Decision Session – Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education	10 January 2023
Report of the Assistant Director, Education and Skills

Coordinated admissions schemes and admission arrangements for the 2024-2025 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 2024.

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 2024.

        Recommendations

3. 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 2024, 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 taking part in the consultation for the 2024-2025 school year, as set out in Annexes B – AA.

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

Background

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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. 

7. 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.

8. 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. 

9. 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

10. After an invitation from the LA, most admission authorities within the LA area again agreed to take part in a joint consultation to provide parents, schools and other interested parties with the admissions arrangements for 2024 – 2025 in one place for those taking part.

11. 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.

12. Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust declined to take part in the coordinated admission consultation for their York schools as the academy conversion was finalised on 31^st August 2022 and the trust felt they could not review the admission arrangements for their newly acquired schools in time for the consultation. They will be holding their own consultation via their website https://npcat.org.uk/ in the Autumn. The schools affected are

- St Aelred’s RC School

- St George’s RC School

- St Wilfrid’s RC School

- Our Lady Queen of Martyrs RC School

13. 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.

14. 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.  This work has continued the consistency of the admissions process.

15. 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.

16. 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 2023 for the school year beginning in September 2024.  This timeframe means that consultation on arrangements takes place up to 23 months before children would be due to start school.

17. 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.

18. The consultation ran from 3^rd October until 13^th November 2021 and included admission arrangements for schools in the LA area for the 2024 - 2025 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.

Options      

19. 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)

20. 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.

21. 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

22. There are no maintained school PAN changes within the admission arrangements for 2024-2025.

23. Based on the principles in points 20 & 21, MATs propose following change to PANs:

VA and Academy Proposals

School	Proposal	Recommendation	Reason
Lakeside Primary School	Reduce PAN from 45 to 30 pupils	Support	To enable school to have a more efficient and effective resourcing model.

24. Ebor Academy Trust advises that Lakeside Primary Academy has falling rolls due to a reduction in birth rates. Lakeside is an undersubscribed school which historically has struggled to reach the current PAN of 45. The school is currently structured to provide one and half form entry and staff are recruited to teach this number of pupils. A reduction in PAN to 30 will enable the school to have a more efficient and effective resourcing model. The size of the original building does not cater for a PAN of 45, lowering the PAN will reduce reliance on temporary mobile classrooms. Staffing and resourcing the school efficiently ensures that teaching and learning is of the highest quality and children have the best possible experience.

25. Lakeside Primary School is administered by Ebor Academy Trust and is located in the north of the city, in Primary Planning Area 2 (PPA 2), which contains 4 schools in total. The PAN at Lakeside is 45; however due to reducing birth rates and pupil numbers in the catchment area for Lakeside and the planning area as a whole and to improve school organisation, Ebor Academy Trust are this year consulting to reduce the PAN to 30 from September 2024/25.

26. Current forecasts for PPA2 project a continued surplus of reception places for the forecasting period.

	2022/23	2023/24	2024/25	2025/26	2026/27	2027/28	2028/29
Reception Demand	184	168	186	158	159	160	160
Reception Places Available	225	225	225	225	225	225	225
Surplus Places	41	57	39	67	66	65	65

27. This is forecast to lead to an increasing surplus of places in the PPA at a whole school level.

	2022/23	2023/24	2024/25	2025/26	2026/27	2027/28	2028/29
Total forecast number of Pupils	1,278	1,258	1,245	1,199	1,170	1,158	1,135
Sum of Year Group Places	1,650	1,635	1,620	1,605	1,590	1,575	1,575
Surplus/(Deficit)	372	377	375	406	420	417	440

28. A reduction in PAN at Lakeside will go some way to addressing this issue and reducing the number of surplus places forecast for this planning area.

Not all children attending Lakeside live in Lakeside’s catchment area. Similarly not all children living in Lakeside’s catchment area choose to attend the school. However in both cases the majority of children choose to attend from a school or attend a school in PPA2. It is therefore necessary to determine the likely number of places required at Lakeside Primary School from children living in PPA2; this is shown in the table below and suggests that as things stand there is likely to be sufficient places at Lakeside for the expected number of children living in PPA2, with a PAN 30.

