Admissions
Townsend Church of England School is a Voluntary Aided School and it is the school Governors who decide who will be admitted to the school.
The Governors will admit 150 students to Year 7 each September. The school wishes to protect its Christian character and ethos, but also warmly welcomes applications from the wider community.
Priority Areas, as defined by the County Council for Community Schools, do not apply to this Voluntary Aided Church School. As Townsend is the only Church of England secondary school in this part of Hertfordshire, we welcome applications from a very wide area. Distance from the school is not a criterion for admission unless we are over-subscribed, when it is used as a tiebreaker.
In the event of more applications being received than there are places available, it will be necessary to operate a scheme of allocation. This will be done using the criteria set out below. Places will be allocated by the Governing Body in the order indicated.
Should there be over-subscription within any one priority group within a category, then the deciding factor in that priority group will be the distance from the school to the home. This distance will be measured by the County Council with a computerised mapping system using the method described in the County admission literature. (The Moving On book). Those with the shortest journey by a designated route will be given priority.
Open Evening and Open Morning Tours 2025
Our Open Evening will take place on Wednesday, 17th September 2025 from 5.30 pm to 8.30 pm. The Headteacher’s talks will be at 5.45 pm, 6.30 pm and 7.15 pm.
We will also be running Open Morning Tours between 22nd September and 10th October from 9.00 am to 10.00 am.
Further details will be published next month.
Admission Arrangements 2024/25
Admission Arrangements 2025/26
Admission Arrangements 2026/27
In Year Admissions
In Year applications should be made using the Local Authority form and returned directly to the local authority. The local Authority, Hertfordshire County Council, coordinates the process on behalf of the governing body. The Local Authority will inform parents of the outcome of the application.
When the school admissions team receives an application on the Hertfordshire Admission System, and we have space in that year, we will contact you.
We will need the last 2 years of end-of-year reports. These should be sent to admin@townsend.herts.sch.uk and should be from a UK school or from a school abroad. You can also send any other information you feel is useful about your child (or ward if you are the guardian).
We will then make an appointment for you and your child/ward to visit the school and meet with the relevant Head of Year. At the meeting, you will have a tour followed by a meeting with both you and your child/ward.
A place will then be offered to you, based on the visit and meeting. Once a place has been offered, a start date will be given, usually the Thursday of the following week.
We will provide useful information to the parent/ carer before starting, including the timetable, school calendar, uniform policy, etc.
Admission Appeals
Should you not be offered a place, you have a legal right of Appeal against the Governors’ decision to an independent panel. In this event, you should first contact the Head Teacher. HCC have published a timeline for appeals, and this can be viewed here:
Post 16 Admissions (Year 12 and Year 13 – 6th Form)
Students are very welcome to transfer to this school and to join our active 6th Form. An application can be made by contacting our Head of Sixth Form to arrange an appointment.
For an application form, please e-mail the school office at: admin@townsend.herts.sch.uk
