North Yorkshire Council
Executive
21 January 2025
School Admission Arrangements for the School Year 2026/27
Report of the Corporate Director – Children and Young People’s Service
1.0 PURPOSE OF REPORT
1.1 To provide information about the response to the proposed admission arrangements for Community and Voluntary Controlled schools for the school year 2026/2027, and to seek approval for recommendation to the Council for determination.
2.0 SUMMARY
2.1 As the Admission Authority for all Community and Voluntary Controlled schools in North Yorkshire the Council must have agreed admission arrangements that govern the allocation of school places in place by the 28 February each year to apply to admission applications for the following school year. This is to comply with legislation, and to regulations that are set out in the School Admissions Code, 2021.
2.2 A six-week consultation on the proposed admission arrangements for the 2026/2027 academic year has been undertaken, and included the admission policies and published admission numbers (‘PAN’s’) for individual schools.
2.3 This report provides a summary of the responses received to the consultation and sets out proposals for the schools admission arrangements for the academic year 2026/2027.
2.4 The proposals in this report relate to the governance of school admissions only, and are separate to the arrangements for Home to School Travel which are governed by the Council’s Home to School Travel Policy.
3.0 BACKGROUND
3.1 As the Admission Authority for all Community and Voluntary Controlled schools in North Yorkshire, the Council consults annually on admission arrangements. The Council is currently required to determine its admission arrangements, which includes admissions policy and published admission numbers, annually by 28 February each year. When changes are proposed to admission arrangements, all admission authorities must complete a consultation by 31 January. Where the admission arrangements have not changed from the previous year there is no requirement to consult, subject to the requirement that admission authorities must consult on their admission arrangements at least once every seven years, even if there have been no changes during that period.
3.2 Consultation must last for a minimum of six weeks and take place between 1 October and 31 January in the determination year. This means that schools are consulted in the autumn term each year for admissions nearly two years later. The process is therefore based, to some degree, on schools’ best estimates of the numbers of requests for places informed by the Council’s forecasting model, which takes into account the patterns of parental preference over the years. Since North Yorkshire Council is the only body that may determine the matter, it falls to the Council to determine the arrangements in February each year.
3.3 The Education (Relevant Areas for Consultation on Admission Arrangements) Regulations 1999 (SI 1999 No. 124) require local authorities to determine relevant areas for consultation on admission arrangements. The relevant areas for schools maintained by North Yorkshire Council are as follows:
3.3.1 For Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools, the relevant area for consultation
is the entire County of North Yorkshire, plus the City of York and the area of
Bradford Metropolitan Authority served at secondary level by South Craven School.
3.3.2 For Voluntary Aided, Foundation, Trust Schools and Academies the relevant area
for consultation is North Yorkshire Council and admission authorities within a radius of 3 miles of the school, including admission authorities in neighbouring local authority areas.
It is proposed that the relevant areas for consultation remain unchanged
3.4 All admission authorities must participate in co-ordination and provide the Council with the information it needs to co-ordinate admissions for the normal admission rounds by the dates agreed within the scheme.
3.5 Although there is no longer a mandatory requirement for local authorities to undertake in-year co-ordination for schools for which they are not the admission authority, they can coordinate in year admissions with the agreement of the relevant admission authorities. It is proposed that the council will continue to coordinate in year admissions within North Yorkshire.
3.7 Schools were asked to express their agreement or otherwise with the proposals relating to their own proposed Published Admission Number (PAN), the proposed admissions policy for Community and Voluntary Controlled schools, the proposed admissions policy for LA maintained Nursery schools and classes, pre-reception classes and pre-schools under school governance. In addition, they had the opportunity to make any other comments. Not all school respondents commented on every proposal within the consultation.
3.8 At the closing date of 18 December 2024, a total of 239 responses had been submitted. Of the 235 school respondents, the majority of responses were from schools and in respect of their published admission numbers (PAN). No schools made comment in respect of the proposed arrangements for community and voluntary controlled schools .in-year coordination of nursery policy. Of the four other respondents, one parent agreed with the proposals, as did one neighbouring authority and one multi academy trust. One parent made the following comment: -
For Whitley, reducing the class size will mean that local families will be forced to look at furth afield schools. There aren’t many schools available in the area and it will impact parental choice and availability.
3.9 As in previous consultations it has been seen that many consultees simply respond to the agree/disagree questions. In an effort to encourage greater interaction with the wider range of consultees, all respondents were asked to put forward comments on any aspect of the consultation.
4.0 PROPOSALS
4.1 The proposed co-ordinated Admission Arrangement documents have been updated to reflect the relevant dates for 2026/2027 and are attached to this report at Appendix 1.
4.2 The Council should retain the in-year co-ordination of admissions, including on behalf of own admission authority schools. A copy of the Co-ordinated In-Year Admission Arrangements Document is attached to this report at Appendix 2.
4.3 The proposed Admission Policies for 2026/2027 (these contain the criteria for determining admission where schools are oversubscribed) have been updated to reflect the relevant dates for 2026/2027 and include: -
4.2.1 NYC admissions policy for local authority-maintained community and voluntary controlled schools (Attached at Appendix 3)
4.2.2 NYC admissions policy for Ripon Grammar Boarding School, 2026/2027 (Attached at Appendix 4)
4.2.3 NYC admissions policy for community schools and voluntary controlled nursery schools, nursery classes, pre-reception classes 2026/2027 (Attached at Appendix 5).
