Frequently Asked Questions and Information

What happens after a student has been given a conditional offer?

We’ll keep in touch with students, parents and carers through regular ‘keep in touch’ videos about New College, and we’ll send information about the college in the post.

We’ll invite students to attend one of our two induction days – Wednesday 5 July and Friday 7 July. Letters will be sent nearer the time.

After the induction days, we’ll write to students with information about the specific date and time they should attend college for their allocated enrolment appointment – Thursday 24 and Friday 25 August.

What if a student changes their mind about the courses they want to study?

It’s not a problem, but we’d encourage students to get in touch with college to let us know as soon as possible. At each student’s enrolment appointment in August we’ll have another in-depth discussion about course choices, based on the actual GCSE grades students have achieved.

If a student changes their mind about course choices after the July induction day we won’t be able to make changes over the summer, but we’ll be happy to discuss any requested changes at the student’s enrolment appointment in August. 

Swapping from the courses chosen at the admissions interview to different courses obviously depends on spaces still being available and the student meeting the entry requirements.

What is the induction day all about? (Wednesday 5^th / Friday 7^th July)

The induction days are a settling in day – a chance for students to find their feet, meet key staff, and be given details of the summer independent learning tasks we’d like them to complete ready for September.  Students will have an introductory lesson for each of the courses they selected at their admissions interview. Students will be able to use the college buses for free on the induction days.

When do students enrol at New College Doncaster?

Enrolment takes place on Thursday 24 and Friday 25 August 2023. We’ll write to students in July to let them know which of the two dates they need to attend and at what time. We published these dates in our prospectus in September 2022.

These are extremely important dates. A student can’t enrol at New College Doncaster without attending their allocated enrolment appointment in-person. Students can’t ask someone to attend and enrol on their behalf, or complete this process by telephone or online, or at a different time or date of their choosing.

Students give themselves the best chance of being able to secure a place at New College Doncaster by ensuring that they are available for both of these dates.

When can students buy a bus pass?

Students can purchase a college bus pass as soon as they have completed the enrolment process, on 24 / 25 August.

Students unable to attend enrolment and who are therefore asked to attend late enrolment on 31 August will also be able to purchase a college bus pass when they have completed the enrolment process, which will not be until 31 August.

Students that have successfully applied for financial support, including a travel grant, before the summer, can use this travel grant towards the cost of a college bus pass at enrolment.

Financial Support and when to apply

The college is able to offer financial support to students who are eligible, including

• A half-termly bursary payment
• A travel grant
• Free college meals
• Other assistance, for example peripatetic music lessons

We’ll be sending out more information about eligibility and how to apply in May.

If you think you may be eligible, we’d strongly encourage you to apply in May / June. This means we will be able to review your application before the summer holidays, and any financial support can then begin at the start of the autumn term, including support to purchase a college bus pass.

Term dates for 2023/24

Term dates for 2023/24 are already available on our website https://ncdoncaster.ac.uk/term-key-dates/

Please can we emphasise that permission will not be given under any circumstances for family holidays during term time.

What if a student can’t attend the induction day in July?

Please don’t worry, but do let us know in advance.

The letter inviting students to attend induction day, later in the year, will advise students how they can let us know if they can’t attend. We’ll share important information with students that let us know in advance that they can’t make it.

If a student doesn’t let us know they can’t attend we’ll assume they no longer want a place and we will withdraw their application.

What if a student can’t attend their enrolment day appointment?

When demand for places is high, it would be unfair for us to reserve places for students unable to attend enrolment at the expense of students that turn up to enrol at their allocated time and who have achieved the grades they need. As such, there is a greater possibility that students unable to attend their allocated enrolment appointment will find that some courses no longer have availability, or that the college is full. We strongly encourage students to be available for the two published dates for enrolment – Thursday 24 and Friday 25 August.

Students that are not able to attend their allocated enrolment appointment will be asked to let us know online, and then complete an online form with their GCSE results on 24 August. Details of how to do this will be included in the invitation letter sent in July. We will consider those GCSE results at the end of Friday 25 August, after we have finished enrolling students that attended enrolment. Students will be provisionally allocated places onto the courses they selected at interview for which they have met the minimum entry requirements, but only if places are still available at the end of Friday 25 August.

