Meeting:	Decision Session - Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education
Meeting date:	15 January 2024
Report of:	Rachelle White and Maxine Squire
Portfolio of:	Councillor Webb - Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education

Decision Report: Coordinated Admissions Schemes and Admission Arrangements for 2025-2026 School Year

Report Subject - Admission Arrangements for 2025-2026 School Admissions

1. This report seeks approval of the admissions policies and published admission numbers for community and voluntary controlled schools – schools for whom the City of York Council is the admission authority – for the school year beginning in September 2025.

2. It also seeks approval of the coordinated admissions schemes for the City of York area – for which the City of York Council is the coordinating Local Authority – for applications to start the school year beginning in September 2025.

3. It also seeks a decision as to whether to support, not support or remain impartial for any amendments to admission arrangements for Multi Academy Trusts who are their own admission authority.

Benefits and Challenges

4. The benefits of the Admission Consultation and decision- making process is to ensure that as a Local Authority we are fulfilling our statutory duty to provide school places for children residing in the city and our sufficiency requirement.

5. The challenges are that as some proposed requests are being made by Academy Trusts, who are their own Admission Authority we can only support or not support the proposal but ultimately the decision is made by Trust and not City of York Council.

6. Under the terms of the Education Act 1996, the Local Authority has a statutory duty to ensure that sufficient places are available for every child of school age, to promote diversity, parental choice and high educational standards; to ensure fair access to educational opportunity; and to help fulfil every child's educational potential. Academy trusts should work collaboratively with LAs, dioceses and other schools in the area, to ensure that there is a co-ordinated approach to place planning and delivery. The Department for Education has a strong expectation that academy trusts will support LAs to meet the Sufficiency Duty by providing additional places where they are needed and reducing the number of places offered where they are surplus to requirements.

Policy Basis for Decision

7. The co-ordination of school admissions is a statutory duty of the local authority and supports Article 2 of the Human Rights legislation that no person should be denied the right to education:

Financial Strategy Implications

8. There are no financial strategy implications. The local authority receives funding from the central services block of the dedicated schools block to deliver the statutory duty to co-ordinate admissions.

Recommendation and Reasons

9. Recommendations:

That the proposed changes to the Admission Arrangements for September 2025-2026 be accepted and supported based on the evidence shown in the Options Analysis and Evidential Basis section of this report.

10. Reason:

To ensure that City of York Council continue to meet their statutory duty as set out in the terms of the Education Act 1996 and also work collaboratively with Academy Trusts to meet that duty whilst also appreciating the financial pressure on schools and trusts currently.

Background

11. It is the duty of the admission authority to carry out a consultation each year on admission arrangements where these have changed, or at least once every seven years. Admission arrangements include the admissions policy and the published admission number (PAN) for each school.

12. In the case of maintained schools, the admission authority is the local authority (LA), whilst for voluntary aided or academy schools it is the governing body or academy trust of the school.

13. As academies have come together in multi-academy trusts (MATs), the admission arrangements have been increasingly set by the trust boards of these MATs as the admission authority for all schools within the MAT. As the number of academies in York has increased and resulted in larger trusts, the centralisation of the policy and admissions functions has become more prevalent. However, in some cases the matter for setting an individual school’s admission arrangements may be delegated to the Local Governing Committee of an individual academy.

14. Admission policies detail what information should be provided by applicants and how preferences will be ordered according to the oversubscription criteria should schools be oversubscribed – that is where there are more applications for places than there are places available.

15. Published admissions numbers (PANs) are important because they relate to the maximum number of children it is intended to admit in the year of entry (reception in primary and infant schools, year 3 in junior schools, and year 7 in secondary schools). For year 12 entry in secondary schools, this number is the intended number of external applicants to be admitted, that is excluding those that attended Year 11 at that school who meet the required academic standards for and continue into Year 12.

16. Separate from the responsibility to set admission arrangements for its schools, it is also the duty of the LA to have in place area-wide coordinated admissions schemes for each coordinated year of entry. These schemes apply to all state funded schools in the LA area and detail how and when applications can be made and coordination between admission authorities and local authorities will take place.

Consultation Analysis

17. After an invitation from the LA, all admission authorities within the LA area have agreed to take part in a joint consultation to provide parents, schools and other interested parties with the admissions arrangements for 2025 – 2026 in one place for those taking part.

18. Where a MAT are changing their admission arrangements, they are also holding their own admission consultation in the Autumn to request responses through their own MAT website and school websites. Responses are considered prior to determination.

19. LA officers have continued to support MATs and existing academies with the formulation of their admission arrangements, many of which now have arrangements that are operationally identical to the LA’s own arrangements. Continuing the work which was jointly undertaken in 2017 with partner admission authorities, officers have continued to work with trusts in the development and maintenance of common definitions and practices between the policies of these schools, the LA, and the MATs where possible.

20. This work assists academies with their admission arrangements and supports schools with their responsibilities, which were previously the responsibility of the LA, but also promotes the admissions policies of all non-faith schools are aligned where possible. This work has continued the consistency of the admissions process especially where policies are the same as the LA policy.

21. Although coordinated by the LA, the responsibility for the formulation, determination and consultation of admission arrangements for schools for which the LA is not the admission authority remain the responsibility of the respective governing body/academy trust.

22. The School Admissions Code of Practice 2021 requires that where consultation takes place it must be for a minimum of 6 weeks between 01 October and 31 January. Determination of these admission arrangements by admission authorities must be completed by 28 February 2024 for the school year beginning in September 2025. This timeframe means that consultation on arrangements takes place up to 23 months before children would be due to start school.

