Issue - meetings

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, People, on School Admission Arrangements for 2020.

The Board was advised that in October 2018, Halton Local Authority issued a statutorily required consultation on the proposed admission arrangements and co-ordinated admission schemes for the September 2020 intake. It was noted that the consultation ran until 9 November 2018, with no changes proposed to the current oversubscription criteria for admission to Local Authority maintained community and voluntary controlled primary schools. No responses to the consultation were received.

It was further noted that reference to all Halton community secondary schools had been removed, as all were either academies, free schools or voluntary aided and were therefore their own admission authorities, with responsibility for consulting on proposed changes.

Reason(s) for Decision

The decision was statutorily required and any revision to the proposed arrangements may adversely affect school place planning as detailed in the report.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

Other options considered and rejected included the allocation of places through random allocation (lottery), as this method could be seen as arbitrary and random.

Implementation Date

The Policy and co-ordinated schemes would apply for the September 2020 academic intake.

RESOLVED: That the Board approves the School Admissions Policy, Admission Arrangements and Co-ordinated Schemes for admission to primary and secondary schools for the 2020/21 academic year.