If you are intending to apply for a place at our school then you may be interested to read our admissions policies.

Transfer to secondary school

Responsibility for Year 7 admissions to Sir Bernard Lovell Academy is with South Gloucestershire Council. Applications for places should be made directly through your home local authority. For more information for parents/carers who live within South Gloucestershire please see secondary school admissions.

• Admissions policy 2025/26 (Pdf)
• Admissions policy 2026/27 (Pdf)
• Admission arrangements 2027/28 (Pdf)
• Allocation statement (Pdf)

Admissions and appeals timeline – Year 7 for September 2026 intake

• Deadline to apply for a place: 31 October 2025
• First round of allocations made by Local Authority: 2 March 2026
• Deadline to respond to Local Authority: 16 March 2026
• Deadline to lodge letter of appeal with the school*: 31 March 2025
• Second round of allocations made by Local Authority: May 2026

Appeals will be heard within 40 school days of the appeal deadlines above.

Parents will be given at least 10 school days’ notice of the date of their appeal hearing.

• Stage 1: group appeal meeting, May – June, dates to be fixed as required
• Stage 2: individual appeal meetings, May – June, dates to be fixed as required

Decision letters sent to parents: within a week of the final appeal hearing for each school where possible.

*Appeals should be sent directly to the Academy, C/o Headteacher’s PA, SBL Academy, North Street, Oldland Common, Bristol, BS30 8TS (admissions@sblacademy.org.uk)

Please complete the Year 7 September 2026 intake – appeal form.

Late applications

Where a late application is refused, appeals should be lodged within 20 school days of the date of the refusal letter and will be heard according to the timescales above where possible, subject to statutory notice periods. If they cannot be heard within the timescales above, they will be heard within 30 school days.

Late appeals

Secondary appeals submitted after the deadline of 16^th March 2026 will be heard by the end of the academic year, if possible, but with regard to the statutory requirements of notice periods that must be given. If there is not enough time for all parties to be given their full notice of the hearing, and supplied with the appeal paperwork, before the end of the academic year, late secondary appeals will be heard within 30 school days of the date the appeal is submitted.

More information can be found on South Gloucestershire Council’s website.

In-year admissions

Requests for In-Year transfers are normally only considered approximately six weeks prior to a requested start date. If a place is being sought for a September admission into an existing year group we recommend that parents/carers complete the application in mid-June.

To apply for a place, please download the appropriate form below and return it directly to Sir Bernard Lovel Academy (admissions@sblacademy.org.uk).

• In-year application 2025-26 (Pdf)

If you have any queries relating to admissions please email: admissions@sblacademy.org.uk.

In-year admission appeals

Appellants have 20 school days from the date of notification that their application was unsuccessful to prepare and lodge their written appeal.

Appeals will be heard within 30 schools days of the appeal being lodged.

If you wish to submit an appeal, please send in writing directly to the Academy, C/o Headteacher’s PA, SBL Academy, North Street, Oldland Common, Bristol, BS30 8TS.