23. Neighbouring LAs, school head teachers, governing bodies, dioceses, and those that had previously expressed a continued interest in school admissions in York were sent details of the consultation. The views of residents and parent/carers were also sought, although as is common, only a small number of residents responded via online survey or in writing.

24. The consultation ran from 2nd October until 12th November 2023 and included admission arrangements for schools in the LA area for the 2025 - 2026 school year as listed in the annexes. Information was made widely available online and publicised by schools and the LA in newsletters and notices with reminders sent to all school offices and head teachers and requested to be forwarded to their respective Chair of Governors via email.

25. In previous years the number of responses have been minimal and not directly relating to the admission arrangements. There are not expected to be an increase in responses this year as the proposals are not thought to be contentious however any responses received will be detailed in the final version.

Options Analysis and Evidential Basis

26. The recommendations in this report have been prepared following consultation with schools and others. The Executive Member can approve, reject or modify the proposals relating to community and voluntary controlled schools contained in this report and attached annexes. The Executive Member may also choose to support or if objecting may raise a statutory objection to voluntary aided and academy schools admission arrangements, though these bodies will have undertaken a parallel process of determining their arrangements since the consultation closed, and therefore some may have already formally determined their arrangements.

Published Admission Numbers (PAN)

27. The following general principles should apply when considering increases in PANs:

28. The school should have enough physical space to accommodate a full complement of children in each year group, based on the proposed number (or agreement from the local authority to provide additional space). Alternatively, there must be firm capital project plans in place to provide any additional accommodation required and the required funding must be secure.

29. The increase should form part of the agreed place planning strategy for the area. This means that there should be sufficient demand from within the school’s catchment area (if applicable), or from across the wider community, to limit the risk of drawing increased numbers of pupils away from other schools.

30. The proposed number should enable relatively straightforward organisation of classes, bearing in mind the infant class size limit of 30 children per fully qualified teacher for reception, year 1 and year 2 pupils.

31. The following general principles should apply when considering decreases in PANs:

32. The school must still be able to accommodate demand from within their local area (catchment area, parish or priority area).

33. The requested number should enable or facilitate relatively straightforward organisation of classes, bearing in mind the infant class size limit of 30 children per fully qualified teacher for reception, year 1 and year 2 pupils.

Maintained School Proposals

34. There is one maintained school PAN change within the admission arrangements for 2025-2026.

School	Proposal	Recommendation	Reason
Joseph Rowntree School	Reduce PAN from 232 to 210 pupils	Approve	To enable school to have a more efficient and effective resourcing model. Joseph Rowntree is forecast a falling roll. The reduced PAN would enable an efficient seven form entry.

35. Joseph Rowntree Secondary School is located in the Secondary Planning Area North (SPA North) and is a maintained school with an Ofsted rating of Good. The PAN at Joseph Rowntree is 232; however, for the purposes of school organisation, the school is considering reducing the PAN to 210 from September 2025.

36. Having previously increased the PAN to accommodate rising numbers, the school has seen its roll fall in recent years, and it is projected to continue with lower rolls over the next few years. In order to maximise resources and bring some stability, the school proposes a PAN of 210 to reduce the number of teaching groups by 1 group. This would build in some flexibility to go over the 210 should additional places be needed for in-year migration.

37. The table below shows the anticipated number of children expected to be living in Joseph Rowntree’s catchment area and requiring a place at Joseph Rowntree over the next 5 years. It is based on known births within catchment and historical migration, preference and allocation data. However, these figures exclude the growing number of children from other catchment areas who will be allocated a place at Joseph Rowntree due to their special educational need requirements.

	2024/25	2025/26	2026/27	2027/28	2028/29
Forecast need for Y7 at Joseph Rowntree	203	199	209	209	188

38. It can therefore be seen that Joseph Rowntree is forecast to have sufficient places for children living within catchment with a PAN 210. However, the number of children applying for and needing places at Joseph Rowntree can also be affected by numbers in other local schools. Additionally, across schools we aim to have a surplus capacity of a minimum of 5% to facilitate in-year migration.

Year	24/25	25/26	26/27	27/28	28/29	29/30
January 2023 Forecast Y7 Demand North SPA	586	578	576	547	538	529
January 2023 Forecast Y7 Places North SPA	621	621	621	621	621	621
January 2023 Surplus Y7 Places North SPA	35	43	45	74	83	92
Surplus Y7 Places with PAN reduced to 210	35	21	23	52	61	71

39. In-year migration is both inward and outward across different year groups and a PAN 210 could cause difficulties whilst the numbers of secondary aged pupils in SPA North remains high (lower numbers across the SPA are projected from 2027/28).

Year	24/25	25/26	26/27	27/28	28/29	29/30
January 2023 Forecast Y7 Demand Joseph Rowntree	203	199	209	209	188	192
January 2023 Forecast Y7 Places Joseph Rowntree	232	232	232	232	232	232
January 2023 Surplus Y7 Places Joseph Rowntree	29	33	23	23	44	40
Surplus Y7 Places Joseph Rowntree with PAN reduced to 210	29	11	1	1	22	18

40. The shaded surplus shows that there would be some years in which the SPA has a surplus capacity below 5% or Joseph Rowntree does.

