School Admissions and Appeals
School Admissions and Appeals
The Governance Board for all voluntary aided schools is the admissions authority while the Academy Trust Board is the admissions authority for all trust schools. All admissions arrangements are subject to the Department for Education Schools Admissions Code and Appeals Code and all governors should be familiar with these documents. Admission authorities must have admission arrangements that clearly set out how children will be admitted, including the criteria that will be applied if there are more applications than places at the school.
Consultation
Where changes are proposed to admission arrangements, the admission authority must formally consult with the diocese about proposed admission arrangements before any public consultation. Statutory consultation must be for a minimum of 6 weeks and must take place between 1 October and 31 January. This consultation period allows parents, other schools, and the local community to raise any concerns about the proposed admission arrangements. If no changes are made to admission arrangements, they must be consulted on at least once every 7 years. We recommend that admission arrangements are consulted annually, and arrangements are sent to the diocese by 1 October each year.
Determination
All admission authorities must meet and determine their admission arrangements, including their PAN, every year by 28 February in the determination year, even if they have not changed from previous years and a consultation has not been required. Once admission authorities have determined their admission arrangements, they must notify the diocese.
Publication
All admission authorities must publish a copy of the determined arrangements on the school’s website by 15 March in the determination year and continue displaying them for the whole offer year (the school year in which offers for places are made). Admission authorities must also send a copy of their full, determined arrangements to the diocese and local authority as soon as possible before 15 March in the determination year.
Oversubscription Criteria
The admission authority for the school must set out in their arrangements the criteria against which places will be allocated at the school when there are more applications than places and the order in which the criteria will be applied. All children whose Education, Health and Care Plan names the school must be admitted. If the school is not oversubscribed, all applicants must be offered a place.
The Code does not give a definitive list of acceptable oversubscription criteria. It is for admission authorities to decide which criteria would be most suitable to the school according to the local circumstances.
Faith based oversubscription criteria in schools designated with a religious character
Schools are required to offer every child who applies, whether of the faith, another faith or no faith, a place at the school if there are places available and they must give priority to looked after children and previously looked after children of the faith before other children of the faith. Admission authorities must ensure that parents can easily understand how any faith-based criteria will be reasonably satisfied.
Admission authorities for schools designated as having a religious character must have regard to any guidance from the diocese when constructing faith-based admission arrangements (please see EDBE committee guidance).
Applying for places in the normal admissions round
Local authorities must provide a common application form (CAF) that enables parents to express their preference for a place and returned to the local authority in the area that they live. The offer to parents must be made by the home local authority.
Supplementary Information forms
In some cases, admission authorities will need to ask for supplementary information forms in order to process applications. If they do so, they must only use supplementary forms that request additional information when it has a direct bearing on decisions about oversubscription criteria. Places must be allocated on the basis of the oversubscription criteria only. An applicant must not be given additional priority solely on the basis of having completed a supplementary form. Admission authorities must not ask, or use supplementary forms that ask, for any of the information prohibited:
- any personal details about parents and families, such as maiden names, criminal convictions, marital, or financial status (including marriage certificates);
- the first language of parents or the child;
- details about parents or a child’s disabilities, special educational needs, or medical conditions;
- parents to agree to support the ethos of the school in a practical way;
- both parents to sign the form, or for the child to complete the form.
Allocating places
Admission authorities must allocate places on the basis of their determined admission arrangements only. A decision to offer or refuse admission must not be made by one individual in an admission authority. Where the school is its own admission authority the whole governing body, or an admissions committee established by the governing body, must make such decisions. The admission authority must keep a clear record of any decisions on applications, including in-year applications.
Where it is not possible to convene a face to face meeting of a governing body or the admissions committee (where applicable) in order to make a decision on an application, decisions may be made ‘virtually’, provided members are ‘present’ – for example via telephone or video conference. Admission authorities must ensure their processes comply with relevant governance requirements.
Offering a place
Where schools are oversubscribed, admission authorities must rank applications in accordance with their determined arrangements. The qualifying scheme must ensure that:
- only one offer per child is made by the local authority;
- for secondary school applications, all offers must be made on the same secondary National Offer Day, i.e. 1 March or the next working day, and
- for primary school applications, all offers must be made on the same primary National Offer Day, i.e. 16 April or the next working day
Waiting lists
Each admission authority must maintain a clear, fair, and objective waiting list until at least 31 December of each school year of admission, stating in their arrangements that each added child will require the list to be ranked again in line with the published oversubscription criteria. Priority must not be given to children based on the date their application was received, or their name was added to the list. Looked after children or previously looked after children allocated a place at the school in accordance with a Fair Access Protocol must take precedence over those on a waiting list.
Admission of children below compulsory school age and deferred entry to school
Admission authorities must provide for the admission of all children in the September following their fourth birthday. The authority must make it clear in their arrangements that where they have offered a child a place at a school:
- that child is entitled to a full-time place in the September following their fourth birthday;
- the child’s parents can defer the date their child is admitted to the school until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age and not beyond the beginning of the final term of the school year for which it was made; and
- where the parents wish, children may attend part-time until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age.
Admission of children outside their normal age group (Summer Born)
Parents may seek a place for their child outside of their normal age group. In addition, the parents of a summer born child may choose not to send that child to school until the September following their fifth birthday and may request that they are admitted out of their normal age group – to reception rather than year 1. Admission authorities must make clear in their admission arrangements the process for requesting admission out of the normal age group. Admission authorities must make decisions on the basis of the circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the child concerned. This will include taking account of the parent’s views; information about the child’s academic, social, and emotional development; where relevant, their medical history and the views of a medical professional; whether they have previously been educated out of their normal age group; and whether they may naturally have fallen into a lower age group if it were not for being born prematurely. They must also take into account the views of the head teacher at the school concerned.
Useful Admissions Links and Resources:
Admission and Appeal Guidance for own admission authorities – Voluntary Aided Schools and Academies:
- Admissions Checklist
- EDBE Guidance for Admissions
- Timeline
- School Admissions Code
- School Admissions Appeals Code
Key Contact:
Christina Mabin, Senior Diocesan Education Adviser
Tel: 01392 294 939
Mobile: 07966 652587
Email Christina