	2023/24	2024/25	2025/26	2026/27	2027/28
Number of children projected to live in PPA2 and require a place at Lakeside	25	29	24	24	24

29. It is harder to determine if all children living in Lakeside catchment will be allocated a place at Clifton with Rawcliffe Primary School (the preferred alternative school for children living in Lakeside’s catchment), due to these children being allocated a place based on sibling and/or distance criteria. However, the close proximity to Clifton with Rawcliffe of many children living in Lakeside’s catchment means historically all children living in Lakeside’s catchment who have requested Clifton with Rawcliffe as a first preference have been allocated a place at the school, even during higher birth years.

Although it is acknowledged that the decision to decrease PAN at Lakeside Primary lies with their admission authority, namely Ebor Academy Trust, it is the opinion of Officers at City of York Council, that for the reasons listed above, a decrease in PAN should be supported.

School	Proposal	Recommendation	Reason
Skelton Primary School	Increase PAN from 20 to 26 pupils	We do not consider the increase to be necessary from a sufficiency perspective.	The MAT consider that increasing the PAN would allow the school to be educationally and financially efficient.

30. Hope Sentamu Learning Trusts advises that they would like to increase the PAN as there is capacity within school and the current PAN is neither educationally or financially efficient.

31. Skelton Primary School is a small village school with mixed year groups and a school nursery, that is located to the North of York and is administered by the Hope Sentamu Learning Trust. Skelton Primary is in primary planning area 10 (PPA10), which is a single school PPA). The PAN at Skelton Primary is currently 20; however the Hope Sentamu Learning Trust are this year consulting to raise the PAN to 26.

32. The current number on roll at the school is below the 140 places available.

Current Number on Roll (NOR)
R	19
1	11
2	17
3	9
4	10
5	16
6	10
NOR	92

33. The school forecast for Skelton Primary School from Business Intelligence suggests the number of Reception places required at the school over the next 7 years will be lower than the current PAN20. It is however 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.

	2022/23	2023/24	2024/25	2025/26	2026/27	2027/28	2028/29
Forecast Reception Demand	18	11	14	12	12	12	12
Current Reception Places	20	20	20	20	20	20	20
Forecast Surplus	2	9	6	8	8	8	8

34. These forecasts take into account the projected number of places required from both within catchment and from other areas of York. The table below shows the number of children born in Skelton’s catchment area and the number projected to still be living in catchment to start Reception. Although additional housing within Skelton Primary’s catchment area has been put forward to begin in 2025/26, in the City of York’s proposed Local Plan, this housing development is unlikely to be within a 2 mile safe walking route of Skelton Primary and the school would therefore not be considered a reasonable offer. Not all children living within Skelton Primary’s catchment area request a place at Skelton Primary School, therefore, based on this and the figures below, it is likely that a targeted marketing campaign towards families living outside of Skelton’s catchment area would be required to fill Skelton Primary to PAN26.

	Actual Births			Projected births in 2022
Reception Year	2022/23	2023/24	2024/25	2025/26	2026/27	2027/28	2028/29	2029/30
No. born and projected to be born in Skelton catchment area	20	11	16	13	13	13	14	13
No. projected to be living in Skelton catchment to start Reception		10	15	12	12	12	13	12

35. The catchment areas Skelton Primary School draws from other than its own, are also not expected to be over-subscribed.

36. Due to the projected inward in-year migration, whole school forecasts suggest there will be a number of year groups that are intermittently greater than 20. Despite this, whole school numbers are not projected to go over the 140 places available with a PAN20, and it is the opinion of officers that it would be possible for the school to flex with these numbers by making small adjustments to their school organisation.

37. In-year migration is still showing the impact of the additional housing in Skelton Primary’s catchment area on the ‘Former Del Monte, Skelton Park’ site and it is therefore anticipated that in-year migration could once again drop back to levels previously seen, now the site is fully built out and occupied

38. The school building isn’t currently large enough to accommodate a PAN26.

Net capacity measures the available space within a school and is used to determine the number of children a school is capable of accommodating. The net capacity at Skelton Primary School is recorded in the School’s funding agreement as being 157. A recent net capacity assessment carried out at the school suggests this figure is now 120, which isn’t large enough to accommodate the current PAN 20; however should the school convert the current library to a class base it would rise to 140. A net capacity of 182 would be required to support a PAN26.