41. Analysis of the current number of pupils in catchment primary schools and a weighted average for the proportion starting Y7 in Joseph Rowntree suggests there may be a slightly higher number of pupils starting Y7 in the next few years than was originally forecast. If these higher numbers apply, there is a concern that there could be a deficit of places at Joseph Rowntree with a PAN of 210.

Year	2024/25	2025/26	2026/27	2027/28
Forecast Y7 Demand Joseph Rowntree (catchment schools)	209	213	216	215
Forecast Y7 Places Joseph Rowntree	232	210	210	210
Surplus/Deficit Y7 Places Joseph Rowntree	23	-3	-6	-5

42. In summary, we would support the proposal for the school to reduce its PAN to 210 as we understand the financial pressure the school will be under if it is unable to do so. However, if the school goes ahead with the decision to reduce the PAN to 210 from 2025/26, it could be difficult to place everyone in Y7 and facilitate in-year migration across the SPA. School leadership has reassured CYC officers that the school could have some flexibility and would be willing to accommodate all children living in catchment should it be necessary.

VA and Academy Proposals

School	Proposal	Recommendation	Reason
Bishopthorpe Infants School	Reduce PAN from 50 to 30 pupils	Support	Bishopthorpe Infant School has a falling roll and birth rates are projected to continue at the lower numbers. The reduction in PAN would enable a 1 form entry structure.
Archbishop of York Junior School	Reduce PAN from 60 to 45 pupils	Support	Archbishop of York has a falling roll and lower numbers in the partner infant school. A reduction to 45 at this point ensures all current children at the infant school a place while enabling more efficient organisation of classes

43. As Bishopthorpe Infant School and Archbishop of York Junior School are both South York MAT and also the same catchment area, their forecast data is shown together.

44. Bishopthorpe Infant School is a 2 form entry school, located in the south of the city in primary planning area 5 (PPA5). Bishopthorpe Infant has a published admission number (PAN) 50 and net capacity 170. It is part of the South York Academy Trust with an Ofsted rating – Good.

45. The current number on roll at the school is significantly below the 170 places available.

Current Number on Roll (NOR)
Reception	25
Y1	48
Y2	47
NOR	120

46. Archbishop of York Junior School is also a two form entry school, with intake at Year 3. It has a PAN of 60 and net capacity 240. It is also part of the South York Academy Trust with an Ofsted rating – Outstanding.

47. The current number on roll at the school is below the 240 places available.

Current Number on Roll (NOR)
Y3	45
Y4	55
Y5	59
Y6	48
NOR	207

48. 32 children have been allocated a reception place at Bishopthorpe Infant school in September 2023/24. This is above the proposed new PAN for the school.

49. A coordinated request with Archbishop of York Junior School would ensure children continue to be able to progress straight from the infant school to the junior school.

50. An individual school forecast from Business Intelligence for the two schools shows that the number of children expected in Reception each year is lower than the current PAN 50. It is worth noting that forecasting at an individual school level increases the risk of inaccuracies that might come about due to changes in parental preferences and migration etc.

	Forecast
	2022/23	2023/24	2024/25	2025/26	2026/27	2027/28
R	25	32	24	22	17	22
1	48	25	32	24	22	17
2	47	51	27	34	26	23
3	45	49	53	28	36	26
4	55	45	49	53	28	36
5	59	58	47	51	56	30
6	48	56	55	45	49	54

51. This suggests that reducing to PAN 30 in 2025/26 would leave enough capacity for demand at Reception but not for Year 3 when the 2023/24 Reception intake reaches Year 3 in 2026/27.

52. Forecasts do not suggest there is a requirement for greater than a PAN 30 on national offer day (NOD). Currently 70% (3-year weighted average) of children allocated Bishopthorpe Infants on NOD live in Bishopthorpe Infants catchment. Small numbers of additional children could therefore be pushed back to their own catchment school if necessary.

	Catchments of children allocated Bishopthorpe Infant School
Allocation Year	Bishopthorpe Infant School	Other	Total
2022/23	22	10	32
2021/22	17	8	25
2020/21	37	14	51

53. A very high proportion of the Bishopthorpe catchment attends Bishopthorpe Infant School and Archbishop of York Junior School (a weighted average of 91%) so even if all the children in catchment were to apply, they should be absorbed into the schools.

	Allocations of children from Bishopthorpe catchment
	Bishopthorpe Infant School	Other	Total
2022/2023	22	2	24
2021/2022	17	3	20
2020/2021	37	1	38

54. Birth rates have fallen in the catchment in recent years and are projected to remain low.

Reception Year	2021/22	2022/23	2023/24	2024/25	2025/26	2026/27	2027/28	2028/29
Birth Year	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23	2023/24
Actual / forecast births	27	14	24	18	16	13	17	17

55. The table below shows the number of reception places forecast to be required in PPA5 over the next 7 years. A reduction in PAN would reduce the surplus by a manageable amount.

Year	2023/24	2024/25	2025/26	2026/27	2027/28	2028/29	2029/30
Surplus/Deficit Reception Places in PPA5 BI PAN unchanged	48	53	78	84	83	82	82
Surplus Reception Places in PPA5 BI PAN reduced to 30	48	53	48	54	53	52	52

56. If PAN is not formally reduced, Bishopthorpe Infants is obliged to accept children to PAN both on NOD and as in-year transfers. If single year group classes are maintained, this could cause significant financial difficulties for the school, particularly if numbers are in the low 30s.

