Consultation on school admission arrangements for 2024-2025

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As the admission authority for all community and voluntary controlled schools in Hampshire (not including Portsmouth and Southampton), Hampshire County Council is seeking your views on its proposed admission arrangements for the school year 2024/25

This consultation will run from 14 November until 30 December 2022.

Background

The School Admissions Code (September 2021) published by the Department for Education, requires all admission authorities to consult on their admission arrangements if they are seeking to make changes from the previous year or if the arrangements have not been subject to a public consultation for at least 7 years, to ensure all views are heard. Consultation must be for a minimum of 6 weeks between 1 October 2022 and 31 January 2023. The final arrangements must be determined by 28 February 2023.

The admission arrangements include an admission policy for each phase of school, a list of school specific criteria, the published admission number (PAN) and catchment area for each community and voluntary controlled school.

The full admission arrangements including proposed changes are detailed below:

Published admission numbers (PANS)

We are proposing a reduction to the PANs for the following schools:

  • Bishops Waltham Junior School, Bishops Waltham, from 90 to 64
  • Burley Primary School, Ringwood, from 16 to 15
  • Denmead Infant School, Waterlooville, from 90 to 60
  • Grange Junior School, Gosport, from 75 to 60
  • Kingsclere CE Primary School, Newbury, from 35 to 30
  • Peel Common Infant School, Gosport, from 60 to 30
  • Peel Common Junior School, Gosport, 60 to 45

The full list of proposed PANS for 2024/25 for all community and voluntary controlled schools in Hampshire are available below:

Any proposed increases to PAN shown on these lists are for information only. There is no requirement for admission authorities to consult where a school is increasing their PAN.

Admission policies

In addition to the guidance available on the Hampshire County Council website relating to admission appeals, we are proposing to also include a paragraph about appeals in the ‘Additional Information’ section of each school’s admission policy as follows:

Appeals

All applicants refused a place have a right of appeal to an independent appeal panel constituted and operated in accordance with the School Admission Appeals Code. For information about the appeal process, including how to lodge an appeal, please visit: https://www.hants.gov.uk/educationandlearning/admissions/guidance/appeals

We are also proposing the inclusion of a new school specific criterion in the admission policy for the following schools:

  • Brockenhurst CE Primary and Pre-school
  • Red Barn Community Primary School

And the removal of a school specific criterion for:

  • Sherborne St John CE Primary School

Further details on each of these proposals

The complete list of school specific criteria for 2024-25 is available in the list below.

Catchment areas

In light of a new housing development at Downend Road, we are proposing changes to the catchment areas of the following school:

Any comments previously received in response to the initial consultations with local schools and residents will be included in this wider admission arrangements consultation. Consultees do not need to resubmit their earlier comments.

How to respond to the consultation

Send your comments by e-mail to [email protected] or you can write to:

School Admissions Team
Hampshire County Council
Children’s Services Department
Elizabeth II Court North
Winchester
SO23 8UG

All responses will be collated and considered by the Hampshire Admission Forum at their meeting on 16 January 2023, who will make recommendations to the Executive Lead Member for Children’s Services, Cllr Roz Chadd, in advance of her decision day on 21 February 2023.

The final arrangements will be published on the County Council website by 15 March 2023. If you have any queries relating to this consultation or would like to request a paper copy of the consultation, please e-mail [email protected] or phone 0300 555 1377.