St. Mary's

Admissions & Appeals

St. Mary’s Catholic Academy is a caring faith community. Our mission is to provide an outstanding whole-person education through which all are challenged to grow in wisdom, understanding, self-esteem and closeness to God.

Open Evenings

Our open evenings are a great way to come and experience what our school has to offer. Take the opportunity to chat to subject teachers and our students about school life and what to expect at St. Mary’s. If you have missed out on attending our open evenings but would still like to have a look round our school please contact us and we will endeavour to help you out.

Junior Open Evening

Our most recent open evening occurred on Monday 26th September 2022 from 17:30 to 20:00. However you can still learn more about us by Clicking the link below.

Sixth Form Open Evening

our most recent open evening occurred on Thursday 19th January 2023 from 17:30 to 20:00. you can still find out about what we offer by clicking the link below.

Applying to St. Mary's

Admissions to Year 7 are by application to Blackpool Local Authority either online at the link below or via a written application form. Submission of baptism certificates is to be done directly to St Mary’s, either by hand or via the admissions email [email protected].blackpool.sch.uk. Please refer to the admissions policy further down this page for information on baptised catholic pupils and children of faith. 

Applying to Sixth Form

Applications are welcomed from students who attended other high schools and wish to apply for a place at St. Mary’s Catholic Academy Sixth Form. To be admitted to St. Mary’s Catholic Academy Sixth Form, students from other schools/academies must meet the minimum entry requirement of five or more GCSEs at grade 4 or higher (for legacy GCSEs grade C is equivalent to a grade 4) at GCSE including GCSE English and GCSE Mathematics. From 2005 to 2017 all students who applied to St. Mary’s and met the minimum entry requirement were offered a place in the Sixth Form.

Applying to our Sixth Form can be done online using our online application form process.

School Admission Appeals

On 1st March 2023, Blackpool & Lancashire Local Authorities will inform parents of the secondary school their child has been allocated to.  Not all parents will necessarily receive their first choice of school.  For September 2023, the full allocation of 210 student places has been made at St Mary’s Catholic Academy.  If your child has not been allocated a place at St Mary’s and you would like to appeal for a place for them, please follow the process below.  We would strongly advise you not to reject the place at the school your child has been allocated until you hear the outcome of the Appeals process.

From 1st March 2023: Appeals forms are available from Mrs Holden by phoning 01253 396286 or emailing: [email protected]

By the 5th April 2023: Appeal forms to be received by St Mary’s Catholic Academy, in order to be heard in the first round of hearings. Appeal forms can be submitted after this deadline but the hearing will not be held until later in the year.

Any additional documents that parents/carers wish to provide (i.e. medical evidence or baptismal certificate) should be sent with the Appeals Form.

By 19th May 2023: Notification of appeal hearing will be sent to parents/carers.

By 8th June 2023: Deadline for appeals forms received after 9th April for the second round of appeals hearings.

By 9th June 2023: Appeals that have been submitted by 5th April 2022 will be heard by Independent Appeals Panels.

By 15th June 2023: Notification of the second round of appeal hearings will be sent to parents/carers.