57. Currently the 3-year weighted average is for more children to join both Bishopthorpe Infants and Archbishop of York Junior school in-year, than leave the school. Although this would make it more difficult for children to join, the projected surplus capacity is within the 5% recommended for in-year migration.

58. Additional housing is planned for the Copmanthorpe Primary catchment area in PPA5. This is not expected to have a significant impact on the schools in Bishopthorpe as there is current and projected surplus at Copmanthorpe Primary School. However, this should be monitored as families start to move into the developments.

59. In summary a reduction in PAN would enable the schools to reduce their surplus and plan school organisation effectively. Reducing both the Infant and Junior PAN to 30 at the same time would have risked children about to start at the infant school being unable to transfer to the junior school. Alongside consulting on reducing the junior school PAN to 45 this year, it would be prudent to consult on reducing the PAN at the junior school further 3 years after the infant school to maintain the number of places offered through the primary phase.

School	Proposal	Recommendation	Reason
Scarcroft Primary School	Reduce PAN from 60 to 45 pupils	Support	Scarcroft has an increasing surplus of places and will be able to restructure to more efficient class sizes.

60. Scarcroft Primary School is a 2 form entry school, located to the south of the centre of York and is in primary planning area 6 (PPA6) along with Knavesmire Primary School. Scarcroft has a published admission number (PAN) 60 and net capacity 420 and is part of the South Bank Multi Academy Trust (MAT) with an Ofsted rating – Good.

61. The current number on roll (NOR) at the school is below the 420 places available.

Current Number on Roll (NOR) From January Census
Reception	48
Y1	46
Y2	56
Y3	56
Y4	56
Y5	61
Y6	64
NOR	387

62. Forecasts suggest a PAN 45 will be high enough for projected Reception numbers. The January 2023 forecast for PPA6 below shows that the number of children expected in reception each year is lower than the current combined PAN of 120 and also the proposed combined PAN of 105.

Without PAN change

Year	2023/24	2024/25	2025/26	2026/27	2027/28	2028/29
R	96	89	88	78	79	79
1	109	100	92	91	81	82
2	104	110	101	93	92	82
3	111	103	109	100	93	92
4	120	115	106	113	104	96
5	121	122	117	108	115	106
6	128	125	126	121	112	119
Total	789	764	739	704	676	656
Capacity	840	840	840	840	840	840
Surplus	51	76	101	136	164	184

With PAN change

Year	2023/24	2024/25	2025/26	2026/27	2027/28	2028/29
R	96	89	88	78	79	79
1	109	100	92	91	81	82
2	104	110	101	93	92	82
3	111	103	109	100	93	92
4	120	115	106	113	104	96
5	121	122	117	108	115	106
6	128	125	126	121	112	119
Total	789	764	739	704	676	656
Capacity	840	840	825	810	795	780
Surplus	51	76	86	106	119	124

63. Without taking any action, PPA6 is forecast to have an increasing surplus of places at whole school level over the next 7 years. By reducing the PAN this will go some way to reducing the surplus in the area.

64. An individual school forecast from Business Intelligence for Scarcroft Primary School shows that the number of children expected in reception each year is lower than the current PAN 60. It is worth noting that forecasting at an individual school level increases the risk of inaccuracies that might come about due to changes in parental preferences and migration etc.

Year	2022/23	2023/24	2024/25	2025/26	2026/27	2027/28	2028/29
R	45	49	39	42	38	39	39
1	42	47	52	41	44	40	41
2	55	43	48	53	42	45	41
3	58	52	41	45	50	40	42
4	56	59	53	42	46	51	41
5	60	53	56	51	40	44	49
6	64	61	54	57	52	41	45
Total	380	364	343	331	312	300	298
Surplus Places	40	56	77	89	108	120	122

65. We are not forecasting there to be more than 45 children requesting a place as a first preference at Scarcroft Primary School for NOD in the next few years. Furthermore, not all children choosing Scarcroft are from within catchment as, with a central location it attracts children from a wide range of catchments and small numbers of additional children could therefore be pushed back to their own catchment school, if projected births or parental preferences etc were significantly higher than expected.

		Catchment of children allocated Scarcroft
	Scarcroft Primary	Total Non-Scarcroft catchment	Grand Total
2023/24	34	15	49
2022/23	29	16	45
2021/22	25	14	39
2020/21	35	15	50
2019/20	51	0	58

66. There are currently no significant housing developments planned within the planning area and additional pupils from the Terry’s development have been accounted for in forecasts. If there are developments in the future it may be necessary to raise the PAN then.

67. In conclusion, falling birth rates and recent migration rates suggest that there will be enough capacity at Scarcroft Primary School to reduce the PAN from 60 to 45.

School	Proposal	Recommendation	Reason
St Lawrence’s CE Primary School	Reduce PAN from 30 to 15 pupils	Support	St Lawrence’s has falling rolls leading to an increased surplus. This change would enable the school to have a more efficient and effective resourcing model.

68. St Lawrence’s CE Primary School is a 1 form entry school, located in the eastern side of York and in primary planning area 8 (PPA8) with seven other schools. St Lawrence’s has a published admission number (PAN) 30 and net capacity 210 and is part of the Pathfinder Multi Academy Trust (MAT) with an Ofsted rating – Requires Improvement.

69. The current number on roll (NOR) at the school is below the 210 places available.

70. In response to the lower numbers seen coming into Reception this year and next, and in order to better meet the school’s organisational needs, the Pathfinder Trust has this year informed CYC of their intention to reduce the PAN to 15. Should the Trust decide to go ahead with this PAN change, it would take effect from September 2025/26.

