Fair Banding
Hammersmith Academy accepts students of all abilities, and in order to secure an all ability intake, all applicants for admission must take a Fair Banding test. This is not a pass or fail test. All applicants for places in the school will be banded according to the principles of Fair Banding, using the national profile.
Every applicant to the Academy will be required to take a fairbanding test, this includes children in public care (Looked After Children).
Each applicant will be placed in one of five bands (A, B, C, D, E) based on their performance in the test. This does not affect their eligibility for selection. An equal number of students are admitted from each band. Places will be allocated as specified in the Admissions Policy.
Fair Banding Test Dates
- Saturday 22nd November 2025 – registration not required (you will be invited based on your application to secondary school)
- Saturday 29th November 2025 – registration not required (you will be invited based on your application to secondary school)
Allocation of Places within Ability Bands
The results of the banding test will have no impact on whether a student is offered a place or not.
After the allocation of children with Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) plan, the admission criteria will be applied to applicants within each band, in the following order of priority:
- Looked After or Previously Looked After Children
- Children of Academy staff
- Distance from the Academy
- Siblings of current students