Leicestershire County Council

1. Consultation on admission arrangements must be completed by 1st March 2009 by all admission authorities, with the arrangements determined by 15th April 2009. The consultation and publication requirements are summarised in the School Admissions Code (2007) Appendix 4. Following consultation, the policy as amended and agreed by Cabinet in April 2009, will have effect for admissions and intakes from September 2010 (ie decisions made during the 2009/10 academic year for intakes and transfers from Autumn Term 2010).

2. The local authority is the admissions authority for community and voluntary controlled schools. It is seeking views from schools, neighbouring authorities and other interested parties on its admission arrangements.

3. For voluntary aided and foundation schools the governing body is the admissions authority. The precise requirements for such governing bodies to consult are listed in the School Admissions Code (2007) Appendix 4 paragraphs 1 – 5.

4. Consultation consists of the admissions authority informing relevant parties of the proposed arrangements for the year 2010/11 (for the local authority this includes the admissions policy and the coordinated admissions schemes, primary and secondary) and inviting comments. The relevant consultees are listed in the School Admissions Code Appendix 4 paragraph 2.

5. The Local Authority’s Admissions Policy is contained in Administrative Memorandum No. 28, last reissued in September 2008.

Comments on any part of the local authority’s current policy are welcomed, as well as on the following specific matters.

Cases arise each year where catchment area entitlement is claimed because the child lives for part of the week with one of the parents in a school’s area. There is no clause currently in the local authority's policy to cover this circumstance. It is proposed that the following wording is inserted into the policy:

Where a child lives for part of the week with one parent and for part of the week with the other parent, the address recognised by the local authority is the one where the child lives for the majority of the school week. Where it is claimed that the weekly residence arrangement varies, both addresses will be valid, and in some cases the child will have two catchment area schools. These definitions depend on the written declaration of both parents, and if the claimed residence arrangement is found to be false the child’s place at the allocated school may be withdrawn even if the child has started attending.

This item was subject to consultation last year but no views were expressed at that time. It is the subject of further consultation this year.

Concern has been expressed that the local authority allocates catchment area requests for mid-term transfers on demand (as long as proof of residence is satisfied), even if a school’s admission number has been reached. (There are limits on this for infants, because of the infant class size limit.) To alter this would be a fundamental change for Leicestershire. However, comments are invited on the following proposal:

When a request is received for a child who has moved into a school’s catchment area and the school’s AN has been reached in the relevant year group, a place in an alternative school within walking distance is sought. Walking distance in Leicestershire is 2 miles for primary-age children and 3 miles for secondary-age children. If no alternative place is available then a place is allocated at the catchment school as requested.

Comment: the above may need some qualification, e.g.

Implications:

“Relevant Areas” define the scope of consultation, for voluntary aided schools and foundation schools in particular. The current statement in the policy is as follows:

Admission authorities consult within “relevant areas” on admissions arrangements. In Leicestershire, “relevant areas” are as follows:

(a) For community and voluntary controlled schools in Leicestershire the geographical boundary of Leicestershire is the “relevant area”.

(b) For each voluntary aided and foundation school in Leicestershire the “relevant area” is 8 kilometres (secondary) or 3.2 kilometres (primary).

It is not proposed to alter this, but comments are welcomed.

6. There are two local authority schemes for the co-ordination of admissions arrangements, for primary and secondary admissions. Comments are also welcome on these schemes, which are available here:

7. Schools’ Admission Numbers are published in the prospectus for parents entitled “Your Guide”. These numbers can only be changed with the local authority’s agreement, and in some cases the publication of statutory notices and the approval of the Secretary of State are required. In normal circumstances the admission number is the maximum for admissions to a year group, although the local authority’s admissions policy does describe circumstances in which an admission number might legitimately be exceeded. A school must contact the Learning Environment Team if any change to the admission number is being considered or requested. For queries please contact Alison Stanley (0116 305 6399) or Maxine Cansick (0116 305 6358).