Current Number on Roll (NOR) From January 2023 Census
Reception	16
Y1	18
Y2	23
Y3	21
Y4	20
Y5	23
Y6	25
NOR	146

71. Recently there has been high in-year migration into and out of the school, due to its central location. This means the number in each cohort changes as they move through school. Capacity may be needed for inward migration to the school. The numbers allocated for Reception each year tend to increase between the initial allocation and September. For example, 23/24 allocation started at 12 but had risen to 15 by July. None of the cohorts currently in school have had fewer than 15 in the Reception class and only two of the current cohorts are below the proposed PAN. This could leave little capacity for inward migration in the future, putting pressure on places at St Lawrence’s and other local schools.

	16/17	17/18	18/19	19/20	20/21	21/22	22/23
Current Reception							17
Current Y1						15	14
Current Y2					15	18	20
Current Y3					12	13	22
Current Y4			15		13	12	12
Current Y5		22	23		15	18	19
Current Y6	26	20	20		19	18	17

72. Forecasts suggest that within the planning area there may be capacity for a reduction in PAN to 15.

Without PAN change

Year	2023/24	2024/25	2025/26	2026/27	2027/28	2028/29	2029/30
Reception	248	235	220	204	205	205	206
Year 1	236	250	236	220	204	205	205
Year 2	231	232	245	230	215	199	200
Year 3	250	231	232	244	229	214	198
Year 4	239	253	233	233	245	230	215
Year 5	267	240	253	233	233	244	230
Year 6	263	271	243	255	235	235	246
Total	1,734	1,712	1,662	1,619	1,566	1,532	1,500
Capacity	1955	1940	1925	1925	1925	1925	1925
Surplus	221	228	263	306	359	393	425

With PAN change

Year	2023/24	2024/25	2025/26	2026/27	2027/28	2028/29	2029/30
Reception	248	235	220	204	205	205	206
Year 1	236	250	236	220	204	205	205
Year 2	231	232	245	230	215	199	200
Year 3	250	231	232	244	229	214	198
Year 4	239	253	233	233	245	230	215
Year 5	267	240	253	233	233	244	230
Year 6	263	271	243	255	235	235	246
Total	1,734	1,712	1,662	1,619	1,566	1,532	1,500
Capacity	1955	1940	1880	1865	1850	1835	1820
Surplus	221	228	118	146	234	303	320

73. An individual school forecast for St Lawrence’s shows that the number of children expected in Reception each year is variable, with changes in birth rates causing volatility over the next few years. It is worth noting that forecasting at an individual school level increases the risk of inaccuracies that might come about due to changes in parental preferences and migration etc.

Birth Rates

2021/22	2022/23	2023/24	2024/25	2025/26	2026/27	Projected Births
2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23	2023/24	2024/25	2025/26	2026/27
40	40	38	23	26	38	27	27	27	29	29

74. School Forecast (based on birth rates, a weighted average of birth to reception migration and a weighted average of changes between national offer day and September).

						Projected Births
Year	2022/23	2023/24	2024/25	2025/26	2026/27	2027/28	2028/29
R	14	12	9	10	14	14	10
1	15	15	13	10	11	15	15
2	19	15	15	13	10	11	15
3	18	19	15	15	14	13	18
4	12	20	21	17	17	16	15
5	16	11	19	20	16	16	15
6	16	17	12	20	20	17	17
Total	110	109	104	105	102	102	105
Surplus Places	100	101	106	105	108	108	105

Catchments of children allocated St Lawrence’s CE Primary School

	St Lawrence’s	Other	Total
2023/24	6	6	12
2022/23	6	9	15
2021/22	2	12	14

75. Reducing the PAN at St Lawrence’s may mean there are not places available for children from other catchments, who would then be pushed back to their catchment schools. Tang Hall would not have had the capacity for the numbers allocated St Lawrence’s over the last 3 years.

Schools attended by children from St Lawrence’s CE Primary School catchment

	St Lawrence’s	Other PPA8 schools	PPA7 schools	Other
2023/24	6	7	5	4
2022/23	7	6	6	3
2021/22	2	7	12	2

76. A large proportion of the children from St Lawrence’s catchment attend other schools in PPA8 and even more so, PPA7 which has the closest alternative primary schools to St Lawrence’s. There is currently pressure on places in PPA7 due to a large housing development at Germany Beck that is projected to continue. As places fill from within catchment in PPA7 this could push children back into their catchment schools in PPA8:

PPA8 Forecasts

Year	2023/24	2024/25	2025/26	2026/27	2027/28	2028/29	2029/30
Reception	106	110	132	105	109	110	112
Year 1	118	107	112	133	107	110	110
Year 2	115	121	111	115	137	109	112
Year 3	122	124	131	120	125	147	117
Year 4	124	126	128	135	124	128	150
Year 5	116	131	134	135	143	131	135
Year 6	128	122	139	141	143	150	137
Total	829	841	887	884	888	885	873
Sum of Year Group Places	840	840	840	840	840	840	840
Surplus/Deficit	11	-1	-47	-44	-48	-45	-33

77. It is understandable that St Lawrence’s wants to reduce PAN in order to consolidate classes and reduce costs. It is possible that a change in PAN to 15 would have a detrimental effect on admission to St Lawrence’s and surrounding schools. Although falling birth rates are projected, they may be mitigated to some extent by inward migration and pupil yield from housing development in PPA7. However, CYC officers understand that it will be financially unviable to continue with cohorts significantly below 30 and that a PAN of 15 would support reorganisation of the school.

