Twin in year Admissions... Admission advice please

[deliciouslytipsy]

Dear Admissions experts,

Please can you help.

Re Infant admissions/in year admissions

I understand that twins are excepted children now for reception admission and that classes can go over 30 if the last child accepted is one child in a twin/multiple.

Can the local authority say that they do not want to accept the twin, or that they are allowed to go over thirty but they choose not to? Or are they legally obliged to accept both children? Also are there extenuating circumstances (can the school say that they don't have the capacity to deal with the extra child and therefore refuse to take the child).

Also is this the same for an in year admission (Reception).

Thanks

The LA has to find places but does not have to admit both children to the same school. However, if they don't both get the same school you can appeal. Given that the second twin would be excepted many appeal panels would find in your favour in this situation.

The rules for in year admissions are the same as for the normal admissions round.

Tiggytape - I am puzzled by your assertions regarding Reception admissions. The Admissions Code is the same regardless of whether we are dealing with in-year admissions or the normal admissions round. If one twin is admitted normally (i.e. not as an excepted pupil) the second is automatically an excepted pupil. The admission authority does not have to admit the second twin in either the normal admissions round or for in-year admissions. However, if they don't I would normally expect an appeal to be successful.

There is a level of greyness around the issue of twins, aided and abetted by pronouncements from politicians that do not exactly match what is in the regs.

In both the 2012 regs, which covers the SEpt 2015 admission and the December 2014 regs which covers all in-year applications from now on plus 2016 admission the only references to admission of twins is around infant class size regulations and excepted pupils. My understanding of the regs is slightly different than tiggytape so

For sept 2015 admission a twin is 30th in the class then the other twin can be admitted as an excepted pupil. But whilst the expectation is that they would be admitted it does not say they must be admitted, only that they are considered an excepted pupil. What the admission authority must do is offer the place to one of the siblings rather than offer to somebody else further down the admission criteria order. So in theory the admission authority could say they do not want to admit and go to appeal for the second twin. My inclination is to say that the admission authority will be on a loser trying to win that appeal. But the parent would have to accept the place for one of the twins before they can appeal or they would loose the place offered.

For an in-year application and it was an infant class with 29 in it then under 2.15G the second twin would again be considered an excepted pupil and there is no automatic right of entry but at appeal again the weight is very much on the admission of said pupil.

For year 7 pupils and all in-year admissions to junior classes and secondary age classes the exception for twins does not exist and as such there is no legal right to the place. You can only go to appeal and see how panels view the situation

As a twin mum, I can say it is a real pain in the behind. We have been effectively locked out of changing schools in Y3 because of this ruling (and the kids were on the waiting list since reception - and it's our local school). The head had the leeway to admit both in Y3 but refused. The result is that I really can't move the children from the current school... it's not just the logistics (they would be at schools three miles apart that start at 9am) so much as the fact that the nature of their relationship is such that I cannot separate them without causing them real upset. The children didn't want to be in separate classes, let alone separate schools. To do this to them would be cruel. I think it is different from normal siblings - who have separate friends and life in different year groups. Twins are often bound together in a way that means it is cruel to separate (and the advice from the twins and multiple birth association is that classroom separation can be damaging for some sets of twins with negative consequences lasting right to the end of primary school - so imagine what school separation could be like...). It feels very unfair to me, as by granting twins excepted status the law is recognising that they are a special case.... but then not carrying it through for in year admissions, seems against the spirit of the law. It should really be challenged.

Our LEA told me that if a place came up in infants I should accept the place and appeal, and would likely win. It is a big risk though, as if we lost, the kids would be in separate schools, potentially for a very long time.

In Juniors, whether or not to admit the second twin is left to the the discretion of the head. The LEA only forces the head to say yes to looked after children (i.e. the LEA will say yes to some types of excepted children and not others). In our case, the head said no.

Out of curiosity: are looked after children in a different category of 'excepted' to twins? On what grounds would the LEA make this decision?

not 'decision' ... distinction.

If you are appealing for Y3 that puts a different complexion on things. Infant class size regulations don't apply to Y3 and above. The head may want to restrict the class size to 30 but unless the classrooms are small or the school is full to overflowing an appeal panel is unlikely to support that position. Most appeal panels will happily take a class up to 32 or 33 pupils.

Even if you are appealing for a place in infants (i.e. Reception, Y1 or Y2) I would agree with your LA's advice. Yes, there is a chance you would lose the appeal. But given that the provision for twins in the Admissions Code you would have a very strong chance of success. And if the school concerned admits the second twin as the 31st child in the normal admissions round I would say a successful appeal was a certainty.

Whichever year you are appealing for I would strongly recommend accepting the place if one is on offer then appealing for the other twin.