School Admissions Policies

[MovedAround]

Am I right in saying that it’s too late for a secondary school to change its admission policy for entry in September 2019? I have read the Admissions Code and I think that that’s what it says.

If that’s the case, is there anyway a school can do something to get round this?

Thanks

Yes, arrangements should have been determined by end Feb.

Own admissions authorities can increase PAN without consultation though.

Unless there has been a complaint to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator and it was upheld - in particularly thinking of this case:

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/530777/ADA3107_The_Latymer_School_Enfield_22_June_2016.pdf

This would be the school being forced to correct something which was contrary to the Code, rather than the other way round, though.

What do you think the school concerned has done / is trying to do?

Thanks both. A local school is saying they are going to consult on their admissions policy and I just wanted to check whether there is any possibility it would be implemented before 2019 intake.

I think a new admission policy has to be in place by the March of the previous year. i.e. to be operative for Sept 2019 it should have been in place by March 2018.

My LA told me last month that our local academy was open to changing it's admission criteria to bring them in line with the LA schools and that the LA had applied to the Schools Adjudicator to get this change through as a "variation" in the criteria, so that it could be enacted in time for the Sept 19 admissions. However, they received a response that the Secretary of State would need to be approached by the school directly as the school is an Academy. Does this sound correct? Can the Academy do this in time and is there much of a chance that the changes will be allowed (only a change in how they calculate distances)?

I’d like to know whether this would be allowed as well jaq. I didn’t think any variations were allowed

It is still possible for the Schools Adjudicator to make an admission authority change its admission criteria for September 2019 admissions but this will only happen if the authority has broken the Admissions Code or relevant law.

An academy is in a slightly different position to other state funded schools in that there is no legal requirement for it to comply with the Admissions Code. The requirement is contractual - part of the school's funding agreement. As that is an agreement between the school and the Secretary of State, it is possible that the SoS could allow an academy to change its admission criteria at this stage. I don't know whether or not the SoS would do so.

Thanks prh, that clarifies what I was told and I can explain to the prospective local councillors what the current situation is before any more mis-information is bandied about! Will have to wait and see what happens for next year.