Admission Arrangements

Admissions Policy

The Local Authority is required to coordinate admissions to all Derbyshire Primary, Infant and Junior Schools. Essentially the Authority acts as a 'clearing house' for all admissions and enables parents to express a preference for one, two or three schools and to place those preferences in rank order.  Parents must make their application on a common form, to be returned direct to the Local Authority, and give reasons for their preferred schools.  The form can also be accessed on the Derbyshire County Council website on their Infant, Junior and Primary admissions page:

Derbyshire Council Direct Link

Application information is usually available from your child’s Nursery School or from the Derbyshire County Council website.  Applications for a place at an Infant School usually open in the November before they are due to start school the following September, the deadline for applications is usually mid-January.

Mid Term Admissions

Children may join the school at any point during the year if there are places available.  Parents may approach the school in the first instance to request a place.  If the school has not reached its PAN admission number for that year group, the child may be offered a place directly by the school. However, the Local Authority admissions department must make the final arrangements. The contact number for them at Matlock is 01629 533190.  In the case of a class being at capacity level, parents will be referred to the LA to go through the appeal process.

Transferring from Infant to Junior Education

The LA organises all applications for children to join Junior Schools.  You will receive an information leaflet from the Local Authority, via our school, giving you full details about applying for a Junior School place before the application process opens. You can also visit the Derbyshire County Council website for more information.

If you require any further information, or you would like to visit Copthorne Community Infant School and have a look around, please do not hesitate to contact us.