Admissions

Visit us

If you are interested in your child joining the school, please contact us to discuss what we have to offer and to arrange a visit.

Main Reception telephone number: 01752 775101

Email address: info@ndonline.org

Once you decide you would like a place you must make a formal application. A fresh application must be made for children who are not moving on from our Year 11 to Post-16 education in Year 12 here.
How to apply

Most children join our school at the normal round, the main intake into school from the start of September in Year 7. As a parent, you can apply for a place to the Local Authority. Do come and talk with us if you are interested in a place in a different year group for any reason.

For questions about your child joining the school or the admissions process in general, please do not hesitate to contact the school direct or contact Plymouth CAST by email to Rose Colpus-Fricker (Chief Operating Officer) admin@plymouthcast.org.uk

If you are interested in your child joining the school in-year (once the academic year has started), you can apply for a place through the relevant Local Authority. Applications for transfer into Years 12 and 13 are made direct to our sixth form, either by a parent or the young person themselves. Our application form is below. We have a closing date for the main intake into Year 12 although applications can still be made afterwards.

There is a right of appeal and to a place on a waiting list for places where an application is refused.

Admission Arrangements

Plymouth CAST is the admissions authority for our school. It has responsibility for the admissions policies and decisions on applications for admission. We have an admissions policy for each academic year, and they will be published on this page when they are proposed for consultation and after they have been determined annually. They are written to comply with the School Admissions Code 2021 and School Admissions Appeals Code 2022.
 Our Admissions Policies

You can find our admissions policies below – we review the school policy annually and may make changes if we feel this would be in the best interests of the school and our community. Each academic year has its own policy document, with details about how to apply for a place in school.
Please find our Admission Information below related to the following application circumstances:
 
  • If you are applying to Notre Dame for a place for your daughter to start in September 2025
  • If your daughter is already attending a secondary school but you would like to apply to Notre Dame for a place in Years 7-11 during the academic year 2024-25
If you would like to apply for a place in NDSBC Sixth, our joint 6th Form, for September 2025 or if you are already in Year 12 or 13 and would like to apply then please go to the NDSBC Sixth page.
How to apply for a place: If your application is on faith grounds, don’t forget to send us your Supplementary Information Form that will allow us to rank your application. Some applicants forget to do this and without this form we cannot rank your form in accordance with our Admissions Policy. This may result in a lower position on the ranked list than your daughter is entitled to.

The deadline for returning the Supplementary Information Form to us is 31st October every year.
School admissions policy 2024-25

See our determined policy below.  If you have any comments regarding the policy, you can contact us at admin@plymouthcast.org.uk
 

Over Subscription Criteria 2024-25

  1. Looked after children and children who were previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to adoption, a child arrangements order, or special guardianship order including those who appear to the admission authority to have been in state care outside England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.

  2. Priority will next be given to children based on their exceptional medical or social needs or those of their parents.

  3. Priority will next be given to children who are Baptised Catholic.

  4. Priority will next be given to children who regularly attend a Catholic church but are not Baptised Catholic.

  5. Priority will next be given to children who are siblings of pupils on roll at this school or at St Boniface’s Catholic College.

  6. Priority will next be given to other children on roll at a named linked school.

  7. Priority will next be given to children who are members of other Christian denominations, who regularly attend a Christian church

  8. Priority will next be given to children of members of staff who have been employed at this school for more than two years or recruited within the past two years to fill a vacancy for which there was a skills shortage.

  9. Priority will next be given to other children.

School admissions policy 2025-26

See our determined policy below.  If you have any comments regarding the policy, you can contact us at admin@plymouthcast.org.uk
 
  1. Priority will be given to Catholic looked after and previously looked after children who were previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to adoption, a child arrangements order, or special guardianship order including those who appear to the admission authority to have been in state care outside England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.

  2. Priority will next be given to other Catholic children

  3. Priority will next be given to other looked after children and children who were previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to adoption, a child arrangements order, or special guardianship order including those who appear to the admission authority to have been in state care outside England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted 

  4. Priority will next be given to children who have an exceptional social or medical need which means they should attend this school rather than any other (or whose parents have such a need). An application must be supported by evidence from a medical specialist or social worker of the need and why it means the child needs to attend this school 

  5. Priority will next be given to Catechumens and members of an Eastern Christian Church

  6. Priority will next be given to children who are siblings of pupils on roll at this school or at St Boniface’s Catholic College

  7. Priority will next be given to children at a named linked school 

  8. Priority will next be given to children who are members of other Christian denominations who regularly attend a Christian church 

School admissions policy 2026-27

 

See the policy below.  This will be open for comment during a public consultation between 16 December 2024 and 31 January 2025.  If you have any comments regarding the policy, you can contact us at admin@plymouthcast.org.uk

 

We are proposing to amend the oversubscription criteria for the school.

 

The policy will be determined by our admissions authority before the end of February and published here by 15 March 2025. 



Waiting List for Y7 2024

Should you wish to be added to our waiting list, please contact info@ndonline.org. Please remember that if you are applying on faith grounds you should complete and return our Supplementary Information Form to us (see below) to ensure that your application is ranked within the highest placing available.

Any parent wishing to secure a place at Notre Dame School for a Y7 student in September 2024 will need to have made an application to their local authority.
Supplementary Information Forms
Notes

  • The information on this website reflects the current situation and therefore may change. Please check regularly so that you are aware of any amendments that do occur.
  • The planned admission number (PAN) for entry into years 7 – 11 in 2023-24 is 140.
  • If you want to apply for a place at Notre Dame Plymouth on faith grounds you should additionally complete the school’s own Supplementary Information Form. Forms can be downloaded from this page. This form should be completed and sent to the school with appropriate evidence. Please call the school if you need further guidance.
  • If you apply on faith grounds and only complete the Local Authority form your application will be valid, but the school may not be able to rank your application against their admission criteria. If you only complete the school’s form your application will not be valid and will not be considered.
School Tours

The next formal opportunity for Year 5/6 students to view the school will be our Open Evening in September 2024. Details of the date and time will be published on our website and social media in the Summer Term.