Admission Policy

Management of Scout Group Admissions and Section Transfers

This Policy follows the principles outlined in the Castle Morpeth District Scouts Policy.

  1. We will always manage waiting lists for entries and transfers in a fair and justifiable way without discrimination.
  2. We utilise an Online Scout Manager (OSM) Waiting list, which is accessed through our Website.
  3. We will always try to keep waiting lists to a minimum by:
    1. Forward planning to anticipate numbers in Sections, Units and Groups
    2. Good management with our Group Registrar actively working with the Group Lead Volunteer and Group Section Team Leaders
    3. Increasing capacity within the Group if waiting lists become a permanent feature. This requires opening additional sections through recruiting additional adult volunteers.
  4. Group intakes occur three times a year, at the beginning of a new term, to accommodate existing members moving through from the younger sections and new children starting.

Priority

Inevitably, waiting lists will occur from time to time. We will manage admissions and transfers in the following priority order:

  1. Transfer of members between Sections within the Group (e.g. Cubs to Scouts in the same Group)
    Further prioritisation is shown below.

Where there are duplicate sections within a Group, the Registrar will manage requests for transfers (e.g. from one Cub Pack to another) but using these priorities as guidance.

  1. Transfer of members into a Section from another Group within or outside the District
    Priority order is: within the District, within the County, outside the County.

Further prioritisation for each of these is shown below.

  1. Entry for non-members
    Further prioritisation is shown below.

Further Prioritisation

Where the priorities above are not sufficient to manage a waiting list, the following criteria must be applied in the order shown:

  1. Parent/guardian commits to taking up a Scouting appointment
  2. Parent/guardian commits to regular support (normally every week)
  3. Sibling already in the Group
  4. Those children who have been the longest on the waiting list, once they reach the age requirement.
  5. Resident of Ponteland and the immediate locality
  6. Resident in an area not served by a Scout Group

Notes

Applications: applications will only be considered for young people older than 4 years. There is no advantage in applying earlier than this.

All applications must be made using the OSM system (linked through our Website). The Waiting list is monitored regularly by the Group Registrar. Enquiries received via the national Scouting Website are acknowledged and then required to be entered, by the applicant, into the Group’s OSM Waiting list system.  

Siblings: siblings will not automatically be given preferential entry. Parents/guardians must confirm they wish them to be considered for transfer to the next section. 

Full sections: in the event of all sections being full (as defined by the Group Lead Volunteer), priority will be given to situations where a parent/guardian volunteers to assist (additional priorities i and ii), in order to create more capacity.

Availability: at the time of application, parents/guardians will be given details of the Sections in the Group with vacancies. For requests for entry into a specific Section in the Group, applicants will be informed that they will be added to that Section’s specific waiting list and that it may take longer to find a vacancy than in other Sections. 

Allocation: Places will generally be assigned approx. 4 weeks in advance of the starting date. Before this time no places will be reserved. Parents/guardians listed on the OSM Waiting list will be notified of all available places in priority order. If an offer is rejected, the application will wait until vacancies again become available.  Parents/guardians are required to respond to the offer of a place in a timely fashion. If no response is received within 7 days, then the offer of a place may be withdrawn.

Discrimination: Prioritisation will only be based on the considerations listed. Importantly, there will be no positive or negative discrimination in the process for example by age, race, religion, gender, social differences or disability.

Entry/Transfer Ages

These are the ages that entry/transfers would normally be made. However, as indicated there is flexibility to cater for individual needs and circumstances at Team Leaders’ and Group Lead Volunteer’s discretion. These must be used for the benefit of young members and not for the needs of Groups/Units. These ranges can be extended but must be approved by the Group Lead Volunteer.

Section entering/transfering into Entry age Flexibility to enter/transfer at
Beavers 6 years 53/4 years
Cubs 8 years between 71/2 and 81/2 years
Scouts 10 years between 10 and 11 years
Explorers 14 years between 131/2 and 14 years
Network 18 years between 171/2 and 18 years

Membership in two sections at the same time is not permitted.

Last updated: May 2025