Revised School Admissions Code - December 2014
Briefing
The new version of the Schools Admissions Code came into force on 19 December following
consultation undertaken by DfE over the summer.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-admissions-code--2
There have been two significant changes and a small number of minor amendments made in an
attempt improve the clarity of the Code.
The significant changes are:
• to allow all schools to give priority to applicants eligible for the Pupil Premium or Service
Premium which was initially available only to the academy/free school sector,
•
to allow all primary admission authorities to give priority in their admission arrangements to
children eligible for the early years pupil premium, pupil premium or service premium who
attend a nursery which is part of the school, and
•
to bring forward the timetable for determining admissions arrangements so that objections
can be resolved by the Schools Adjudicator before the start of the admissions round.
Additionally there have been changes which:
 clarify the provisions relating to the admission of summer born children to aid decisionmaking;
 clarify the provisions relating to the admission of children outside of their normal age group
The process to enable parents to request admission out of the normal age group must be made
clear in admission arrangements for 2016/17.
Resulting Actions
Schools who are their own admitting authority will receive periodic reminders from the School
Admissions and Transport service in relation to the consultation and determination of admission
arrangements process as the year progresses.
Where schools who are their own admitting authority have notified the School Admission and
Transport Service of determined admission arrangements which do not refer to “admissions outside
of the normal age group”, they will be prompted to do so.
At the recent School Admissions Meeting with Headteachers held during November 2014, those
Secondary Schools represented were not supportive of any change in relation to the present
admissions criteria in place for Community & Voluntary Controlled Schools.
In contrast, there was some support from primary headteachers for a discussion in relation to
priority for Early Years Pupil Premium Children in attendance at an attached nursery in admissions
criteria. There will, therefore, be a series of engagement exercises with primary school in relation to
this issue over the forthcoming year in time for the next statutory consultation period during the
Autumn of 2015.
Samantha Nicol
School Admissions and Transport Service
01785 278676
samantha.nicol@staffordshire.gov.uk
6 January 2014