| SPOTLIGHT |
Buckinghamshire Council has apologised after it reportedly asked parents to prove their financial situation in order for their children to be considered for a state school place.
In a letter seen by The Daily Telegraph, a mother was told that her daughter had been rejected by two local state schools because they were full.
The mother had applied for a place at two state secondary schools due to fears she could be priced out of her daughter’s private school by the Government's plan to charge private schools VAT.
According to the Telegraph, the response from Buckinghamshire council said: “Unfortunately we cannot offer any places at your preferred school/s as they are full.
“In this circumstance, we would normally advocate that [the child] should remain at their current school. However, if you can provide evidence that you can no longer finance the independent school fees, please advise and we can make a local authority non-preference allocation.”
The council said they wanted to “apologise for the choice of language” and said that the letter did not reflect any “formal policy”.
While local authorities can ask for some additional information from parents in the applications process, the Government's school admissions code states that they must not ask for a family’s financial status.
Other protected characteristics include:
All children in England between the ages of 5 and 16 are entitled to state schooling.
Buckinghamshire Council’s website notes it has received a “large number of applications” for schools in Aylesbury and High Wycombe, and that the schools are “oversubscribed”.
It warns that in most cases it will not be able to offer children a place at their preferred school, and that it may need to offer places at different schools for children in the same family.
Anita Cranmer, Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Education and Children’s Services said: “This wording was taken from an individual correspondence rather than being a formal policy and we apologise for the choice of language; we are confirming this direct with the family and will not be seeking personal financial information from them or any other Buckinghamshire family.
“The intention was to seek confirmation in this case as to whether the family was relinquishing the child’s current school place and would definitely be seeking an ‘in year’ school place even though their preferred school is full, or whether they would be staying at their current school which is often the case when families aren’t able to get a place at a preferred school.”
She continued: “We have been able to offer a number of children from independent schools a place in their preferred school where they have applied ‘in year’, but this is not always possible, such as in this case. If a family still wishes to move from their current school provision in spite of not being able to get a place at their preferred school, we would explore a non-preference offer in a school with space.”
Lottie Winson
