Admissions Criteria for 2026/27 academic year

RESPECTIVE FUNCTIONS OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS AND PRINCIPAL IN RELATION TO ADMISSIONS

The Board of Governors draws up the admissions criteria and delegates to the Principal, the responsibility for
applying these criteria.

ADMISSIONS CRITERIA

During the admissions procedure when applying the criteria punctual applications will be considered
before late applications are considered. The application procedure opens on 7 January 2026 at 12noon
(GMT) and an application submitted by the closing date of 21 January 2026 at 12noon (GMT) will be
treated as a punctual application. An application received after 12noon (GMT) on 21 January 2026 and up
to 4 pm on 26 January 2026 will be treated as a late application, this is also the last date and time for
processing a change of preference in exceptional circumstances. After 4 pm on 26 January 2026 no
applications will be processed until after the close of procedure on 23 March 2026.

COMPULSORY SCHOOL AGE

Any child who reaches their 4th birthday on or before 1st July 2025 is of Compulsory School Age. Under
the School Age (NI) Act which became law in Northern Ireland in April 2022, ‘compulsory school age’ also
includes those children who deferred commencing Primary 1 in September 2024 as defined by the new
School Age (NI) Act (both groups to be treated equally).

Priority will be given to children resident in Northern Ireland at the time of their proposed admission to
the school before those who are not so resident.

When considering which children should be selected for admission, the Board of Governors will only take
into account information which is detailed on the application or provided directly to the school. Parents
should therefore ensure that all information pertaining to their child and relevant to the school’s admissions
criteria is stated on the application or provided directly to the school. Examples of such information include
names of brothers and sisters in attendance or previously attended. Inaccurate or misleading information
contained in the application may prejudice the offer of a place in the school.

The Principal, who has been delegated authority to act on behalf of the Board of Governors in this matter,
will apply the following criteria in the indicated order to identify which children should be admitted either at
initial admission to education or on transfer from another school.

1. 
   Children who, at the time of application, have brothers or sisters (half-brothers/sisters,
   stepbrothers/sisters, including those fostered or adopted) in attendance during the 2025/2026
   school year.
   2. Children of permanent employees at the school.
   3. Children whose application nominates Dungannon Primary School as their first preference school.
   4. Children for whom the school is the controlled primary school nearest to their home, as measured
   by driving distances*, priority being given to those living nearest to the school. (Driving distance
   from home will be measured on Google Maps UK)
   Admissions criteria for entry September 2026
   Updated November 2025 www.eani.org.uk/admissions
   5. Preference will be given to children with exceptional circumstances (medical, social or other
   problems) that necessitate admission to Dungannon Primary School rather than any other primary
   school. Any application to be considered under this criterion must be clearly identified using the
   term ‘special circumstances. It must provide names and addresses of statutory bodies from whom
   the Board of Governors reserve the right to seek confirmation of the existence of the special
   circumstances.
   6. The remaining places will be allocated on the basis of the proximity of the child’s home to the school,
   priority being given to those living nearest to the school as measured using Google Maps.
   7. If the final places to be allocated have identical measurements as identified by Google Maps UK,
   selection will be on the initial letter of surname (as entered on birth certificate) in order to be set out
   below:
   X P M F K C R A U L G O J V D T Q Z H I Y W E N S B
   This order was determined by a randomised selection of letters of the alphabet (selection with a clear audit
   trail). I n the event of surnames beginning with the same initial letter the subsequent letters of the surname
   will be used in alphabetical order. In the event of two identical surnames the alphabetical order of the initials
   of the forenames will be used, if necessary, the subsequent letters of the forenames.
   Inaccurate or misleading information contained in the application form may prejudice the offer of a place
   in the school

DUTY TO VERIFY

The Board of Governors reserves the right to require such supplementary evidence as it may determine to
support or verify information on any application.

If the requested evidence is not provided to the Board of Governors by the deadline given, this will result in
the withdrawal of an offer of a place. Similarly, if information is supplied which appears to be false or
misleading in any material way, the offer of a place will be withdrawn. A utility bill is acceptable.

WAITING LIST POLICY

The school operates a Waiting List Policy, a copy of which can be accessed in school by request.
ADMISSION TO P2 – P7

Children seeking admission to classes from P2 to P7 in the school will be granted places subject to a
reasonable and manageable upper limit on the number of pupils any one teacher has to cater for and subject
to further limitation if the teacher is dealing with a composite class.
*Home is the child’s permanent place of residence. It is not the child-minder’s or a relative’s address.

APPLICATIONS AND ADMISSIONS TO PRIMARY 1

*The Total Admissions for year 2025/2026 includes all P1 children admitted to the school including those
who have a statement of special educational needs and/or may be attending SPiMS.
(SPiMS = Specialist Provision in Mainstream School)