Twins admission question

[3duracellbunnies]

Just wondering with the new admissions code, does the exception of a twin apply to twins on waiting lists for another school, so if one were offered a place in yr1 would the other one automatically be admitted or is it just for normal admission round for reception? Wanted to check for a friend. Thanks.

[loverofwine]

I understand that if one got in then the other would be pushed to top of the waiting list so that he/she is effectively going to be getting in

[3duracellbunnies]

I was wondering whether the new code though would avoid the need to wait for another place, if the second twin could push the class size up to 31? I think under the new code this can happen for reception admissions next Sept, but I wondered whether it would apply to in year admissions now?

[prh47bridge]

All the Admissions Code says is that if one child from a multiple birth is admitted, their siblings can be admitted without breaching the infant class size limit. It does not say that they have to admit the siblings. That is up to individual admission authorities to decide when they review their admission arrangements.

The admission authority should do the same thing regardless of whether it is the normal admission round or an in year admission. If they admit the siblings in the normal round they should also do so for in year admissions. If they do not admit the siblings in the normal round they should not do so for in year admissions.

[3duracellbunnies]

Ah right, so an appeal might be more likely to succeed say if they had already set the precedent of taking a sibling in year 4 to increase the class size to 31; but if a year 4 sibling would be made to wait for a place then a year 1 twin would probably also be made to wait. It is just that they can't cite infant class size as a reason to reject the appeal. That makes sense. Thanks

[admission]

Regrettably with the new slimmed down admission code, there are a lot of grey areas, which only judicial review is going to resolve. Whilst less is usually preferable to more, in this situation it is really a case of more for the lawyers than anything else.
I agree with PRH that it is going to depend on what is agreed locally, which is bound to lead to some confusion between different LAs. Given the sensitivity of the situation (and the bad news potential in the media) I suspect that most LAs will admit as a 31st pupil rather than risk the adverse publicity.