Admission Policies

78. The LA has consulted with relevant admission authorities on the proposed admissions arrangements for the 2025-26 school year. The City of York has proposed the published admission number (PAN) for all schools, highlighting any changes in Annex 42. The City of York proposed coordinated schemes and admissions policies are set out in Annexes 3–7. Policies for voluntary aided and academy schools are contained in Annexes 8-20 with Year 12 admissions policies contained in Annexes 29-33.

79. The coordinated schemes, Annexes 3 and 4, are applicable to all state funded schools in York including community, voluntary controlled, voluntary aided and academy schools.

80. The City of York admissions policy for each year of entry is applicable to all schools for which the LA is the admission authority; that is all community and voluntary controlled schools. Voluntary aided and academy schools operate their own admissions policies, though as stated above those of schools that have recently become their own admission authorities are almost identical to the admissions policies for community and voluntary controlled schools. The LA assists in the formulation and maintenance of these other policies each year whilst these schools maintain their wish for the similarity of these policies to the LA’s own policies to the benefit of residents.

81. The City of York admissions policies have had no changes from those determined in 2023.

VA and Academy Proposals

82. There are two changes to the draft admission policies provided by voluntary aided and academy schools, who are their own admission authorities, from those determined last year. Both relate to the All Saints RC School admissions.

83. All Saints RC School, now part of Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust have amended their admission policy to include named feeder schools of all trust schools. The policy includes the more comprehensive list of all feeder schools for criteria 2 of the admission policy which includes all trust schools. Due to the significant distance from All Saints RC School, The Trust and Place Planning Officer do not expect this to have an impact of school place sufficiency at school.

84. All Saints RC School have also amended their admission policy to advise that of the additional 15 school places offered in Year 10 (as a result of the move from the lower school site to the upper school site), the additional places will be offered in the first instance to any pupils demonstrating an aptitude for Performing Arts. This process will be managed by the school staff.

85. Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust have been advised that this must be compliant with the School Admissions Code 2021 and if it is not compliant, and any parents appeal against a decision to refuse a place, this would be noted in an appeal hearing.

86. Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust schools policy is included in this consultation. They were not included in the CYC consultation for 2024-2025 admissions last year due to the late change in trusts – From Margaret Clitherow to Nicholas Postgate.

Catchment Areas

87. Catchment areas are designed to be reasonable and clearly defined. The following factors are taken into account when considering the changes in catchment area:

a) The number of children (pupil yield) expected from the new housing developments;

b) The geographical location of the new housing developments in relation to nearby schools and the associated ease of travel;

c) The PAN and net capacity of nearby schools and their ability to accommodate additional pupils or where appropriate the school’s ability to expand;

d) The number of children living within the catchment area; historically, currently and the number forecast to be living within the catchment area in the future;

e) The trend in school preferences both into and out of the catchment area;

f)  The schools named in the Section 106 agreements for the new housing developments and therefore the associated potential funding available for any necessary expansion work.

88. There are no catchment changes proposed within this consultation.

89. All maintained schools and academies in York were asked for their comments on admission arrangements and proposed PANs. The consultation survey was accessed 6 times and received 1 response.

90. The open admission consultation which was available to the general public, stakeholders and other interested parties was accessed 7 times, 6 individuals left their details, and we received 4 responses.

91. Responses have been categorised below as either PAN consultation response, admission policy consultation response or catchment area consultation response.

PAN Consultation Responses

92. There were 2 responses as part as the consultation regarding the PAN reduction at Bishopthope Infant School and Archbishop of York Junior School, both in the South York MAT, regarding the pupil forecast data. As these relate to a MAT, the responses have been sent to them to consider within their consultation.

93. All pupil forecast data is provided to schools and MATs to be considered within decision to make any PAN amendments.

Admission Policy Consultation Responses

94. There were 2 responses as part of the consultation to Admission Policies; the first response requesting that an over subscription criteria is added to include the children of care experienced parents; the second that believes that the over subscription criteria of sibling, should come before the criteria of catchment children. Each response is considered below.

95. Care Experienced Parents – Care Experienced includes any individual who has been “looked after” at any time in their life. Care experienced parents as parents who has been “looked after” ordinarily at some point in their childhood. City of York Council do not currently include care experienced parents within their over subscription criteria for a number of reasons.

96. The Department for Education School Admissions Code 2021 currently advise throughout the code that looked after and previously looked after children must be given top priority regardless of the allocation process an Admission Authority use. This does not currently include care experienced parents. If the criteria were to be included within the definition or as a definition in its own right within the School Admissions Code, we would be required to include it within our admission arrangements.

97. Care experienced parents criteria would require a great deal of consideration on key points such as would the care experienced parents criteria only be applied where the LA they are applying to was their corporate parent? Where the responsible LA changes, would the care experienced parent criteria apply to more than one LA? If it was applied in all LAs how would this be evidenced?

98. School places are provided based on school place sufficiency forecasts which forecast the numbers of children living in the city, planning areas and catchment areas under each over subscription criteria. While an LA will have an indication of the number of looked after and previously looked after children in their LA, they will not be able to forecast how many care experienced parents reside in the LA. Therefore, the forecasts could be less reliable and could impact on school place sufficiency.