4.3 The proposed Published Admission Numbers (PAN’s) for 2026/2027 have been updated, to reflect the schools that requested a change.
4.3.1 The Council sets the admission limits of Community and Voluntary Controlled
schools in consultation with the governing body of the school. An own admission authority school (Voluntary Aided, Foundation, Trust Schools, Academies or Free Schools) is not required to include a proposal to increase or keep the same admission number in any consultation on admission arrangements. Conversely, all admission authorities must consult if they propose a decrease in PAN.
4.3.2 As the admission authority for a community or voluntary controlled school the Council must consult the governing body of each school whether it proposes to increase, decrease or keep the same admission number. As part of the annual process the Council asked the governing bodies of all 153 community and voluntary controlled schools if they wished to make any changes to their published admission number prior to the consultation period. 114 schools agreed to no change, 10 requested a PAN change and 29 schools did not respond. Of the 10 that requested a change 8 requested a decrease that must be consulted on.
4.3.2 The following schools requested a decrease in their published admission numbers for 2026/2027:
Alverton Primary School – from a PAN of 30 to 20 for Reception
Green Hammerton CE Primary School – from a PAN of 17 to 15 for Reception
Hertford Vale CE VC Primary School – from a PAN of 18 to 15 for Reception
Pickering Infant School – from a PAN of 75 to 60 for Reception
Romanby Primary School – from a PAN of 40 to 30 for Reception
Selby Abbey CE VC Infant School – from a PAN of 60 to 45 for Reception
Thirsk Community Primary School – from a PAN of 42 to 30 for Reception
Whitley & Eggborough Community Primary School – from a PAN of 40 to 30 for Reception
4.3.3 The following are attached to this report: -
· The details of all Primary Schools in North Yorkshire, including their address and type (Appendix 6)
· The details of all Secondary Schools in North Yorkshire, including their address and type (Appendix 7)
· The proposed PAN’s for Community and Voluntary Controlled Primary Schools for the Academic Year 2026/2027 (Appendix 8); and
· The proposed PAN’s for Community Secondary Schools for the Academic Year 2026/2027 (Appendix 9)
4.4 The relevant areas for consultation on Admission Arrangements remain unchanged.
5.0 ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED
5.1 No alternative options were considered as it is a statutory requirement to determine Admission Arrangements on an annual basis by 28 February.
6.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
6.1 There are no financial implications arising from this report
7.0 LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
7.1 The consultation on proposed admissions arrangements for 2026/2027 is in accordance with the requirements of the School Admissions Code 2021 and associated legislation. Failure to comply with admission arrangements as determined can lead to challenge by way of objections to the Schools Adjudicator or complaints to the Local Government Ombudsman.
8.0 EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS
8.1 The Council has considered that if the recommendations are accepted, they have universal application, and therefore no adverse impacts upon any person or groups who have protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.
9.0 CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLICATIONS
9.1 There are no climate change implications arising from this report.
10.0 REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS
10.1 North Yorkshire Council as an admission authority for maintained schools must have determined admission arrangements for 2026/2027. The arrangements decide the allocation of school places which will apply for admission applications for entry in the academic year 2026/2027. The approved arrangements are to be determined by February 2025, this is to comply with the regulations and legislation set out in the Admission Code 2021
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11.0
11.1
11.2 |
RECOMMENDATIONS
That the proposed Admission Arrangements for 2026/2027 be recommended to the Council for approval on 26 February, including: -
· The proposed co-ordinated admission arrangements · The proposed co-ordinated in-year admission arrangements · The proposed admission policy for Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools · The proposed admission policy for Ripon Grammar Boarding School · The proposed admission policy for Community and Voluntary Controlled Nursery Schools, Schools with Nursery Classes and Pre-Reception Classes · The proposed published admission numbers (PAN’s) for community and voluntary controlled schools
That the relevant areas for consultation on the School Admission Arrangements remain unchanged |
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APPENDICES:
Appendix 1 - Proposed NYC co-ordinated admission arrangements 2026-2027
Appendix 2 - Proposed NYC co- ordinated in year admission arrangements
Appendix 3 - Proposed admission policy for community and voluntary controlled schools
2026-2027
Appendix 4 - Proposed admission policy for Ripon Grammar School Boarding
2026-2027
Appendix 5 - Proposed admission policy for nursery schools, schools with nursery classes and pre-reception classes
Appendix 6 – Primary schools by type and addresses
Appendix 7 - Secondary schools by type and addresses
Appendix 8 - Proposed primary admission numbers (PAN’s) for community and voluntary controlled schools 2026-2027
Appendix 9- Proposed secondary admission numbers (PAN’s) for community and
voluntary controlled schools 2026-2027
Appendix 10 - Initial Equality Impact Assessment screening form
Appendix 11 - Initial Climate Change Impact Assessment
BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS:
Department for Education - School Admission Code September 2021
Stuart Carlton
Corporate Director – Children and Young people’s Service
County Hall
Northallerton
21January 2025
Report Author – Lisa Herdman
Presenter of Report – Lisa Herdman, Lead for Admissions
Note: Members are invited to contact the author in advance of the meeting with any detailed queries or questions.