39. Skelton Primary School’s current PAN20 is forecast to result in a steady number of surplus places both in Reception and at a whole school level and an increase in PAN is therefore likely to increase the number of surplus places carried in York. Additionally, Skelton Primary do not have the physical classrooms to support a PAN26.

40. Although it is again acknowledged that the decision to increase PAN at Skelton Primary lies with the admission authority - Hope Sentamu Learning Trust, it is the opinion of Officers at City of York Council, that an increase in PAN is not necessary at Skelton and could be detrimental to other primary schools in the surrounding area, if Skelton draw additional children from their catchment areas.

School	Proposal	Recommendation	Reason
Carr Junior School	Reduce PAN from 90 to 60 pupils	Support	Carr Junior School has falling rolls due to a reduction in birth rates. This is further evident from the reduction from a three-form entry to a two-form entry in Carr Infant School from September 2023-24 admissions.

41. South Bank Multi Academy Trusts advised that Carr Junior School has falling rolls due to a reduction in birth rates. This is further evident from the reduction from a three-form entry to a two-form entry in Carr Infant School from September 2023-24 admissions. This is to match the PAN reduction of Carr Infants School from 2023-2024. The school and MAT have agreed to honour the school numbers from Carr Infant School above the PAN if necessary.

42. Carr Junior School is administered by South Bank MAT and is located in the west of the city, in Primary Planning Area 3 (PPA 3), which contains 5 schools in total. The PAN at Carr Junior is 90; however due to reducing birth rates and pupil numbers in the catchment area for Carr Infant/Junior Schools and the planning area as a whole, South Bank MAT are this year consulting to reduce the PAN to 60 from September 2024/25.

43. Carr Infant School consulted last year to reduce their PAN from 90 to 60 with effect from September 2023/24. As the sole school feeding into Carr Junior it is therefore appropriate for Carr Junior to take similar action. However, the reduced PAN 60 reception intake in 2023/24 at Carr Infant, will only reach Year 3 at Carr Junior in 2026/27, whereas the children entering Year 3 at Carr Junior in 2024/25 with the proposed reduction in PAN to 60 are currently in Year 1 at Carr Infant. The table below shows the projected pupil numbers at Carr Junior school for the next 5 years. It is again 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
Carr Junior School	3	64	57	63	47	56	50
	4	82	63	57	62	46	55
	5	62	84	64	58	63	47
	6	89	61	82	63	57	62

44. The previous table suggests that from 2025/26 onwards fewer than 60 children are anticipated to require a place in year 3 at Carr Junior School. Reassurance of the school’s intention to accommodate all children currently on roll at Carr Infant School have been received and welcomed by CYC from South Bank MAT, with respect to the anticipated projected need for 63 places in year 3 in 2024/25.

45. As is the case for Carr Infant School, 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.

46. For the reasons given above, it the opinion of officers that South Bank MAT’s decision to reduce the PAN at Carr Junior School should be supported.

School	Proposal	Recommendation	Reason
Millthorpe School	Reduce PAN from 212 pupils to 210 pupils	Support	The proposed reduction to a PAN of 210 would enable an efficient seven form entry.

47. South Bank Multi Academy Trust advised that Millthorpe School currently operates on a non-standard PAN of 212, the proposed reduction to a PAN of 210 would enable an efficient seven form entry.

48. Millthorpe Secondary School is located in the Secondary Planning Area West (SPA West) and is administered by South Bank MAT. The PAN at Millthorpe is 212; however for the purposes of school organisation, South Bank MAT are this year consulting to reduce the PAN to 210 from September 2024/25.

49. Millthorpe are currently experiencing high numbers of pupils within catchment and this year admitted 237 pupils into year 7 as the first year of an anticipated 3 year bulge. Work has been carried out at Millthorpe School to enable the school to go over PAN during this period and South Bank MAT have set out their intention to honour this need to go over PAN, should it be necessary, in both 2023/24 and 2024/25 in a grant agreement.

50. The table shows the anticipated number of children expected to be living in Millthorpe’s catchment area and requiring a place at Millthorpe over the next 6 years. It is based on known births within catchment and historical migration, preference and allocation data. However these figures exclude the small number of children from other catchment areas who will be allocated a place at Millthorpe due to their special educational need requirements. These figures do not include children living in other catchment areas and requesting a place at Millthorpe.

	2023/24	2024/25	2025/26	2026/27	2027/28	2028/29
Forecast need for Year 7 places from within catchment - Millthorpe	208	225	203	198	198	179

51. It can therefore be seen that with the exception of 2024/25, for which a grant agreement is in place, Millthorpe is forecast to have sufficient places for children living within catchment with a PAN 210. Unfortunately for many reasons the forecasting process cannot be 100% accurate, therefore even though only a small reduction in PAN is being proposed it is possible that this reduction could mean that in some years it might be preferable for Millthorpe to go over PAN on national offer day, in order to accommodate all children living in catchment and requiring a place. Reassurances would therefore be welcomed from South Bank MAT that children living in catchment will continue to be accommodated.

52. In-year migration is both inward and outward across different year groups and similarly as with a PAN 212 a PAN 210 could cause difficulties whilst the numbers of secondary aged pupils in SPA West remains high.

53. For the reasons given above it is the opinion of officers that South Bank MAT’s decision to reduce the  PAN at Millthorpe to 210, should be supported. However reassurances of the MAT’s intention to continue to accommodate all children living in catchment beyond 2024/25 should it be necessary, would be welcomed.

School	Proposal	Recommendation	Reason
York High School	Reduce PAN from 180 to 150 pupils	Support	A reduction in PAN to 150 would enable the school to resource and staff the curriculum efficiently and with certainty.

54. South Bank Multi Academy Trust advised that York High has historically struggled to reach their PAN of 180 which has created operational instability. A reduction in PAN to 150 would enable the school to resource and staff the curriculum efficiently and with certainty.

55. York High School is located in the Secondary Planning Area West (SPA West) and is administered by South Bank MAT. The PAN at York High is 180; however South Bank MAT are this year consulting to reduce the PAN to 150 from September 2024/25.

56. The table below shows the anticipated number of children expected to be living in York High’s catchment area and requiring a place at York High over the next 6 years. It is based on known births within catchment and historical migration, preference and allocation data. This data does not include children living in other catchment areas and requesting a place at York High.

	2023/24	2024/25	2025/26	2026/27	2027/28	2028/29
Forecast need for Year 7 places from within catchment - York High	162	151	135	123	127	108

57. No school exists in isolation and reducing the PAN at one school can ‘push back’ children to another school. In 2024/25, 10 children living in Millthorpe’s catchment area are forecast to request a place at York High School as a 1^st preference. If a PAN 150 is adhered to in 2024/25, then it is anticipated that these 10 children will require a place at Millthorpe pushing the number of children living in catchment and requiring a place in Year 7 up to 235.

58. From 2025/26 onwards forecasts using the data currently available suggest a PAN 150 will be sufficient to allow York High School to provide Year 7 places to children requiring a place living in the School’s catchment area.

59. For the reasons given above, it the opinion of officers that South Bank MAT’s decision to reduce the PAN at York High School should be supported.

Admission Policies

60. The LA has consulted with relevant admission authorities on the proposed admissions arrangements for the 2024-25 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 J - R with Year 12 admissions policies contained in annexes S - W.

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

62. 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.

63. 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

Schools	Proposal	Recommendation	Reason
St Lawrence’s CE School	To adopt the trust admission arrangements to remove any faith or parish admission criteria	Support	As St. Lawrence’s CE School is under subscribed the opportunity was taken to remove the faith based over subscription criteria.

64. Pathfinder Multi Academy Trust advised that the change in the admissions policy at St Lawrence's was made following discussions with the Diocese around the use of faith-based oversubscription criteria. Both the Diocese and ourselves were aware that this is one of the more sensitive issues around admissions and one which is potentially open to challenge and misuse. As St Lawrence's has been significantly undersubscribed for a number of years the opportunity was taken to remove the faith-based criteria.

65. In the last three years of entry for reception, there were no school places allocated with a faith based criteria for St Lawrence’s CE School. The last time the faith based criteria was used to allocate a school place was 2018-19, however in 2018-19 the school was under subscribed so places were available.

66. As an undersubscribed school, with places available, the faith based criteria is not required within the admission arrangements for children linked to the local church or within parish to secure a school place at St Lawrence’s CE School.

67. The admission arrangements for St Lawrence’s CE School are therefore aligned to the majority of other primary schools within the Pathfinder Multi Academy Trust with only one primary other school retaining the faith based oversubscription criteria within their admission arrangements.

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

Schools	Proposal	Recommendation	Reason
Fulford School	Include children of staff and children attending a linked school as an admission criteria within the admission arrangements	Support	To allow staff children places within school and also pupils attending linked schools not living in catchment a criteria above a distance criteria.

69. The trust have requested the addition of children of staff and also children attending linked schools within their admission policy.

70. The School Admission Code 2021 allows Admission Authorities the opportunity to include staff school places “1.39 Admission authorities may give priority in their oversubscription criteria to children of staff in either or both of the following circumstances:

a) where the member of staff has been employed at the school for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made; and/or

b) the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post at the school for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage.

71. South York Multi Academy Trust (SYMAT) have used this terminology within the admission arrangements and also include a maximum of 10 staff school places.

72. The School Admission Code 2021 allows Admission Authorities the opportunity to include feeder school places “1.15 Admission authorities may wish to name a primary or middle school as a feeder school. The selection of a feeder school or schools as an oversubscription criterion must be transparent and made on reasonable grounds.”  SYMAT refer to feeder schools as linked school.

73. The linked schools are listed within the admission arrangements and are schools which are within the catchment area of Fulford School which is transparent and reasonable in line with the Code.

74. The effect would be that children who attend the linked schools and do not live within the catchment area would be provided with the criteria of linked school based on their attendance at the feeder school rather than a distance criteria. Therefore prioritising the attendees of feeder schools with existing links to the catchment without living in it. Although falling birth rates could see this change in the future, currently over 80% of children attending the proposed linked schools are already resident in Fulford School’s catchment area. Therefore most children attending the linked schools would be provided with a catchment criteria based on living within the catchment area.

	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23
Percentage attending a linked school and living in Fulford catchment	84%	83%	82%

75. Of those who are not resident in Fulford School’s catchment area, but who are attending a linked school, fewer than a third have chosen Fulford as a first preference in the most recent 3 admission rounds. It is acknowledged that this again could change, once parents are aware their priority status within the oversubscription criteria has changed, increasing their child’s likelihood of being allocated a place at Fulford School.

	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23
Number of children not living in Fulford catchment but attending a linked school, who choose Fulford as a 1st preference	13	15	8
Percentage not living in Fulford catchment but attending a linked school, who choose Fulford as a 1st preference	23%	31%	15%

76. The inclusion of children of staff at Fulford School (criteria 6) and children who attend linked schools (criteria 7) is after the children who live within the catchment area normally served by the preferred school therefore it will not impact on the availability of school places for pupils within catchment which is a priority for the LA as we use a catchment area allocation model.

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

Catchment Areas

78. 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.

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

Admission Consultation Responses

80. 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 with 2 named respondents from school representatives.

81. The open admission consultation which was available to the general public was also accessed 13 times including 5 named respondents including members of the public and parents. 8 respondents were classified as parent/carers.

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

PAN Consultation Responses

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

Admission Policy Consultation Responses

84. No comments were left regarding the fairness and accessibility of information relating to starting primary school.

85. No comments were left regarding the fairness and accessibility of information relating to starting junior school.

86. Two responses were left regarding the fairness and accessibility of information for starting secondary school.

87. Response 1 related to the respondent’s catchment school being a church school and the admission criteria of religion and siblings being a higher priority/criteria then those living in catchment is considered unfair. The respondent did not leave their contact details to be able to confirm the school in question or discuss their response. The response is thought to relate to Archbishop Holgate’s CE Academy therefore the response has been forwarded to the Pathfinder Multi Academy Trust.

