made to any year group outside the main admissions round (In-Year admissions) should be made directly to London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham
If you wish to apply for a place, please complete the application form https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/sites/default/files/section_attachments/in-year_primary_interactive_application_form.pdf
Parents/carers will be informed of the outcome of their application within 15 school days.
If a place is refused the child will be added to the waiting list, the position on the waiting list will be determined according to the oversubscription criteria in the School’s Admissions Policy.
If refused a place, the parent/carer has the right to appeal the decision.
If you wish to appeal, please click here for the appeal form.
For primary appeals, please first read this guidance about infant class size appeals
Appeal panel hearings will take place within 30 school days of receipt of the appeal. Parents/carers will be notified of their appeal hearing date by the independent appeal panel clerk.
Nursery arrangements
Nursery admissions are managed by the school. Please call 020 8743 2514 or email info@arkswiftprimary.org to be sent an application form.
Admissions policy
If there are more applications than there are places available, places will be allocated in accordance with our admissions policy.
Ark Swift Primary Academy offers 30 reception places each year. Where the Academy is named on a child’s Statement of Special Educational Needs, that child will be admitted. All other applications are considered next. If there are fewer than 30 applications, the academy will offer places to all those who have applied.
Procedure where the academy is oversubscribed
If there are more than 30 applications they are considered against the criteria and order set out below:
a) Looked After Children and all previously Looked After Children
b) Children of staff of the school where there is a demonstrable skill shortage.
c) Children who have a sibling who already attends the school and who will continue to do so on the date of admission (for this purpose “sibling” means a whole, half or step-brother or -sister resident at the same address).
d) Children of staff of the school (where there is no skill shortage)
e) The remaining places will be allocated to children who live closest to the school, using a straight line distance from the main entrance of the academy to the main entrance to the child’s home.
Admissions Policy
Ark Swift Primary Admissions Policy 2024-25 FINAL.pdf
Admissions Appeals Booklet 2023.pdf
Ark Swift Primary Admissions Policy 2023-24 FINAL.pdf
Admissions Appeals Booklet 2022 FINAL (1) (1).pdf
Ark Swift Primary Admissions Policy 2022-23 FINAL.pdf
Ark Swift Primary Academy Admissions Policy 2021-22 FINAL.pdf
Consultation Briefing Note - Swift.pdf
Waiting lists
The academy will keep a waiting list for any vacancies that arise during the year where a child leaves or does not take up a place.
Ark Network Appeals Timetable
Appeals for children refused a place at a preferred school for admission to Reception class in September will be heard in line with the School Admissions Appeals Code (2012).
| Offer date | Deadline for lodging an appeal | |
| Primary | 17th April 2023 | 17th May 2023 |
‘On-time’ appeals will be heard within 40 school days of the deadline for lodging appeals. Appeals lodged after these dates will be heard within 40 school days of the appeal deadline or 30 school days of being lodged, whichever is the later date.
Mid-year appeals must be heard within 30 school days of receipt of the appeal.
Parents/carers will be notified of their appeal date by an external agency engaged by the Ark network.
For all year groups, please click here for the appeal form
Before submitting a Primary appeal, please make sure you read this Guidance on Infant class size appeals
Information for parents and guardians: Please click the link below for advice from the Department for Education on how to make an appeal on school admissions:
DfE - Advice on School Admissions Appeals
Due to the COVID-19 situation it will clearly not be possible to hold panel hearings in the usual way this year. The Department for Education has now issued revised guidelines for Admissions Authorities on how appeals should be dealt with, it being preferable that appeals are heard before the beginning of the Autumn term. All appellants will therefore be contacted with information about the exact process, which will be the same for all Ark schools. The aim is to complete hearings and for parents to be notified of the outcome of their appeal by 30th June 2020.
