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Adam Wells

Adam Wells. Admissions & Pupil Benefits Manager Westminster City Council Tel: 020 7641 5973 Email: awells1@westminster.gov.uk. Overview. Role of Admissions Team Responsibility for admissions Key principles and legislation Determining admission arrangements Practice Right of appeal

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Adam Wells

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  1. Adam Wells Admissions & Pupil Benefits Manager Westminster City Council Tel: 020 7641 5973 Email: awells1@westminster.gov.uk

  2. Overview • Role of Admissions Team • Responsibility for admissions • Key principles and legislation • Determining admission arrangements • Practice • Right of appeal • Fair Access Protocol • Further information

  3. Westminster School Admissions & Pupil Benefits Team • Based at Council Offices in City Hall • Team of Seven Officers (6.5FTE) • Work closely with many agencies and other teams – eg Schools, Social Inclusion team, Education Welfare Service, Special Educational Needs Team, Looked After Children Team, other London boroughs etc.

  4. Westminster School Admissions & Pupil Benefits Team Key Roles • Guidance and advice service to parents & carers, schools and other interested bodies about all aspects of school admissions • Coordinate secondary transfer , primary school (reception class) admissions process and in year admissions • Admissions Team directly administers primary school admissions to the Local Authority’s community schools • Pupils without school places – advise parents/carers and track/monitor position of unplaced children

  5. Westminster School Admissions & Pupil Benefits Team Key Roles (continued) • Monitor and advise on school admission arrangements and practices • Clerk and support Westminster Admissions Forum • Administer applications for assistance with travel to school ie travel passes and free school • Set term dates for community schools and coordinate process with Voluntary Aided (VA) schools and Academies. • Important role in planning of school places • Administer independent admission appeals for community schools and facilitate appeals for own admission authority appeals through the use of an independent clerk and panels.

  6. Responsibility for Admissions Different types and status of school: • Community Schools • Voluntary Controlled Schools • Voluntary Aided Schools • Academies and Free Schools • Foundation Schools The Admission Authority (AA) for community schools and voluntary controlled schools is the local council, for all other schools it is the governing body/academy trust. Where the school is the admission authority, these are sometimes known as own admission authority schools (OAA).

  7. Responsibility for Admissions The Admission Authority • sets the admission criteria • sets the admission number for the school • determines who is offered places in accordance with the published criteria. • must arrange for an independent appeal to be heard against refusal of a place

  8. Key Principles • Key principle of admissions is parental preference. • Parents have the right to express a preference for any state funded mainstream school. • Parental preference does not equal choice. • AAs must comply with this preference unless to do so would prejudice the provision of efficient education or efficient use of resources. • This means that if the school has a vacancy must offer a place. • If not able to offer a place. Parent has the right of appeal to an independent appeal panel

  9. Main legislation • School Standards and Framework Act (Part 3, Chapter 1) • Admissions Code • Admissions Appeals Code • Associated regulations • Human rights and equalities legislation • AAs must act in accordance with all the above

  10. Determining admission arrangements • Admission authorities must annually determine their admission arrangements including the planned admission number (PAN) for each relevant year group of the school and the admission criteria to be used in the event of oversubscription. • Arrangements must comply with the Admissions Code and other relevant legislation. • If proposing to change admission criteria then must undertake statutory consultation on the changes, otherwise must consult every 7 years.

  11. Determining admission arrangements Statutory Consultation • Minimum 8 week period between 1st November and 1st March. • Must consult with: • parents of children between the ages of two and eighteen • other persons in the relevant area who in the opinion of the admission authority have an interest in the proposed arrangements • all other admission authorities within the relevant area (except that primary schools need not consult secondary schools) • whichever of the governing body and the local authority who are not the admission authority • any adjoining neighbouring local authorities where the admission authority is the local authority • in the case of faith schools, the body or person representing the religion or religious denomination.

  12. Determining admission arrangements Statutory Consultation (continued) • AA must publish a copy of full proposed admission arrangements (including proposed PAN) on website with details of person to whom comments should be sent • AAs must send upon request a copy of the proposed arrangements to any of the statutory consultees. • Failure to consult effectively may be grounds for subsequent complaints and appeals.

  13. Determining admission arrangements Changes in PAN • OAAs just proposing to increase their PAN (but not change their criteria) do need to consult but must notify the LA and make specific reference to the change on their website after determination. • Local councils, at a minimum, must consult with the school’s governing body about any such changes. • AAs must consult if they wish to decrease the PAN. • Where an enlargement of the school premises is proposed then the governors of a maintained school must comply with the School Organisation Regulations. For academies/free schools any such enlargement must be agreed by the Secretary of State.

  14. Determining admission arrangements Determination, Publication and Objections • AAs must determine their admission arrangements annually by 15th April even if no proposed changes. • AAs must notify all schools in relevant area, and for church schools, the body representing their faith/denomination. • Must publish on school website • Must send a copy of full arrangements to local authority before 1st May. • Local authorities must by 1st May must publish all determined arrangements for all schools and academies in the area on their website together with information on how to object to the Schools Adjudicator (OSA). • Objections to the OSA must be made by 30th June. • Local authorities must publish their composite prospectus by 12th September.

  15. Practice Coordinated Admissions • Parents apply on Common Application Form of home local authority. OAA schools can have a supplementary form (SIF) if needed to consider fully under published criteria, eg faith criteria. • National closing date – 31st October (secondary) & 15th January (primary) • National offer date – 1st March (secondary) & 16th April (primary from 2014 intake – 17th April Pan-London date for 2013) • LA sends list of applicants expressing a preference for the school to AA. • AA must then consider all applicants and rank them in accordance with published admission criteria and return to LA. • LA then runs an algorithm to remove potential multiple offers, exchanging data with other boroughs until all multiple offers are removed. • Applicants are offered one school only – the highest preference for which they are eligible

  16. Practice In Year Admissions • Currently coordinated by LA as with primary and secondary transfer admissions. • No longer statutory to coordinate in year admissions from 2013 intake but all three tri-borough LAs still proposing to coordinate admissions as maintaining authorities. • Why continue? • Fair and equitable system • Ensure that every child is placed in school and CP concerns can be picked up • Ensure that there are sufficient places.

  17. Practice Notification • If have a vacancy must offer place. If oversubscribed, then determine who is to be offered from waiting list in accordance with published admission criteria. • If cannot offer must explain why and advise about right of appeal.

  18. Right of appeal • If not able to offer a place, the parent has a formal right of appeal to an independent appeal. • AA must make arrangements for appeal to be heard. • Must comply with Admission Appeals Code. • Parents must be given minimum 20 school days to appeal • Appeal must be heard within 40 school days of deadline or if late 30 schools days from receipt. • Must give at least 10 school days notice of hearing. • LA can facilitate this but is an AA responsibility. • Unsuccessful applicants can appeal on any grounds. • Grounds under which appeals can be upheld for infant classes are limited.

  19. Fair Access Protocol • All local authorities require to have Fair Access Protocols in place to ensure swift placement of children out of school and other vulnerable groups. • Schools can go over PAN to admit such children. • Ensures equitable distribution of hard to place children • LA can direct school to admit pupil if they refuse to admit (or refer case to Secretary of State for academies.)

  20. Further Information • School Admissions Team Tel 020 7641 1816/1817 Email schooladmissions@westminster.gov.uk Website www.westminster.gov.uk/admissions • 2012 School Admissions Code and School Admissions Appeal Code Download from www.education.gov.uk

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