11 January 2022

Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education

 

Coordinated admissions schemes and admission arrangements for the 2023-2024 school year

Summary

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 2023.

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 2023.

3.            It also seeks approval of the proposed published admission number for two maintained schools –

·        Carr Infant School

·        Westfield Primary School

        Recommendations

4.            The Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education is recommended to approve:

·          The proposed published admission numbers for all City of York Council schools for the school year beginning in September 2023, as set out in Annex A.

Reason: to meet the statutory requirements of the School Admissions Code of Practice.

·          The coordinated schemes and admissions policies for all City of York Council schools for the 2023-2024 school year, as set out in Annexes B – AD.

Reason: to meet the statutory requirements of the School Admissions Code of Practice.

Background

5.            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.

6.            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.

7.            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. 

8.            Admissions 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.

9.            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. 

10.         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

11.         After an invitation from the LA, all admission authorities within the LA area again agreed to take part in a joint consultation to provide parents, schools and other interested parties with all admissions arrangements for 2023-2024 in one place.

12.         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 that the LA supports with the formation of their admission arrangements.

13.         This work not only ensures that academies have valid admission arrangements and supports schools with their responsibilities, which were previously the responsibility of the LA, but also ensures that the admissions policies of all non-faith schools are, and continue to be aligned.  This work has continued the consistency of the admissions process.

14.         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.

15.         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 2022 for the school year beginning in September 2023.  This timeframe means that consultation on arrangements takes place up to 23 months before children would be due to start school.

16.         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.

17.         The consultation ran from 4th October until 14th November 2021 and included all admission arrangements for schools in the LA area for the 2023-2024 school year.  Information was made widely available online and publicised by schools and the LA in newsletters and notices with reminders sent to all school head teachers and their respective Chair of Governors via email.

Options      

18.         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 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)

 

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

a)   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.

b)   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. 

c)   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.

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

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

b)   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

 

The following change in PAN has been proposed by City of York Council, who are the admission authority for the schools below.

21.         Based on the principles in points 19 & 20, officers propose following detailed investigation of potential implications, the following change to PANs:

 

School

Proposal

Recommendation

Reason

Carr Infant School

Reduce the Published Admission Number (PAN) at Carr Infants from 90 to 60

Approval

To reduce the number of places available at the school to create a 2 form entry while still meeting sufficiency needs in the area.

 

Analysis – Carr Infant School

 

22.         Carr Infant School is a 3 form entry school, located in the west of the city in primary planning area 3 (PPA3). Carr Infant have a published admission number (PAN) 90 and net capacity 270 and are a maintained school with an Ofsted rating – Good.

 

23.         The current number on roll at the school is significantly below the 270 places available.

Current Number on Roll (NOR)

Reception

58

Y1

61

Y2

82

NOR

201

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

24.         59 children have been allocated a reception place at Carr Infant school in September 2021/22. Therefore when the larger year 2 class moves on to Carr Junior School in September 2021/22, there will only be one year group with over 60 children. The infant class size limitation of 30 children means if single year group classes are to be maintained, 3 classes will need to be provided in September for the new year 2 class. This has significant financial implications for the school.

 

25.         An individual school forecast from Business Intelligence for Carr Infant school shows that the number of children expected in reception each year is lower than the current PAN 90. 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

2020/21

2021/22

2022/23

2023/24

2024/25

2025/26

2026/27

Carr Infant

R

58

69

49

62

57

57

57

1

60

57

69

49

62

57

57

2

83

58

55

67

48

60

55

 

26.         Updating this data (shown in red) to include the current NOR and the number allocated in September, removes the larger reception intake that was previously forecast for September 2021/22. These updated figures do not include the additional children projected from the Civil Service housing development.

 

 

 

 

Projected Births

 

Year

2020/21

2021/22

2022/23

2023/24

2024/25

2025/26

2026/27

Carr Infant School

R

58

58

69

59

49

49

62

62

57

57

57

1

60

61

57

57

69

58

49

48

62

57

57

2

83

82

58

59

55

55

67

56

48

60

55

 

Forecasts show reduction in reception place requirements

 

27.         With the exception of the reception admissions round 2023/24, forecasts do not suggest there is a requirement for greater than a PAN 60 on national offer day (NOD). Currently there is a 72% (3-year weighted average) of children allocated Carr on NOD live in Carr catchment. Small numbers of additional children could therefore be pushed back to their own catchment school

 

28.         The percentage of children being allocated Carr Infant from within catchment has reduced from 65% in September 2019/20 to 51% for September 2021/22. This trend goes hand in hand with the increased proportion of children from Carr catchment being allocated Poppleton Ousebank or Poppleton Road, which has risen from 19% in 2019/20 to 35% in 2021/22. As births are also expected to stay low for Poppleton Ousebank and Poppleton Road, this higher proportion of Carr catchment children being allocated these two schools could remain at a higher level. Although previous site trajectories have suggested completions should be expected on York Central in 2021/22, Planning have confirmed this seems very optimistic and have instead suggested there could be completions in 2022/23 ‘at the very earliest’.

 

29.         In addition to this, recent data shows projected births to have been slightly inflated. Information received regarding birth data at York hospital suggests births have reduced again over the last 2 years. Although we can’t know how this reduction will be distributed across the city, it is possible there will be fewer actual births in Carr catchment for reception 2024/25 than have been projected.

 

30.         If PAN is not formally reduced, Carr Infant are 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 60s.

 

31.         Currently the 3-year weighted average is for more children to leave Carr Infant school in-year, than join the school. Although there has this year been a small increase of 1 child in Year 1, the trend has been outward for a number of years. If this trend continues, reducing the PAN should not cause any in-year pressures in placing children moving to Carr Infant School catchment.

 

32.         The west of the city is expected to undergo significant change over the next decade, with a number of new housing developments planned. Although work has begun on the Civil Service site, there is not thought to have been any completions to date. Communications with the site agent suggest homes will start to be delivered this monitoring year. Recent analysis of new housing developments suggest maximum pupil yield is around 8 years after first occupation. This therefore gives time to reduce the PAN and monitor the situation in the interim. School have also confirmed that they are keen to continue to monitor the PAN and increase to 75 or 90 as necessary, should new information suggest this is required.

 

33.         Planning have informed us that there have been further delays to the British Sugar housing development. As work is not expected to begin for a number of years and we know pupil yield will build slowly for a number of years after that, it seems unreasonable to continue to factor British Sugar into decisions to be made regarding Carr Infant’s PAN now. Planning have confirmed the current trajectory which indicates there will be completions at York Central in 2021/22 seems very optimistic. They expect these completions to be in 2022/23 at the very earliest.

 

34.         Without taking any action, PPA3 is forecast to have a large, increasing surplus of places at a whole school level over the next 7 years. By reducing the PAN this will go some way to reducing the surplus in the area.

 

35.         Confirmation has been received from Business Intelligence that reducing the PAN to 60 at Carr Infants has no impact on the forecasts for other areas of the city.

 

36.         There are significant numbers of housing developments planned in the west of the city in Carr Infant’s catchment area that might mean a reduction of PAN is only possible on a temporary basis. However if birth rates continue to decline as they are at present, new housing developments might simply ‘top up’ falling rolls and not require re-introducing a higher PAN. The ‘Land at Boroughbridge Road’ with 56 proposed dwellings, causes some uncertainty to place planning due in part to the proposal that it be 100% affordable housing.  Although planning permission has currently been rejected for the site, an appeal will be heard in the next few months. If agreed, the development is projected to increase the number of children living in Carr catchment by 14 children using the current primary pupil yield. Recent analysis of other new housing developments with 100% affordable housing has shown pupil yield is significantly increased due to the eligibility policies in use for affordable housing and in the 2 sites examined increased pupil yield to 62%. This analysis is less robust than would be ideal, due to the small number of suitable housing developments. Using this pupil yield we would expect there to be 35 additional children eventually living on the Land at Boroughbridge Road development. As the eligibility policies for the site are currently unknown this creates a lot of uncertainty surrounding how many children could potentially live on the site, should planning be agreed. Further work is required to analyse the trends in timing and ages of children who move into developments with 100% affordable housing.

 

37.         Reducing the PAN would mean this school/area requires proactive monitoring each admissions round to spot any changes in trend quickly and act swiftly. A reversal of the reduction in PAN could be required when new housing developments tend towards maximum pupil yield.

 

38.         Carr Junior School is already a part of South Bank MAT and with the recent announcement from the Government suggesting a push of maintained schools towards academisation, we can not rule out that Carr Infants will look to academise too. If this were to occur, it is possible additional classrooms that would no-longer be in use due to the reduced PAN, could be converted into office/conference space by the MAT. It might then be difficult to request these classrooms be brought back into use, putting future plans for accommodating projected children from new housing developments in jeopardy. A reduction in PAN at Carr Infant is likely to necessitate a reduction in PAN at Carr Junior too and we would be obliged to support this PAN reduction if we have already supported it at Carr Infants. Although the net capacity recorded in the school funding agreement would support there being additional space at the school, we would have less influence over ensuring we get these places back. Having said this, not supporting a reduction in PAN could be a driving force in pushing Carr Infant towards academisation, and result in them reducing their PAN anyway.

 

39.         As such officers recommend that the PAN reduction be approved for the reasons above.

 

School

Proposal

Recommendation

Reason

Westfield Primary School

Reduce the Published Admission Number (PAN) at Westfield Primary school from PAN 90 to 75

Approve

To reduce the number of places available at the school while still meeting sufficiency needs in the area.

 

Analysis – Westfield Primary School

 

40.         Westfield Primary School is a 3 form entry school, located in the west of the city in primary planning area 4 (PPA4). Westfield Primary School have a published admission number (PAN) 90 and net capacity 630 and are a maintained school with an Ofsted rating – Good.

 

41.         The current number on roll at the school is significantly below the 630 places available.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current Number on Roll (NOR)

Reception

80

Y1

59

Y2

60

Y3

78

Y4

82

Y5

81

Y6

55

NOR

495

 

42.         A request from Westfield primary school to reduce PAN from 90 to 75 was received prior to the admissions consultation 2022/23, however it was refused due to the known new housing developments and their trajectories at that point.

 

43.         Projected forecasts for Westfield for the next 6 years show significantly fewer than 90 children are projected to require a place at Westfield. Although 74 children were forecast to require a place in September 2021/22, current projections using actual allocation data with a 3-year weighted average allocation to reception percentage factored in suggest this figure is going to be closer to 63.

 

 

2021/22

2022/23

2023/24

2024/25

2025/26

2026/27

Reception

74

66

59

62

63

63

 

Argument for Reducing from PAN 90 to PAN 75 at Westfield

 

44.         As can be seen from the table above, although more than 60 children are forecast to be allocated a place at Westfield over the next 6 years, the number of allocated children is not expected to be greater than 75. Additionally, any pushback of children from Carr Infants in 2023/24 could still be allocated a place at Westfield with a PAN 75.

 

45.         Although historically the majority of children allocated a place at Westfield are from within catchment, there is some flexibility in the system for children to be pushed back to their catchment school. However a PAN 75 gives space in the system to allow for inaccuracies expected in forecasting at an individual school level.

 

Acomb Primary School

Carr Infant School

Hob Moor Community Primary School

Poppleton Road Primary School

Westfield Community Primary School

Woodthorpe Primary School

Grand Total

2021/22

0

1

1

0

56

3

61

2020/21

6

0

5

1

66

1

79

2019/20

3

2

5

0

51

3

64

 

46.         With the exception of migration between years 3 and 4, the 3-year weighted average is currently for more children to leave Westfield in-year, than join the school. Although there have been occasional increases, the trend has been predominantly outward for a number of years. If this trend continues, reducing to PAN 75 should not cause any in-year pressures in placing children moving to Westfield catchment.

 

47.         The large number of houses planned at the British Sugar housing development meant an allocations pushback was expected for Westfield from other impacted schools. However as we are now expecting further delays to the British Sugar housing development and we know pupil yield will build slowly for a number of years after that, it seems unreasonable to continue to factor British Sugar into decisions to be made regarding Westfield PAN.

 

48.         Without taking any action, PPA4 is forecast to have a large, increasing surplus of places at a whole school level over the next 7 years. By reducing the PAN this will go some way to reducing the surplus in the area.

Year

2021/22

2022/23

2023/24

2024/25

2025/26

2026/27

2027/28

Whole School Surplus Places in PPA4 Westfield PAN Reduced to 75

180

214

244

273

284

282

298

Whole School Surplus Places in PPA4 Westfield PAN Unchanged

195

244

289

333

359

372

403

 

 

49.         Confirmation has been received from Business Intelligence that reducing the PAN to 75 at Westfield has no impact on the forecasts for other areas of the city.

 

50.         There are significant numbers of housing developments planned in the west of the city that might mean a reduction of PAN is only possible on a temporary basis. However if birth rates continue to decline as they are at present, new housing developments might simply ‘top up’ falling rolls and not require re-introducing a higher PAN.

 

51.         Reducing the PAN would mean this school/area requires proactive monitoring each admissions round to spot any changes in trend quickly and act swiftly. A reversal of the reduction in PAN could be required when new housing developments tend towards maximum pupil yield.

 

52.         As such officers recommend that the PAN reduction be approved for the reasons above.

 

VA and Academy Proposals

School

Proposal

Recommendation

Reason

Robert Wilkinson Primary School

Reduce the Published Admission Number (PAN) at Robert Wilkinson Primary school from PAN 85 to 75

Support

To reduce the number of places available at the school while still meeting sufficiency needs in the area.

 

Analysis – Robert Wilkinson Primary School

 

53.         Robert Wilkinson School is a 3 form entry school, located to the north of York and is the sole school in primary planning area 19 (PPA19). Robert Wilkinson has a published admission number (PAN) 85 and net capacity 701 and is part of the Ebor Multi Academy Trust (MAT) with an Ofsted rating – Outstanding.

 

54.         The current number on roll (NOR) at the school is below the 595 places available.

 

Current Number on Roll (NOR) From May Census and Synergy

Reception

71

Y1

53

Y2

86

Y3

90

Y4

80

Y5

85

Y6

80

NOR

545

 

55.         Historically there has been high in-year migration into and out of this area, due to the location of an army barracks nearby. The PAN at the school was therefore kept artificially low to allow the school to better meet the needs of these children. It is not known what plans are in place for the Strensall Barracks and therefore in response to the lower numbers seen coming into Reception this year and last, and in order to better meet the school’s organisational needs.

 

56.         Forecasts suggest a PAN 75 will be high enough for projected Reception numbers

 

57.         The SCAP 2021 forecast for PPA19 below shows that the number of children expected in reception each year is lower than the current PAN 85 and also the proposed PAN 75. 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

2021/22

2022/23

2023/24

2024/25

2025/26

2026/27

R

62

70

62

59

60

60

1

52

63

72

63

60

61

2

86

52

63

72

63

60

3

92

88

53

64

74

64

4

76

88

84

51

61

71

5

82

75

86

82

50

60

6

81

81

74

85

81

50

Total

531

517

494

476

449

426

 

58.         Updating this data (shown in red) to include the current NOR and the number allocated in September 2021/22, highlights the difficulty of forecasting for geographically isolated schools. However although a large increase between National Offer Day (NOD) and the September start, as was seen this year, could potentially push the number of Reception children close to or above a PAN 75, particularly if other factors feeding in also increase slightly, this is the only time in the last 3 years that such a large increase has been seen in this period. In 2020/21 the number of Reception starters decreased between NOD and the September start, while in 2019/20, it increased by just 2 children. In addition to this, should additional children move into the area after NOD, they would be exempt from the infant class size rule which states classes must not exceed 30 children with a single teacher. This is due to the location of Robert Wilkinson and there being no alternative school within a reasonable distance.

 

 

Projected Births

Year

2021/22

2022/23

2023/24

2024/25

2025/26

2026/27

R

62

71

70

70

62

62

59

60

60

1

52

53

63

73

72

72

63

60

61

2

86

86

52

53

63

74

72

63

60

3

92

90

88

88

53

54

64

74

64

4

76

80

88

86

84

84

51

61

71

5

82

85

75

80

86

86

82

50

60

6

81

80

81

85

74

79

85

81

50

 

59.         We are not forecasting there to be more than 75 children requesting a place as a first preference at Robert Wilkinson Primary School for NOD in the next few years. Furthermore, not all children choosing Robert Wilkinson are from within catchment 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.

 

60.         Reducing to PAN 75 would begin to address the Surplus of places in PPA19.

 

61.         Without taking any action, PPA19 is forecast to have a large, increasing surplus of places at a whole school level over the next 7 years. By reducing the PAN this will go some way to reducing the surplus in the area.

Year

2021/22

2022/23

2023/24

2024/25

2025/26

2026/27

2027/28

Surplus Places in PPA19 Robert Wilkinson's PAN unchanged

63

80

107

124

155

181

174

 

 

62.         Potential Future Housing Developments - Although plans to use the site of the Queen Elizabeth Barracks for new housing developments (ST35 and H59) are deemed less likely to happen, it is possible this decision could change again in the future. This is unlikely to be an issue in the short term but could result in our requesting this PAN be reviewed once again in the future.

 

63.         As Robert Wilkinson Primary is an Ebor Multi Academy Trust (MAT) school, the decision lies with the MAT however in view of the information above we suggest that we support the MAT in their decision to reduce the school PAN.

Admission Policies

 

64.         The LA has consulted with relevant admission authorities on the proposed admissions arrangements for the 2023-24 school year.  The City of York has proposed the published admission number (PAN) for all schools, highlighting any changes in Annex A. The City of York proposed coordinated schemes and admissions policies are set out in Annexes B–H.  Policies for voluntary aided and academy schools are contained in annexes H – W with Year 12 admissions policies contained in annexes X – AB. We have also included the Delay and Deferral Policy annexe AC and Out of Cohort Guidance annexe AD.

65.

66.         The coordinated schemes Annexes B – E are applicable to all state funded schools in York including community, voluntary controlled, voluntary aided and academy schools.

67.         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.

68.         The City of York admissions policies have had no changes from those determined in August following the implementation of School Admissions Code 2021.

VA and Academy Proposals

 

The following change in school admission policy has been proposed by voluntary aided and academy schools, who are their own admission authorities

69.          

Schools

Proposal

Recommendation

Reason

Heworth CE Primary School

Removal of “other major world faiths” as a criteria within the school’s over subscription criteria

Support

As a MAT, they are their own admission authority responsible for the schools admission arrangements. The changes have been made in line with Diocese advice.

 

70.         The trust have removed the existing criteria 7 – children living outside the parish who regularly worship, or whose parent(s)/carer(s) regularly worship, at recognised place of worship for other world faiths with consultation with the Diocese of the Church of England.

 

71.         As such officers recommend that the admission policy be supported for the reasons above.

 

Schools

Proposal

Recommendation

Reason

St Lawrence’s CE Primary School

Reduce the over subscription criteria from 10 criterion to 8 criterion. The removal of “other world faiths” within and outside of the catchment area.

Support

As a MAT, they are their own admission authority responsible for the schools admission arrangements. The changes have been made in line with Diocese advice.

 

72.         The trust have removed the existing criteria 5 - children living within the parish who regularly and frequently worship, or whose parent(s)/carer(s) regularly and frequently worship, at recognised place of worship for other world faiths and criteria 9 – children living outside the parish who regularly and frequently worship, or whose parent(s)/carer(s) regularly and frequently worship, at recognised place of worship for other world faiths with consultation with the Diocese of the Church of England.

 

Catchment Areas

73.         Catchment areas are designed to be reasonable and clearly defined. The following factors have been 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.

 

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

 

Admission Consultation Responses

75.         All maintained schools and academies in York were asked for their comments on admission arrangements and proposed PANs. The consultation survey was accessed 14 times with 8 named respondents from school representatives.

76.         The open admission consultation which was available to the general public was also accessed 14 times including 6 named respondents including members of the public and parents and Church of England Diocese.

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

PAN Consultation Responses

78.         There were no comments raised regarding the school PAN reductions details within the Admission Consultation.

Admission Policy Consultation Responses

79.         The responses left relating to schools admission policies all agreed with the admission arrangements, over subscription criteria and PAN regarding their school arrangements.

80.         One respondent raised a comment regarding the minimum length of worship to be eligible for a foundation place. As this is a Diocese decision, the school respondent has been advised to discuss this with the Diocese and Multi Academy Trust.

81.         The Church of England Diocese have provided feedback regarding the Admission Arrangements for Church of England School Admission Arrangements. As the school are part of MATs for whom they are their own admission authority the comments have been passed to the MAT to consider and respond to.

82.         Heworth CE Primary School Governors have responded to the consultation regarding the admission policy relating to the length of time and regularity that a family are required to worship in order to be eligible for a foundation/faith place at the school. This has been referred to the Pathfinder MAT to discuss with the Diocese and school within their determination arrangements.

Catchment Area Changes Responses

83.          There are no catchment area changes within this consultation.

Additional Responses

84.         3 additional respondents stated that they had comments to make on the proposed admission arrangements, policies, oversubscription criteria or published admission numbers of any Voluntary Aided or Academy schools that have been proposed by those separate admissions authorities however they did not leave comments regarding the proposed arrangements included within the Admission Consultation therefore could not be included.

 

85.         One respondent asked for more information regarding applying to out of area schools. While this information is included within the Guide to Parents and associated documents and web pages, as this is not a school within the City of York it is not included within the Coordinated Admission Consultation by interested parties can respond to the consultation within which the school is included either by the MAT or North Yorkshire County Council.

 

        Implications
Financial   

86.         Changes to admission limits at schools has 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 does 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) but, depending on the scale of the growth, the school may be eligible for some funding from the pupil growth fund.

 

       Human Resources

87.         There are no HR implications.

        Equalities

88.         There are no implications relating to equalities.

 

Legal

89.         There are no implications relating to

Crime and Disorder

90.         There are no Crime and Disorder implications.

Information Technology (IT)

91.         There are no IT implications.

Property

92.         There are no property implications.

Other Implications

93.         There are no other implications.

Risk Management

94.         No direct implications.

 

Council Plan

95.         Well paid jobs and an inclusive economy

Education will continue to provide employment to those working in the education sector and their stakeholders. Whilst also providing with children and young people with the education, skills and knowledge to be able to join the job market when they finish their education.

 

96.         A greener and cleaner city

Both the Admission Consultation and school admission policies within the City of York focus on providing a local school for local children. Attending a local school allows greater opportunity for children and parents to walk or cycle to school.

 

97.         Getting around sustainably

Both the Admission Consultation and school admission policies within the City of York focus on providing a local school for local children. Attending a local school allows greater opportunity for sustainable travel including walking or cycling to school.

 

98.         Good health and wellbeing

The school admission policies give parents/carers choices for their child’s education so that children are able to attend local schools building friendships and be part of a local community, which assists with good health and well-being.

 

99.         Safe communities and culture for all

When schools are able to change their published admission numbers to the benefit of their pupils, staff and the local community, it illustrates a great deal of consideration for the needs of the local community and provides an effective learning environment for all.

 

100.      Creating homes and a world class infrastructure

The changes to school catchment areas are to include the planned new residential building developments to ensure that schools can cater for forecasts in the pupil numbers to allow the continuation of local children attending local schools.

 

101.      A better start for all children and young people

A city wide admissions policy that is agreed and fully consulted on ensures that all school admission policies are aligned and ensures fair access to education for all children and young people.

 

102.      An open and effective council

A city wide admissions policy that is agreed and fully consulted on ensures that all school admission policies are aligned and ensures fair access to education for all children and young people.

 

Contact Details

 

Author:

 

Chief Officers Responsible for the report:

 

Rachelle White

School Admissions Manager

School Services

01904 554239

 

Sarah Moir

School Place Planning Project Officer

School Services

01904 552743

Jamaila Hussain Director of Prevention, Commissioning and Education

Anne Coyle Director of Childrens services (Interim)

 

 

 

 

Report Approved

Date

22/12/21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Specialist Implications Officer(s) 

        

Financial

Richard Hartle

Head of Finance – Adults, Children & Education

                 

 

Wards Affected:  List wards or tick box to indicate all

All

 

 

 

For further information please contact the author of the report

 

 

Background Papers:

 

All relevant background papers must be listed here.  A ‘background paper’ is any document which, in the Chief Officer’s opinion, discloses any facts on which the report is based and which has been relied on to a material extent in preparing the report (see page 5:3:2 of the Constitution).        

 

 

Annexes

 

Annex A

2023/2024 Proposed Published Admission Numbers

Annex B

2023/2024 Coordinated admissions scheme – applying to start infant or primary school

Annex C

2023/2024 Coordinated admissions scheme – applying to start junior school

Annex D

2023/2024 Coordinated admissions scheme – applying to start secondary school

Annex E

Coordinated admissions scheme – applying to school In Year

Annex F

2023/2024 Admissions policy – City of York Council community and voluntary controlled infant and primary schools

Annex G

2023/2024 Admissions policy – City of York Council community and voluntary controlled secondary schools

Annex H

Admissions policy – City of York Council community and voluntary controlled In Year

Annex I

2023/2024 Admissions policy – All Saints RC Aided School

Annex J

2023/2024 Admissions policy – Archbishop Holgate’s CE Academy

Annex K

2023/2024 Admissions policy – Ebor Academy Trust

Annex L

2023/2024 Admissions policy – Heworth CE Primary Academy

Annex M

2023/2024 Admissions policy – Hope Learning Trust

Annex N

2023/2024 Admissions policy – Huntington Primary Academy

Annex O

2023/2024 Admissions policy – Manor CE Academy

Annex P

2023/2024 Admissions policy – Our Lady Queen of Martyrs RC Aided Primary School

Annex Q

2023/2024 Admissions policy – Pathfinder Multi Academy Trust

Annex R

2023/2024 Admissions policy – South Bank Academy Trust

Annex S

2023/2024 Admissions policy – South York Multi Academy Trust

Annex T

2023/2024 Admissions policy – St Aelred’s RC Aided Primary School

Annex U

2023/2024 Admissions policy – St George’s RC Aided Primary School

Annex V

2023/2024 Admissions policy – St Lawrence’s CE Primary Academy

Annex W

2023/2024 Admissions policy – St Wilfrid’s RC Aided Primary School

Annex X

2023/2024 Admissions policy for Year 12 entry – All Saints RC Aided School

Annex Y

2023/2024 Admissions policy for Year 12 entry – Archbishop Holgate’s CE Academy

Annex Z

2023/2024 Admissions policy for Year 12 entry – Fulford School

Annex AA

2023/2024 Admissions policy for Year 12 entry – Huntington School

Annex AB

2023/2024 Admissions policy for Year 12 entry – The Joseph Rowntree School

Annex AC

Delayed and Deferred Admission to Primary School

Annex AD

Out of Cohort Guidance