99. As a Local Authority and Corporate Parent, we do offer information, advice, guidance and support to our residents and offer additional support where necessary. We also regularly review our information and processes to ensure they are inclusive and accessible for all. Within school admissions, we do offer advice and support with making school applications and accessing school information.

100. While we are not including care experienced parents within our admission arrangements for 2025-2026 admissions, we will continue to review our arrangements annually.

101. Sibling children – City of York operate a catchment area based process for allocating school places whereby each address has a catchment primary school and at least one catchment secondary school.

102. Siblings who live within catchment are prioritised over catchment children so that siblings living in catchment will likely be placed together over non siblings.

103. Catchment is a higher criteria than siblings (out of catchment) as our priority is that catchment schools cater for catchment children. Our school place sufficiency planning is based on the principle of the number of children living in catchment, which is information that we can access in terms of pupil data. We do not have access regarding siblings out of a catchment area which would impact on school place planning.

104. Using catchment criteria over sibling criteria also deters families moving into a catchment area for a short period of time to access education and ensure that all subsequent children can attend a non-catchment school.

105. The inconvenience that some families may encounter, if children are allocated or attend different schools, is acknowledged by the LA however CYC do advise parents/carers in our allocation letters and admissions information, that “if the place your child has been allocated is at a school, which you are not in the catchment area of, or if you move out of the catchment area, then you may have less chance of being successful when applying for younger siblings.” Therefore the parents/carers can make an informed decision whether they move out of catchment.

106. When CYC receive in year applications for siblings, whether in catchment or not, and siblings cannot be placed together family are advised and they can then choose whether they want the children to be placed in the same school or not.

107. Siblings as a criteria is placed above distance children, - to give siblings living out of area priority over non siblings living out of catchment and give them a greater chance of being placed in the same school after those living in catchment.

108. Where an application for a school place is refused, parents/carers do have the right to appeal and can include the inconvenience of siblings placed in different school within their appeal which an independent appeal panel can consider.

109. While CYC is not amending the admission arrangements for 2025-2026 to include siblings over catchment children, the LA will continue to review information to ensure that information, advice and guidance on this is clear. The council will continue to review arrangements annually.

Catchment Area Changes Responses

110. There were no responses as part as the consultation regarding catchment changes.

Organisational Impact and Implications

111.

· Financial: Changes to admission limits at schools have no direct impact on Local Authority funding as the council will continue to be funded for all pupils at the same level, regardless of the schools that they attend. For individual schools pupil numbers do have an impact on school funding, particularly if the school is changing in size, as pupil led funding is lagged (based on the previous autumn census numbers for the following financial year). For schools that are growing the additional pupils will not be funded for the first 7 months (12 months for academies). However, depending on the scale and reason for the growth, the school may be eligible for some funding from the pupil growth fund.

· Human Resources (HR): There are no immediate HR implications for the Council associated with the proposals. Where schools are changing their pupil numbers on roll and this impacts on staffing, procedures will be followed and managed in line with school HR policies when appropriate consultation processes have been undertaken. The Council does not provide a HR advisory service to schools but works closely with school advisory services including North Yorkshire Council who provide the majority of school HR advice.

· Legal: Admission arrangements for all schools, whether the relevant admission authority is the Local Authority, Governing Body, or Academy Trust, must comply with the requirements of the School Admissions Code 2021 (issued under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998) (the “Code”).

Where an admission authority proposes a reduction to the Published Admission Number, consultation is required under the Code. The consultation carried out between 2^nd October and 12^th November 2023 complies with all relevant requirements of the Code.

Under the Code, parents have the right to appeal against any decision to refuse their child a place at a school for which they have applied, a process which is further governed by the School Admission Appeals Code 2022. Where a reduction in PAN for any of the schools mentioned in this report leads to a higher number of refusals, there is a chance that more parents will choose to appeal against those refusals. Where pupils are being “pushed back” to schools in other areas, those schools may also see higher numbers of appeals as there will be more pupils competing for available places. Although an appeals panel must take PAN into account when hearing an appeal, this will not be the sole deciding factor and therefore places may be granted at appeal even where this would put the school above PAN.

With regards to the proposed amendment to the admissions policy of All Saints RC School which would introduce a priority for children showing an aptitude for performing arts when applying for entry to Year 10, the relevant admission authority is Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust (“NPCAT") and therefore while the Council may support or object to the proposed arrangements the decision to implement these is not the Council’s to make. However, it should be noted that the Code makes clear that schools must not introduce any new selection by ability (save where a school is a designated grammar school, sixth form, or had partially selective arrangements in place during the 1997/98 school year) or prioritise children on the basis of current hobbies or activities. Where places are available, schools must offer places to every child who has applied for one “without condition”; where sufficient places are not available for every applicant, places must be allocated based on the school’s oversubscription criteria. NPCAT will need to satisfy themselves that the proposed amendment to their admissions policy is compliant with the Code. If it is not compliant, and any parents appeal against a decision to refuse a place, an appeals panel would be obligated to uphold an appeal if they considered that the child in question would have been granted a place but for the non-compliant element of the policy (for example if they would otherwise have fallen in a higher priority category of the oversubscription criteria compared to the last child admitted in the same round of applications).

· Procurement: There are no procurement implications.

· Health and Wellbeing: There is a strong correlation between educational attainment, life expectancy and health (The Kings Fund, 2017) and there is evidence which shows that certain groups of children and young people are more at risk of poor outcomes (No Child Left Behind, 2020).