If particular courses are full, if a student hasn’t met the minimum entry requirements, or if a student has changed their mind about their preferred courses, this will have to be considered at the late enrolment day.

Students that are unable to attend enrolment and who then submit their results online on 24 August must all attend late enrolment on Thursday 31 August to verify results, to formalise course enrolments, to make any changes (based on any remaining availability), and to purchase a bus pass (if applicable).

Applications will be withdrawn for any students that don’t let us know in advance that they can’t attend enrolment, who don’t submit results on time on the 24^th August, or who do not attend late enrolment on Thursday 31 August. Students should not expect that there will be other opportunities to enrol.

What does a conditional offer mean?

The majority of students will be given a conditional offer at the end of their admissions interview at New College.

A conditional offer means that we will confirm a student’s place in college when they attend their allocated enrolment appointment in August, provisionally on the courses agreed at the admissions interview, provided the conditions below are met:

1. The student must meet the minimum entry requirements for their chosen courses.
2. The student must attend their allocated Enrolment Day Appointment on 24^th / 25^th August.
3. Places must still be available in college and on the courses the student wishes to study when they attend their Enrolment Appointment.
4. If the student has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), the college must formally become the named provider following a full consultation process via the Local Authority. If we are not made aware of an EHCP and the college is not formally named via a full consultation process, the college cannot offer a place for September.
5. The student must notify us in advance if they are unable to attend one of the college’s Induction Days.

What if a student doesn’t meet the minimum entry requirements?

A student will only be able to enrol on courses for which they do meet the minimum entry requirements. This is to ensure that students do have the necessary knowledge and skills required for each course as soon as they begin their courses with us. We will not disregard any individual results that a student is not happy with and we can’t account for the fact that students might potentially have performed better in different circumstances. Admissions are based on the qualifications and grades students have been awarded.

Students must achieve

• The minimum GCSE point score that is required for each of their chosen courses, from a minimum of 5 GCSEs (available in the prospectus); and
• Any subject specific grades that are required for each of their chosen courses (available in the prospectus); and
• The minimum entry requirements for the pathway the student wishes to study

If a student does not meet the minimum entry requirements for one of their chosen courses we will explore at enrolment the alternative courses with remaining availability for which the student does meet the minimum entry requirements.

If a student has narrowly met the minimum entry requirements for one or more of their courses, the student will still be able to enrol onto that course if they wish to, but it is likely that advice and guidance will be provided at enrolment so that a student is also aware of other courses that might also be worth considering, so that students can make a fully informed decision.

We know that students will be working hard throughout the remainder of Year 11 to achieve great results that they can be proud of.

What happens if the college is oversubscribed, or a course a student wants to study is oversubscribed?

Although the college is very popular and has grown significantly over the last 6 years, it is likely (but not guaranteed) that we will be able to offer places in college to all students that secure sufficiently strong grades to join the college. However, we do sometimes find that some individual courses become full during the enrolment days and a small number of students may have to select alternatives. However, this is rare because the college works hard to plan for projected numbers, and we try to make adjustments on enrolment day, where we can, in order to accommodate any higher than expected demand at course level.

There is always a degree of uncertainty with numbers for post-16 study as many students will apply to multiple schools and colleges and the number of applicants is significantly greater than the number of students that ultimately enrol.  This means that demand for some courses at enrolment can occasionally be lower or higher than expected.

If a student is unable to enrol on one of their chosen courses because it is oversubscribed they will have the option to be placed on a waiting list, in case spaces do become available in the very early stages of the academic year.

Students are invited to attend enrolment in a specific order so that places are allocated fairly and transparently, in line with our admissions policy. This is why it is important that students are available for enrolment and arrive at their appointed date and time.

In what order does the college invite students to attend enrolment?

The college will first invite students that have an Education, Health and Care Plan and looked after children / children in care.

Students that applied on time are invited before students that applied after the application deadline.

Students that applied on time are invited in order of how close their school is to the college and students from the same school are invited in order of how early they applied.

Students in Year 11 are invited before students that are currently in post-16 study elsewhere, or not currently in Year 11.

Full details are included in the college’s admissions policy.

Any other questions?

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch!