Admission Arrangements for 2010/11

APPENDIX 7
15 DECEMBER
CABINET

Admission Arrangements for 2010/11

Cabinet 15 December 2008

Co-ordinated Admission Scheme for Primary Schools in the Area of Hertfordshire Local Authority

The Scheme of Co-ordination is set out below. This is in accordance with Section 89B of the Schools Standards and Framework Act 1998(SSFA) and the Education and Inspections Act 2006. The dates relating to the admissions process for the school year 2010/11 are set out in Schedules 2 and 3 of the scheme.

Interpretation

1. In this scheme –

“the LA” means Hertfordshire County Council acting in its capacity as local authority;

“the LA area” means the area in respect of which the LA is the local authority;

“Primary education” has the same meaning as in section 2(1) of the Education Act 1996;

“Primary school” has the same meaning as in section 5(1) of the Education Act 1996;

“school” means a Community, Foundation, or Voluntary school (but not a Special school”) which is maintained by the LA;

“VA schools” means such of the schools as are Voluntary-Aided schools;

“Foundation schools” means such of the schools as have Foundation status;

“Academy” means such of the schools as have Academy status

“admission authority” means, in respect of any of the schools which is a Community or Voluntary-Controlled school, the LA and, in respect of any of the schools which is a Foundation, VA school, or Academy the governing body of that school;

“the equal preference system” the scheme operated by Hertfordshire County Council whereby all preferences listed by parents/carers on the common application form are considered under the over-subscription criteria for each school without reference to parental rankings. Where it is possible to offer a pupil a place at more than one school, the rankings are used to determine the single offer by selecting the highest one ranked highest on the common application form;

“the specified year” means the school year beginning at or about the beginning of September 2010;

“admission arrangements for the specified year” means the arrangements for a particular school or schools which govern the procedures and decision-making for the purposes of admitting pupils to the school(s) during the specified year.

“application form” means the application form supplied by the LA electronically or on paper;

“In-Year (casual) admission” means any application for a school place in primary education that is received after 1 September of the normal admission year or in subsequent years.

“late application” means any application for a school place in primary education that is received in the normal admission round but later than the deadline date stated for receipt of ontime applications stipulated in the scheme.

When an application is received, this is treated as representing the preference(s) from the parent/carer with parental responsibility. Only one application form per child will be accepted.

Commencement and extent

1. Applications made to a first, infant, primary, junior and middle school for aplace other than at the normal time of entry for that school will be processed through the in-year admissions procedure.

1. The LA will include in its admission arrangements for the specified year the provisions set out in the Schedules 1 to 4 to this scheme, or provisions having the same effect.

1. The governing body of each of the VA and Foundation schools will include in its admission arrangements for the specified year the provisions set out in the Schedules 1 to 4, so far as relevant to that school, or provisions having the same effect.

1. Foundation and Voluntary Aided schools are their own admitting authorities and will apply their own admissions criteria to all applications. They will be responsible for organising and presenting admission appeals.

1. Local Authorities and Governing Bodies may not refuse to admit children to any relevant age group, on the grounds of prejudice to efficient education or the efficient use of resources, unless the number of expressed preferences exceeds the Published Admission Number (PAN). Paragraph 2.1 of the School Admissions Code also states that “all maintained schools, including faith schools, that have enough places available must offer every child who has applied for a place, without condition or the use of any criteria. This includes those schools that use partial selection by ability or aptitude and banding”.

1. Admitting authorities will not exceed PANs unless there are exceptional circumstances that require an agreed alternative approach, for example exceeding the PAN for certain schools in an area to ensure every child receives an initial allocation.

SCHEDULE 1 – PRIMARY CO-ORDINATION

PART 1 - CO-ORDINATED ARRANGEMENTS

The Application Form

1. There will be a standard application form, supplied by Hertfordshire County Council. The parent/carer will be able to apply on-line for a school place, at or use a paper form.

1. The application forms will be used for the purpose of admitting pupils at the normal point of entry into primary education.

1. The application form must be used:

(a)as a means of expressing one or more preferences for the purposes of section 86(1) of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, by parents/carers wishing to express a preference for their child to be admitted to any of the schools for which the LA’s arrangements under that section should apply; and

(b)as a means of applying for one or more school places,

(i)by parents/carers wishing their child to be admitted to any of the Foundation or VA schools; and

(ii)by parents/carers resident outside the LA area wishing their child to be admitted to any of the LA’s schools.

1. The application form will –

(a)invite the parent/carer to express a preference – or to apply for a place – by completing the form and by nominating three schools;

(b)invite the parent/carer to rank their nominations in the order in which they desire their child to receive an offer of a place at the respective schools;

(c)invite the parent/carer to give their reasons for each preference;

(d)explain that the parent/carer will receive no more than one offer of a school place in the LA’s area in response to the application form;

(e)explain that, where such an offer is made, it will be for the highest ranked school nominated at which a place has been allocated;

(f)explain that the parent/carer will be regarded as having ranked the schools in the order appearing on the form, the first-mentioned being ranked the highest.

1. The application form will also specify the closing date and where it must be returned.

1. The LA will make appropriate arrangements to ensure –

(a)That an online application form is available via

(b)that a paper application form is available on request from the LA; and

(c)that there is a written explanation of the key features of the co-ordinated admissions scheme and where further explanation about the scheme can be obtained.

1. The LA will take all reasonable steps to ensure that all parents/carers of children of the appropriate age and resident in Hertfordshire receive details of how to apply and understand the process.

1. All preferences expressed on the Hertfordshire standard application form (in electronic or paper formats) are valid applications. The form may be returned electronically to the LA. Otherwise, the paper form may be returned direct to the LA.

9. The Hertfordshire standard form cannot be used for application to a school in another LA. Such applications must be made on the application form from the maintaining LA.

10.The governing body of a Foundation, VA or Academy school is entitled to requestparents/carers who wish to nominate, or have nominated, that school on the application form to provide additional information to the school on a supplementary form. (HCC will collect sibling data for all Hertfordshire admission authorities on the CAF). Where this is requested, the details and procedural arrangements are entirely at the discretion of the Foundation or VA school in question, except that -

(a)the form must not request any information about the ranking which the parent/carer attaches to any school they have nominated or may nominate.

(b)A parent/carer cannot be required to collect a form in person.

(c)The arrangements must be such as to enable relevant decisions to be made in conformity with the timing requirements of this scheme.

(d)The information on that form will not infringe any statutory right of the parent/carer or child.

(e)Admission authorities must notdiscriminate against children whose parents fall into certain social groups. No personal information about parents is relevant in considering an application for a place at a school and criteria which focus on parents cannot legitimately be included as oversubscription criteria. Collecting such information may suggest that it can be taken into account and therefore be misleading to parents.

(f)Given the potential for discrimination, admission authorities may only use supplementary application/information forms that request additional information when it has a direct bearing on decisions about acceptable oversubscription criteria; for example, asking for a reference from a priest or other religious minister for a school designated as having a religious character (faith school) or to assess an application for a boarding place.

(g)The form must comply with any current guidance published by the DCSF, namely, the form must not ask

1. for any personal details about parents, such as criminal convictions or marital, occupational orfinancial status;
2. for details about parents’ achievements, educational background or whether their first language is English;
3. for details about parents’ or children’s disabilities, special educational needs or medical conditions, unless this is in support of positive action;
4. about parents’ or children’s interests, hobbies or membership of societies (this does not apply to membership or participation in activities as part of religious observance or practice at schools designated as having a religious character).

11. When a SIF is received, it will not be regarded as a valid application unless

the parent/carer has also completed the Hertfordshire standard form.

Supplementary forms should be returned direct to the school concerned any

received by the LA will be date stamped ad passed on to the school.

12. When a Voluntary-Aided, Foundation or Academy school has failed to obtain a

SIF but there is a Primary Application Form (PAF), the application must

proceed because an application has been made. 4.3 of Section 86(2) of the

School Standards and Framework Act 1998 requires the Local Authority and

the Governing Body of a maintained school to comply with parental

preference. Conversely, in circumstances where a SIF has been received by a

Voluntary-Aided, Foundation or Academy school, the admission authority must

be proactive in ensuring that there is a PAF for that application, in order that

the application can be considered.PAFs received after the closing date will be

late.

Processing of Application Forms

13. Completed application forms should be returned to the LA by the

closing date.

14. Completed application forms received after the closing date will be

considered after all on time applications, up to 1 March 2010 when

processing late applications stops to ensure allocation day is met.

15. The LA will process all application forms. Any completed application forms

must be treated as a confidential communication. VA and Foundation

schools will, however, be provided with relevant details of those pupils for

whom they are a preference.

16. All ranked applications received by the deadline will be considered before

any ranked applications received after this deadline.

17. After all ontime applications have been dealt with, the next stage will be to

consider all the late applications who can be allocated a school that they

have ranked. Finally, all Hertfordshire children whether ontime or late who

were not able to have a preference satisfied will be allocated a school place.

18. All processing and notifications in the following paragraphs must be
completed in accordance with the agreed timetable.

Determining offers in response to the application form

19. The LA will act as a clearing house for the allocation of places by the
relevant admission authorities in response to the application form. Except
where action in its separate capacity as an admission authority, the LA will
not be making any decision with respect to the offer or refusal of a place in
response to any application form.

20. Where a Foundation, VA or Academy school is listed on the standard
application form, the LA will forward the appropriate details to the
Governing Body. The admission authority for each school will then provide
the LA with a list of all pupils indicating the order in which places should be
allocated under each criterion and will include only pupils for whom the LA

received an application form.

21. No decision by an admission authority on any nomination shall pay any
regard to the ranking expressed by any parent/carer.

22. During the allocation process, the LA will match the provisional allocations
places against each parent’s/carer’s ranking and proceed as follows:

1. When a parent/carer has been provisionally allocated a place at the school which they ranked first –the allocation will become firm. The LA will then withdraw any provisional allocation of a place for that parent/carer at schools which the parent/carer ranked second or third or remove the parent’s/carer’s nomination from a school’s continuing interest list (as the case may be).

1. When a parent/carer has not been provisionally allocated a place at the school which they ranked first, but has been provisionally allocated a place at the school which they ranked second –the LA will hold the provisional allocation for that parent/carer, pending further rounds, and will withdraw any provisional allocation of a place for that parent/carer at the school which was ranked third or remove the parent’s/carer’s nomination from the school’s continuing interest list (as the case may be).

1. When a parent/carer has not been provisionally allocated a place at the school which they ranked first or second, but has been provisionally allocated a place at the school which they ranked third – the LA will hold the provisional allocation for that parent/carer, pending further rounds.

23. When a provisional allocation is withdrawn, the LA will provisionally allocate
the place instead to one of the nominations on the waiting list in
accordance with the over-subscription criteria for that school and their
ranking against those criteria. These processes will then be repeated and
will continue until the LA is unable to withdraw any further provisional

allocations.

24. All allocations then in existence will become firm allocations of a place at
the school concerned and parents/carers will be offered those places
accordingly. All parents/carers whose nominations then remain on the
continuing interest list for a school will be treated as having been refused a
place by the admission authority for that school.

25. All admitting authorities will receive from the LA an audit trail demonstrating
how the final allocations were made through the iterative process.

Late Applications

26. Late applications will be considered after ontime preferences have been
met. This will occur before any places are allocated to children who have
not been allocated a place through the iterative process irrespective of
whether the applicant was ontime or late.

Children who have not been allocated a place in the iterative processes

27. The LA will match:

(a)those children of parents/carers resident in the LA area that require to be admitted in the specified year but have received no offer of a place under the above procedure, against

(b)those of the schools that, on the basis of their PAN, appear to the LA likely to have places remaining unfilled after the procedure above.

28. The criteria used by the LA for matching will usually allocate pupils to their
nearest suitable available school using the shortest designated route.

29. The LA will notify each of the schools in paragraph 27 (b) of the children
which it has matched to that school.

30. The admission authority for the school will consider each of the children
notified under paragraph 27 for a place at the school on the same basis as
if the LA’s notification were an application (or preference) made by the
child’s parent/carer falling within section 86 of the 1998 Act.

31. Further rounds of this procedure will be undertaken if necessary.

Notification to parents/carers

32. The LA will communicate to all parents/carers who made an application,
notifying them of an offer of a place:

a)at one of the schools nominated on their application form; or

b)at another school – in addition in such a case they will provide the parent/carer with a list of other schools with Primary places available; and

c)all schools with available places as at allocation day will be included in the list of schools published by Hertfordshire County Council (the list will show the status of the school).

Continuing Interest Process

33. Parents would be restricted if they chose to re-express their preferences
afresh at any point in the continuing interest process.

The right to appeal

34. The LA’s communication will give parents/carers appropriate information
about their right of appeal against any refusal of a place by the admission
authority for a school under the procedures in this scheme.

Co-ordinated scheme

35. This scheme of co-ordination relates to all primary schools listed in
Schedule 4 of this document.

SCHEDULE 1 – PRIMARY CO-ORDINATION

PART 2 – IN-YEAR (CASUAL) ADMISSIONS: THE PROCEDURE AFTER THE NORMAL DATE OF TRANSFER

Details to follow by the 1st January. Regulations are currently being formulated by the Government and if they are passed by Parliament these will form the basis of the procedure for 2010/11.

SCHEDULE 2 – PRIMARY CO-ORDINATION
Timetable of Co-ordinated Scheme for Primary, Junior and middle Schools
KEY EVENT / DATE
Closing date for standard Hertfordshire form to be returned/submitted to the LA / Friday 29 January 2010
Details of applications available to Hertfordshire Foundation and VA schools / Wednesday 10 March 2010
Closing date for late applications / Monday 1 March 2010
Foundation and VA schools provide LA with ranked lists of applicants / Wednesday 24 March 2010
Confidentialinformation of allocations available to primary schools / Wednesday 28 April 2010
Offer letters posted for delivery / Friday 30 April 2010
Date by which parents/carers may confirm whether they have rejected offers / Friday 14 May 2010
OR
Date by which parents/carers accept (provisional or firm) place and apply for CI / Friday 14 May 2010
Date by which parents/carers return appeal forms / 4pm Friday 21 May 2010
Any places which have become available are allocated to parents/carers in priority order / W/c Monday 24 May 2010
SCHEDULE 5
The following primary, junior and middle schools are covered by the co-ordinated scheme:

Community and Voluntary-controlled