The School Admissions (Co-ordination of Admission Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2008

Citation, commencement and application

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as The School Admissions (Co-ordination of Admission Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2008 and come into force on 10th February 2009.

(2) Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), these Regulations apply in relation to the arrangements under which pupils are to be admitted to schools in England in the academic year 2011-2012 and subsequent years.

(3) Regulation 11 (which introduces Schedule 2, which contains amendments to the School Admissions (Co-ordination of Admission Arrangements)(England) Regulations 2007) applies in relation to the arrangements under which pupils are to be admitted to schools in England in the academic year 2010-2011.

(4) These Regulations do not apply to the Council of the Isles of Scilly.

Revocation

2.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the School Admissions (Co-ordination of Admission Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2007(1) are revoked.

(2) This regulation does not have effect in relation to arrangements under which pupils are to be admitted to schools in England for the academic years up to and including 2010-2011.

Interpretation

3.—(1) In these Regulations—

“SSFA 1998” means the School Standards and Framework Act 1998;

“academic year” means a period commencing with 1st August and ending with the next 31st July;

“admission year”, in relation to the admission of pupils to schools during a particular academic year in pursuance of an imposed scheme or a qualifying scheme, means that academic year;

“application”, in relation to arrangements made by a local education authority under section 86(1), means a parent’s expression of a preference as to the school at which he wishes primary or, as the case may be, secondary education to be provided for his child in the exercise of the authority’s functions;

“the authority” means the local education authority formulating a qualifying scheme in accordance with regulation 4, or for whose area an imposed scheme has been, or is to be, made;

“the determination year” means the academic year beginning two years before the admission year;

“imposed scheme” means a scheme for co-ordinating the arrangements for the admission of pupils to primary schools and secondary schools made by the Secretary of State under section 88M(2) and imposed in accordance with regulation 7;

“offer date” means the date designated by the authority in accordance with regulation 8 in the case of primary schools, or the date prescribed by regulation 9 in the case of secondary schools;

“offer year” means the academic year immediately preceding the admission year;

“qualifying scheme” means a scheme for co-ordinating the arrangements for the admission of pupils to primary schools and secondary schools in the local authority’s area formulated by an authority pursuant to section 88M(1)(a) and these Regulations;

“school” means a community, foundation or voluntary school;

“the 2007 Regulations” means the School Admissions (Co-ordination of Admission Arrangements)(England) Regulations 2007; and

“working day” means any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a day which is a bank holiday within the meaning of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971(2).

(2) For the purposes of these Regulations an application is made in the course of a normal admission round if it is not a late application or an in-year application.

(3) For the purposes of these Regulations an application is a late application if—

(a) it is for the admission of a child to a relevant age group;

(b) it is submitted before the first day of the first school term of the admission year; and

(c) a determination relating to the application is not made by an authority on or before the offer date.

(4) For the purposes of these Regulations an application is an in-year application if—

(a) it is for the admission of a child to a relevant age group and it is submitted on or after the first day of the first school term of the admission year; or

(b) it is for the admission of a child to an age group other than a relevant age group.

(5) Save where otherwise appears, any reference in these Regulations to a numbered section is a reference to that section of SSFA 1998.

Formulation of qualifying schemes

4.—(1) An authority must formulate, in relation to any academic year to which these Regulations apply, a qualifying scheme in relation to each primary and secondary school in their area (a “qualifying scheme”).

(2) A qualifying scheme must comply with the requirements in Schedule 1.

Action to be taken by an authority to secure adoption of a qualifying scheme

5.—(1) This regulation prescribes for the purposes of section 88M(1)(b) the action to be taken by an authority with a view to securing the adoption of a qualifying scheme by themselves and each governing body who are the admission authority for a primary school or secondary school in their area.

(2) An authority must formulate a qualifying scheme by 1st January in the relevant determination year.

(3) The authority must refer a qualifying scheme which they propose should be adopted in their area to the Admission Forum established for that area under section 85A(3).

(4) The authority must consult the Admission Forum on the contents of the qualifying scheme.

(5) Where—

(a) the Admission Forum advises that the qualifying scheme is substantially different to the qualifying scheme adopted for the preceding academic year, or

(b) the authority have not consulted on a qualifying scheme in accordance with this paragraph in either of the two preceding academic years,

the authority must consult the bodies mentioned in paragraph (6).

(6) The bodies mentioned in this paragraph are—

(a) each governing body who are the admission authority for a school in the authority’s area; and

(b) any other local education authority as the authority may determine.

(7) The consultation pursuant to paragraph (6)(b) must be undertaken with a view in particular to securing that the arrangements for the admission of pupils to schools in the areas of different local education authorities are, so far as is reasonably practicable, compatible with each other.

(8) Once the authority have carried out any consultation required under this regulation they must determine the qualifying scheme (either in its original form or with such modifications as the authority think fit) which they propose should apply for the academic year in question and must take all reasonable steps to secure its adoption by themselves and each governing body they consulted in relation to it.

Information to be provided to the Secretary of State

6.  Following any action required to be taken under regulation 5, an authority must inform the Secretary of State whether they have secured the adoption of a qualifying scheme or not, and provide the Secretary of State with a copy of the adopted scheme.

Making of a scheme by the Secretary of State

7.—(1) In any case where by 15th April in the relevant determination year an authority have not informed the Secretary of State in accordance with regulation 6 that a scheme has been adopted in their area–

(a) an imposed scheme may be made, or

(b) where an imposed scheme has been made or has effect in relation to the preceding year and has not been revoked, the Secretary of State may notify the authority that that scheme continues to have effect in relation to the academic year immediately following.

(2) An imposed scheme may make provision corresponding to the requirements of a qualifying scheme.

Date on which decisions in relation to primary school admissions are to be communicated to parents

8.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), an authority must designate a single day in each year as the day on which a determination made in accordance with the provisions of a qualifying scheme to offer or refuse a child admission to a primary school must be sent to a parent.

(2) Where, in accordance with a qualifying scheme, children may be admitted to a relevant age group at a primary school in the authority’s area pursuant to more than one normal admission round, the authority must designate, in relation to each normal admission round, the single day on which a determination referred to in paragraph (1) must be sent to a parent.

(3) The requirement in paragraph (1) to send a determination to offer or refuse a child admission to a primary school only applies to applications made in the course of a normal admission round.

Date on which decisions in relation to secondary school admissions are to be communicated to parents

9.—(1) Subject to paragraph (3), this regulation prescribes for the purposes of section 88M(4)(b), the single day in each year on which a determination made in accordance with the provisions of a qualifying scheme or an imposed scheme to offer or refuse a child admission to a secondary school must be sent to a parent.

(2) The prescribed day is 1st March in the offer year, except that, in any year in which that day is not a working day, the prescribed day is the next working day.

(3) The requirement in paragraph (1) to send a determination to offer or refuse a child admission to a secondary school only applies to applications made in the course of a normal admission round.

Sections 496 and 497 of the Education Act 1996

10.  Sections 496 and 497 of the Education Act 1996(4) apply to an authority or a governing body as if any of the obligations imposed on them under a qualifying scheme or an imposed scheme were duties imposed on them under that Act.

Amendment of the 2007 Regulations

11.  Schedule 2 contains amendments to the 2007 Regulations.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Department for Children, Schools and Families

3rd December 2008