88. Response 2 related to the admission arrangements at All Saint’s RC School in particular criteria 9 Members of other Christian Churches, the respondent considers the criteria to be unfair as it excludes Christian children who belong to churches which are not part of Churches Together in England. This response relates to All Saints RC School and has therefore been forwarded to All Saints RC School for their consideration.

Catchment Area Changes Responses

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

Implications

Financial

90. 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 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

91. There are no implications relating to HR.

        Equalities

92. The Council needs to take into account the 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).

93. An Equalities Impact Assessment has been carried out and is annexed to this report at Annex AB In summary, the result of the assessment is low impact.

Legal

94. Under section 94 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, admission authorities (whether an LA or a MAT) are responsible for making arrangements to enable parents to appeal against the refusal of a school place should they wish to do so. Where schools are proposing to reduce PAN, if there are more applicants than places available there is a potential for an increased number of appeals to be received in respect of those schools. If other local schools are required to take on pupils who might otherwise have attended one of the PAN-reducing schools, those schools might also see an increased number of appeals if the knock-on effect of the additional admissions is that other pupils are refused places.

95. There are no implications relating to equalities.

Crime and Disorder

96. There are no Crime and Disorder implications.

Information Technology (IT)

97. There are no IT implications.

Property

98. There are no property implications.

Other Implications

99. There are no other implications.

Risk Management

100. No direct implications.

Council Plan

101. Well paid jobs and an inclusive economy

Education will continue to provide vital 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.

102. 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.

103. 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.

104. 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.

105. 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.

106. 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.

107. 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.

108. 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 Officer Responsible for the report:
Rachelle White School Admissions Manager School Services 01904 554239 Sarah Moir School Place Planning Project Officer School Services 01904 552743	Maxine Squire Assistant Director, Education and Skills
	Report Approved	√	Date	28/12/2022
Specialist Implications Officer(s) Financial Richard Hartle Head of Finance –Children & Education Legal Cathryn Moore Corporate Partner - Legal
Wards Affected:					All	√
For further information please contact the author of the report

Annexes

Annex A	2024/2025 Proposed Published Admission Numbers
Annex B	2024/2025 Coordinated admissions scheme – applying to start infant or primary school
Annex C	2024/2025 Coordinated admissions scheme – applying to start junior school
Annex D	2024/2025 Coordinated admissions scheme – applying to start secondary school
Annex E	Coordinated admissions scheme – applying to school In Year
Annex F	2024/2025 Admissions policy – City of York Council community and voluntary controlled infant and primary schools
Annex G	2024/2025 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	2024/2025 Admissions policy – All Saints RC Aided School
Annex J	2024/2025 Admissions policy – Archbishop Holgate’s CE Academy
Annex K	2024/2025 Admissions policy – Ebor Academy Trust
Annex L	2024/2025 Admissions policy – Heworth CE Primary Academy
Annex M	2024/2025 Admissions policy – Hope Learning Trust
Annex N	2024/2025 Admissions policy – Huntington Primary Academy
Annex O	2024/2025 Admissions policy – Manor CE Academy
Annex P	2024/2025 Admissions policy – Pathfinder Multi Academy Trust
Annex Q	2024/2025 Admissions policy – South Bank Academy Trust
Annex R	2024/2025 Admissions policy – South York Multi Academy Trust
Annex S	2024/2025 Admissions policy for Year 12 entry – All Saints RC Aided School
Annex T	2024/2025 Admissions policy for Year 12 entry – Archbishop Holgate’s CE Academy
Annex U	2024/2025 Admissions policy for Year 12 entry – Fulford School
Annex V	2024/2025 Admissions policy for Year 12 entry – Huntington School
Annex W	2024/2025 Admissions policy for Year 12 entry – The Joseph Rowntree School
Annex X	2024/2025 Admissions policy – All Saints RC Aided School SIF
Annex Y	2024/2025 Admissions policy – Archbishop Holgate’s CE Academy SIF
Annex Z	2024/2025 Admissions policy – Manor CE Academy SIF
Annex AA	2024/2025 Admissions policy – Heworth CE Primary Academy SIF
Annex AB	Equalities Impact Statement