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 next junior open evening is currently scheduled to take place on monday 25th september 2023.

Sixth Form Open Evening

our next sixth form open evening is currently scheduled to take place on thursday 16th november 2023.

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 admissions@st-mary.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.

St. Mary's Admission Policies

2023 - 2024

School Admission Appeals

On 1^st March 2024, 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 2024, their are 210 student places 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.

1st September 2023:On-line application live or obtain an application pack from Blackpool primary schools or the Schools Admissions Team.

31st October 2023: Closing date for applications. All applications must be submitted before midnight. During this period all applications are processed and all preferences are considered against the published admissions policy. It is important that you check the admissions policy of the school carefully as these differ from school to school.

On 1st March 2024: If you have applied online you will recieve an email confirming the allocated school. The online system will go live on Friday 1st March 2024. If you have applied on a paper application you will recieve a letter in the post – this will be posted on Thursday 29th February 2024. The letter may arrive a various times depending on the postal services in your area.
If you are not satisfied with the allocated school you may request an appeal form from the Schools Admission Team, or from the school direct if you are appealing for a voluntary aided school. You will need to contact an academy to establish their appeal arrangements.

By Mid April 2024: Appeal forms should be returned in order to be heard in the first round of appeals.

June 2024: First appeals heard by the Independent Appeals Panels.

September 2024: Pupils start secondary school.