Is now the right time to raise admissions policy objections to the adjudicator?

[tuliptiptoe]

I want to refer a local school's 2016 admissions policy to the Schools Adjudicator because I think it breaches the National Admissions Code. Does anyone know if I can do that as soon as it's published, or whether I have to wait until the deadline for publication (15th April) has passed? (I know the window of opportunity only lasts until June 30th, but don't know if it has a specific start date too).

Also, is the objection process still anonymous? Last year I raised a (succesful) objection about another school and there was an online form to fill in, where you could check a box to say you wanted to remain anonymous. This year it seems to have changed - you have to email them a MS Word pro-forma, and there's no anonymity option specified or any information about how the form will be processed. A friend has already sent the form in about another school about a week ago, but hasn't had any acknowledgement back yet.

Has anyone else had anything back from them re 2016 policies yet?

Given that the deadline hasn't passed, why not alert the school, anonymously if you wish, to the fact that their policy breaches the Code - giving them a chance to revise it and republish it before the deadline and avoid a lot of fuss and drama? Or is the fuss and drama something you are actively seeking?

Why are you concerned about anonymity? If there is a mistake, they should be delighted you have alerted them to it so they can rectify it ?

I've already done that FishWith, but they didn't acknowledge there was a problem and just said that their policy was reviewed by the LA every year.

My experience of raising an objection last year was that there wasn't any fuss and drama at all - it was dealt with very discretely. It was a subtle issue, and needed a formal judgement, for which the school was ultimately grateful as they weren't sure how to interpret the guidelines.

DontGo, when the latest Admissions Code was published there was also a change to the objection processes. Now anyone can raise an objection, and many valid issues are being uncovered as a result - you only have to look at the long list of judgements and to read the adjudicator's annual report to see that.

If anonymity is option then I prefer it, that's all. The fewer barriers there are to people feeling able to report problems the better in my view. Parents are understandably wary of being whistle blowers in their local communities.

Thanks Tiggy - that's helpful. Yes, I meant anonymity in the published judgement and anonymity from the school/Diocese/LA, not anonymity from the adjudicator.

You can't refer proposed admission arrangements to the Adjudicator. You have to wait until they are finalised ("determined" in the jargon). They must be determined by 15th April but you can object earlier if the arrangements are determined earlier.

My understanding is that the Adjudicator is still willing to provide anonymity if requested. I would write it on the form in the space for details of your objections.

Ideally we should be able to rely on Local Authorities to scrutinise the admissions policies of local schools, but in my experience they don't do that very effectively. Schools that are their own admissions authorities have become very complacent as a result, and sometimes deal with criticism from parents in a very off-hand manner.

I did this last year. I had to give my details to the OSA but they were completely anonymous as far as the school was concerned. They were made to change their whole policy. I also contacted the school first but they claimed their policy was fine - it wasn't.

I find it a bit odd that they say they're concerned about anyone other than a parent being anonymous. What about, for example, governors or headteachers at other local schools - they know the admissions code inside out and are likely to recognise issues when they see them, but I could see it being awkward for them to raise issues publicly about other schools.

It's the issue that's important, not the person raising it. When we have literally thousands of admissions authorities, then many thousands of eyes are needed to scrutinise them. There needs to be a mechanism to stop people raising spurious objections repeatedly, but otherwise it's the rogue policies that need to be highlighted, not the people that surface them.

My experience is that governors and head teachers know very little about admissions. Very few know the Admissions Code inside out.

And very few parents do too prh47bridge, which is why it's important that the mavens of this world roll up their sleeves and blow the whistle where it's due.