Kelvin Hall School is a popular, over subscribed school in Hull. One of the criteria for admission is distance to the school. Kelvin Hall School have been using Basemap’s TRACC software for their annual admissions.

Mrs Helen Harrison, PA to Headteacher used the tool and in her own words describes how TRACC made a difference: “In order to calculate the shortest walking distance precisely, we needed an easy to use but accurate software to calculate the coordinates. We decided to use the TRACC software. The school purchased the software and were given detailed training on how to use it, with help also at the end of the phone at all times. The software calculated the exact distance of the northings and eastings of the applicants address to the school, which gave us the most accurate distance possible. The software also gave us the option to allow a footbridge into our calculations, that was an exception in our Admissions Policy. It also gave us the option to exclude any roads that were not in our policy. The school received over 750 applications and by uploading these into the software, we had our results immediately, creating a fair and accurate process to present to the applicants. Kelvin Hall could not have produced such accurate results so easily, without the TRACC software and would highly recommend it to other schools and academies who run their own admissions process.”

“When a school does their own admissions, there are a lot of pupils who are not offered a place. Parents often cannot understand how they can live close to a school and not get a place (our furthest from using the software is 1.29 miles). This creates a backlash when refused a place and it creates a lot of the school having to explain why their child was declined. Your software is so precise we can demonstrate honestly and fairly how our decisions were arrived at, this can also be demonstrated when parents appeal for a place. This accurate information is vital to schools, making it very marketable for the price. If we, and other schools, did not do their own admissions, the local council do them for you, rather than a consultancy service. In our experience, if another party is calculating your admissions, then the admin and process is not always easy to explain to parents how they have arrived at their decision”