Issue - meetings

The Board received a report of the Executive Director – Children’s Services, which requested the approval of the School Admissions Policy, Admission Arrangements and Coordinated Schemes, for admission to primary and secondary schools, including Academy, Free School and Voluntary Controlled schools for the September 2027 intake.

The Board was advised that on 1 October 2025, the Local Authority issued a statutorily required consultation on the proposed admission arrangements and coordinated admission schemes for the September 2027 intake for primary and secondary schools (attached as appendices 1 and 2 respectively).  The primary scheme also included the proposed oversubscription criteria for community and voluntary controlled schools for whom the Local Authority was the admission authority. 

The report provided details of the consultation, which ran until 14 November 2025. It was noted that no amendments to the oversubscription criteria were suggested, as these reflected the criteria worked well and met  the requirements of the Department for Education’s School Admissions Code.

It was noted that all Halton’s secondary schools were either academies, free schools or voluntary aided and were therefore their own admission authorities, with responsibility for consulting and determining their own admissions criteria and their own Published Admission Number (PAN).

Reason(s) for Decision

Local Authorities as the admission authority for community and voluntary schools are required to consult and then determine their admission arrangements annually, and are also required to determine coordinated schemes for primary and secondary admission rounds that apply to all schools.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

None

Implementation Date

The implementation date is September 2026 which is when the timetabled process for the September 2027 intake commences.

RESOLVED:  That the Board approves the Coordinated Scheme for Admission to Primary Schools – which also contains the Local Authority’s admissions criteria to community and voluntary controlled schools, and approves the Coordinated Scheme for admission to Secondary Schools, both of which will apply to the September 2027 intake.