St Matthias Academy is an alternative provision serving the Bristol and Bath & North East Somerset  regions.

Students are admitted to St Matthias Academy by one of three routes. These are; referral through the Local Authority Fair Access Panel, Permanent Exclusion from a mainstream setting or by enrolment on a preventative programme, as a Revolving Door student.

Schools can contact us directly if they wish to discuss a potential Revolving Door referral.

School Referral and Admissions Process

All referrals to St Matthias Academy must be made through the relevant local authority:

Bristol City Council or Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) Council.

For preventative alternative provision and revolving door placements, schools must contact their local authority in the first instance and follow the appropriate referral procedures. Schools should not contact St Matthias Academy directly to request these placements.

Bristol City Council:

Referral type	Email address
Permanent exclusions	pex@bristol.gov.uk
Revolving door placements	Included@bristol.gov.uk
SEND team	sen@bristol.gov.uk

Bath and North East Somerset Council (B&NES):

Referral type	Email address
Permanent exclusions	Exclusions@bathnes.gov.uk
SEND team	inclusion_sendadviceservice@bathnes.gov.uk
Preventative alternative provision referrals	Inclusionpanels@bathnes.gov.uk

 

Information Required from Referring Schools

To support a successful referral and ensure that appropriate provision can be planned, referring schools must provide the following documentation:

1. Attendance: Attendance registration certificate covering the previous 12 months.

2. Risk assessment: An up-to-date contextual risk assessment.

3. Exclusions: Full details of previous exclusions.

4. Behaviour: Behaviour records for the current academic year.

5. Pupil information: Pupil passport and any relevant key information.

6. Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND):

   • Relevant assessments and professional reports.

   • Contact details for professionals involved.

   • Records of interventions and support already provided.

   • Evaluation of what has been effective and what has not.

7. Key Stage 4 students: Details of GCSEs and other qualifications being studied, examination boards and predicted grades.

8. External agency involvement: Details of all agencies currently involved, including relevant contact information.

If St Matthias do not receive all of this information, then we will not be able to continue with the referral process. 

Placement Agreement and Admissions

Once a preventative or revolving door placement has been agreed with St Matthias Academy, the following process will take place:

Step 1 – Placement confirmation

The placement is agreed with St Matthias Academy through the relevant local authority referral process.

Step 2 – Service Level Agreement (SLA)

A member of the St Matthias Academy admissions team will contact the referring school to arrange for the Service Level Agreement to be signed and shared between the relevant parties.

Step 3 – Family contact

Once the signed SLA has been received, the admissions team will contact the family to begin the admissions process.

Step 4 – Home visit and school tour

The admissions process includes a home visit and a tour of the provision to support the student's transition into St Matthias Academy.

 

Important Information

All referrals must follow the relevant local authority pathway. A placement should not be considered ready to proceed until it has been agreed with St Matthias Academy, the required documentation has been provided and the Service Level Agreement has been signed.

The admissions team will then coordinate the next steps with the referring school and family.

Parents/Carers are unable to apply directly to St Matthias Academy for a school place.