School settings are important for forming or changing health behaviours (The Kings Fund, 2017) and all children have a right to access education (Education Act, 1996).

Local authorities have a responsibility to process any school application in accordance with the School Admissions Code (2021), which sets out mandatory requirements and statutory guidance for any school admissions. The purpose of this Code is to ensure that all school places for maintained schools and Academies are allocated and offered in an open and fair way, with fair access protocols to ensure that vulnerable children and young people are allocated places supportive to their circumstances. In doing so, the proposals in this paper will contribute to reducing health inequalities in the city and giving children the best start in life, which are both aspirations of the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2022-2032.

· Environment and Climate action: An admissions policy which places significant weight on catchment areas ensures that school travel is more likely to be in accordance with Transport Policies approved by the Councils Executive. Attending a local school is more likely to result in active travel as way of attending education.

· Affordability: Affordability is not a matter that is considered as part of the admissions process and so there is no impact on those who have a low income in the city.

· Equalities and Human Rights: The Council recognises, and needs to take into account its Public Sector Equality Duty under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 (to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other prohibited conduct; advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it in the exercise of a public authority’s functions).

An Equalities Impact Assessment has been carried out and is annexed to this report at Annex 1. In summary, the result of the assessment is that there is little evidence to suggest that the proposals set out in this report could result in an adverse impact on people sharing a protected characteristic.

· Data Protection and Privacy: Contact: information.governance@york.gov.uk – Please see Annex 2

· Communications: There are no communications implications above those outlined in the report.

· Economy: There are no impacts on the Economy for this report.

Risks and Mitigations

112. N/A

Wards Impacted

113. All Wards

Contact details

For further information please contact the authors of this Decision Report.

Author

Name:	Rachelle White
Job Title:	School Admissions Manager
Service Area:	Education Support Services
Telephone:	01904 554239
Report approved:	Yes
Date:	18 December 2023

Co-author

Name:	Claire Roberts
Job Title:	Place Planning Officer
Service Area:	Education Support Services
Telephone:	N/A
Report approved:	Yes
Date:	18 December 2023

Background papers

No background papers.

Annexes

Annex 1	Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA)
Annex 2	Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA)
Annex 3	Coordinated Admissions Scheme - Primary and Infant Schools for Reception DRAFT
Annex 4	Coordinated Admission Scheme – Junior schools for Year 3 DRAFT
Annex 5	Coordinated Admissions Scheme – Secondary Schools for Year 7 DRAFT
Annex 6	CVC Admissions Policy – Primary and Infant schools for reception DRAFT
Annex 7	CVC Admissions Policy – Secondary Schools for Year 7 DRAFT
Annex 8	All Saints Roman Catholic School – Admissions Policy DRAFT
Annex 9	Archbishop Holgate’s Church of England School – Admissions Policy DRAFT
Annex 10	Ebor Academy Trust – Admissions Policy DRAFT
Annex 11	Heworth Church of England Primary School – Admissions Policy DRAFT
Annex 12	Hope Sentamu Learning Trust – Admissions Policy DRAFT
Annex 13	Manor Church of England Academy – Admissions Policy DRAFT
Annex 14	Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Roman Catholic Primary School – Admissions Policy DRAFT
Annex 15	Pathfinder MAT – Admissions Policy DRAFT
Annex 16	South Bank MAT – Admissions Policy DRAFT
Annex 17	South York MAT – Admissions Policy DRAFT
Annex 18	St. Aelred’s Catholic Primary School – Admissions Policy DRAFT
Annex 19	St. George’s Roman Catholic Primary School – Admissions Policy DRAFT
Annex 20	St. Wilfrid’s Roman Catholic Primary School – Admissions Policy DRAFT
Annex 21	All Saints Roman Catholic School – Supplementary Information Form DRAFT
Annex 22	Archbishop Holgate’s Church of England School – Supplementary Information Form DRAFT
Annex 23	Heworth Church of England Primary School – Supplementary Information Form DRAFT
Annex 24	Manor Church of England Academy – Supplementary Information Form DRAFT
Annex 25	Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Roman Catholic Primary School Reception – Supplementary Information Form DRAFT
Annex 26	St. Aelred’s Roman Catholic Primary School – Supplementary Information Form DRAFT
Annex 27	St. George’s Roman Catholic Primary School – Supplementary Information Form DRAFT
Annex 28	St. Wilfrid’s Roman Catholic Primary School – Supplementary Information Form DRAFT
Annex 29	All Saint’s Roman Catholic School Year 12 – Admissions Policy DRAFT
Annex 30	Archbishop Holgate’s Church of England School Year 12 – Admissions Policy DRAFT
Annex 31	Fulford School Year 12 – Admissions Policy DRAFT
Annex 32	Huntington School Year 12 – Admissions Policy DRAFT
Annex 33	Joseph Rowntree School Year 12 – Admissions Policy DRAFT
Annex 34	Application Form – Fulford School Year 12 DRAFT
Annex 35	Application Form – Huntington School Year 12 DRAFT
Annex 36	Application Form - Joseph Rowntree School Year 12 – Internal Students DRAFT
Annex 37	Application Form – Joseph Rowntree School Year 12 – External Students DRAFT
Annex 38	Delayed and Deferred Admission to Primary School
Annex 39	In Year Coordinated Admissions Scheme
Annex 40	In Year Admissions Policy for Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools
Annex 41	Out of Cohort – Guidance for Schools
Annex 42	Published admissions numbers for state-funded schools