Government to consult on changes to School Admissions Code to “promote fairness for all families”

Setting out plans in the Schools White Paper, Every child achieving and thriving, the Department for Education proposed requiring schools to give parents more information about decisions on in-year admission.

Further, it proposed improvements to how fair access protocols are managed by local authorities, “to strengthen the safety net for children struggling to secure a school place in-year”.

The Government acknowledged that access to high performing local schools should not be dependent on factors such as families’ household income or local house prices.

It outlined plans to make the operation of banding arrangements clearer, by requiring schools to set out more details about how their arrangements work in practice and “tightening the rules that ensure banding produces representative intakes”.

The DfE said: “The school admissions code already provides tools to ensure schools can achieve representative intakes, particularly for applicants from a disadvantaged background, by, for example, enabling schools to prioritise children eligible for the pupil premium.

“[…] We will develop new resources to support and encourage schools to adopt more inclusive admission arrangements, working with key partners and drawing on best practice from the sector.”

The Schools White paper also sets out:  

• A new attendance target to recover 20 million school days per year by the end of the 2028/29 academic year compared to 2023/24;
• A commitment to develop minimum expectations for schools around engagement with parents, for example timely communication and high-quality transition from primary to secondary;
• Plans to increase SEND provision and support in mainstream schools, and raise the criteria for a child to secure an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
• Plans to reform deprivation funding for schools, by using household income rather than the “binary indicator” of whether a child receives free school meals or not.

The DfE said it will consult on all changes to the school admissions code later in the year.

Lottie Winson