Banding
Jane Austen College is an all ability academy and in order to secure an all ability intake, all Year 6 children who name Jane Austen College in their list of preferences on their common application form are required to take a banding assessment which is prescribed by GL Assessment. This is not a ‘pass or fail’ test. This is to ensure that children across the full ability range are admitted.
The assessment is not a traditional entrance exam which children either pass or fail. It is done to ensure that our intake exactly matches the ability profile of the children applying. To achieve this, all applicants are invited to take a non-verbal reasoning assessment. Applicants will be split into nine bands based on their assessment results. We will admit the required number from each band based on the spread of ability of those applying. Within each band our admission criteria will be applied as set out in our determined admission arrangements.
If places become vacant in some bands, for example, because parents/carers accept offers of places at other schools, and no applicants in those bands remain without a place, they will be evenly filled by children falling into the next nearest bands (i.e. the bands on either side, or below or above, if the first child is from the band above then the next will be from the one below).
The assessment will be administered during November, in the year preceding entry.
Any applicants who choose not to sit the fair banding assessment will be ‘non-banded’ and will be ranked in order of priority (after all of the banded applicants), with the level of priority then determined with reference to the oversubscription criteria as set out in the admissions policy.
Parents and carers will be notified of the venue and time of their child’s assessment via email.
A sample assessment paper is available below. Please use this paper to familiarise your child with the type of assessment they will sit. They should not be worried if they cannot answer all the questions; they should just try to answer as many as they can.
Any applicants who have not taken the banding assessment will only be considered after children who have sat the banding assessment (unless they have an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan or are Looked After Children).
Banding assessment for September 2025 entry:
All FAIR ACCESS BANDING TEST DATES ARE NOW CLOSED
If you have any concerns please email our Admissions Team jacadmissions@janeaustencollege.co.uk or telephone 01603 463800.
You can find out more about Fair Access Banding assessment by reading our FAQs here.
