Admission authorities must do more to comply with code: Chief Schools Adjudicator

Admission authorities need to do more to comply with the requirements of the admissions code, the Chief Schools Adjudicator has said after a rise in disputes over its application.

The annual report of the Office of the Schools Adjudicator, published this week, revealed that 156 cases of the 256 it handled during 2011/12 related to admissions arrangements. This is up from 127 the previous year.

The report contained criticism of admission authorities for not publishing their arrangements promptly once determined, despite the mandatory requirements of the admissions code and comments in previous annual reports.

“Far too many own admission authorities do not comply fully with publishing complete admission arrangements,” it said. “This deprives parents and others of the opportunity to see and, if necessary, object as permitted by the code.”

Dr Elizabeth Passmore, the Chief Schools Adjudicator, called for action on a number of fronts to improve fair access for all children to state-funded schools in England.

She said:

• Local authorities needed to ensure they met the statutory requirements for making a direction to a maintained school before issuing a notice of intention to direct.
• Local authorities that were concerned about the number of late applications should use their local media to publicise the closing date for applications to remind parents to apply in time for a school place.
• The Department for Education should issue guidance for all local authorities and academy schools to follow if it is considered necessary to seek a direction for an academy to admit a child without a school place. 
• Schools with sixth forms needed to ensure their sixth form admission arrangements complied with the requirements of the admissions code. 

Passmore acknowledged in the report that admission authorities had responded promptly to changes in the new admissions code “by giving priority in their oversubscription criteria to children who were previously looked after by the local authority and have been adopted”. However, she insisted that more could be done.

This is the first annual report since Passmore took over from Ian Craig as Chief Adjudicator on 1 November 2011. She said: “We have received increasingly complex cases and have needed to work within old and new legislation at the same time this year.”

A copy of the annual report can be viewed here.