Consultation on school admission arrangements for 2025-2026

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Hampshire County Council is seeking your views on proposed changes to the admission arrangements for community and voluntary controlled schools in Hampshire (not including Portsmouth and Southampton) for the school year 2025/26

Teacher and three boy pupils

This consultation ran from 13 November until 29 December 2023.

Background

The School Admissions Code (Sept 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 consulted on for at least 7 years. Consultation must take place for a minimum of 6 weeks between 1 October and 31 January. The final arrangements must be determined by 28 February 2024.

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. Other documents include Hampshire’s relevant area and Hampshire County Council’s co-ordinated scheme for main round admissions.

Consultation

Hampshire County Council, as the admission authority for all community and voluntary controlled schools in its administrative area, is proposing the following changes to the admission arrangements for 2025/26:

Published admission numbers (PANS)

A reduction to the PAN for the following schools:

  • Chalk Ridge Primary School, from 60 to 30
  • Crofton Anne Dale Infant School, Fareham, from 90 to 60
  • Denmead Junior School, Waterlooville, from 90 to 75
  • Freegrounds Junior School, Eastleigh, from 90 to 60
  • Fryern Infant School, Eastleigh, from 60 to 45
  • Fryern Junior School, Eastleigh, from 60 to 48
  • Hazel Wood Infant School, New Forest, from 80 to 60
  • Knightwood Primary School, Eastleigh, from 60 to 45
  • Leesland CE Junior School, Gosport, from 90 to 68
  • Mill Rythe Junior School, Hayling Island, from 90 to 60
  • Northern Infant School, Fareham, from 60 to 45
  • Peel Common Junior School, Gosport, from 45 to 30
  • Petersgate Infant School, Horndean, from 90 to 60
  • Riders Junior School, Havant, from 90 to 60
  • Stanmore Primary School, Winchester, from 45 to 30

A change to the PAN, specifically the separation of the resourced provision (RP) places from the mainstream places at the school, for the following schools:

  • Guillemont Junior School from 90 plus 4 RP places to 90 with a further 16 places available across Key Stage 2 for children with an Education, Health and Care Plan, admitted to the SEN provision for speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) and 8 places available across Key Stage 2 for children with an EHCP admitted to the resourced provision for autistic spectrum disorder (ASD).
  • Kings Copse Primary School from 30 including 2 RP places to 30 with a further 9 places available across Early Years, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 for children with an Education, Health and Care Plan admitted to the resourced provision for visual impairment (VI).
  • Liss Infant School from 60 including 3 RP places to 60 with a further 10 places available across Early Years and Key Stage 1 for children with an Education, Health and Care Plan admitted to the SEN provision for moderate learning difficulties (MLD).
  • Liss Junior School from 65 including 3 RP places to 60 with a further 12 places available across Key Stage 2 for children with an Education, Health and Care Plan admitted to the SEN provision for moderate learning difficulties (MLD).
  • Pinewood Infant School from 38 including 8 RP to 30 with a further 15 places available across Early Years and Key Stage 1 for children with an Education, Health and Care Plan admitted to the SEN provision for speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) and 8 places available across Early Years and Key Stage 1 for children with an EHCP admitted to the SEN provision for autistic spectrum disorder (ASD).

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 on an increase to PAN.

Admission policies

Changes to the wording of the admission policies to ensure they are as clear as possible and easy for parents to understand as follows:

The inclusion of:

  • An explanation on how evidence will be considered for requests for priority under the medical/social criteria
  • A definition of catchment area
  • A link to the random allocation procedure

The removal of:

  • Explanation regarding equal preference
  • Information relating to the Fair Access Protocol
  • School closure information

The removal of the above information was suggested by the Schools Adjudicator on the basis that is not relevant to how places are allocated for the school in question and therefore should not form part of the school’s admission policy. This information is instead published on the County Council website as part of its composite prospectus for parents.

The full proposed admission policies are included at the bottom of this document.

School specific criteria

Amendments to the existing school specific criterion included in the admission policy for the following schools. Select the school for more details.

The introduction of 5 new school specific criteria for the following schools in response to proposed changes to their catchment areas. See “Catchment areas” for more information.

  • Hatch Warren Infant School
  • Hatch Warren Junior School
  • Kempshott Infant School
  • Kempshott Junior School
  • North Waltham Primary School

The complete list of school specific criteria for 2025/26 is available at the bottom of this page.

Catchment areas

Changes to the catchment area for the following schools, in light of planned new housing at Basingstoke Golf Course and new housing and a primary school at Hounsome Fields, Basingstoke:

Changes to the catchment area for the following schools, in light of a planned new housing development at Albany Park, Fleet:

Any comments previously received in response to the initial consultations with local schools and residents will be included as part of the decision making process resulting from this wider admissions arrangements consultation, so consultees do not need to resubmit their earlier comments.

The full proposed 2025/26 admission arrangements for Hampshire community and voluntary controlled schools are available below:

How to respond to the consultation

If you have comments about any the changes outlined above or any other aspects of the proposed admission arrangements for 2025/26, please send them by e-mail to [email protected] or write to:

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

All responses will be collated and considered by Hampshire’s Admissions Forum at their meeting on 15 January 2024, who will make recommendations to the Executive Lead Member for Children’s Services, in advance of their decision day on 20 February 2024.

The final arrangements will be published on the County Council website by 15 March 2024. If you have any questions 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.