Rotherham Council is consulting on proposed admission arrangements for entry to community and voluntary controlled schools for the academic year 2027/28.
Background Information
Rotherham Council is the admission authority for all community and voluntary controlled schools within Rotherham and is responsible for setting admission arrangements for these schools.
Admission authorities must:
- Consult on their admission arrangements when changes are proposed.
- Consult at least once every 7 years, even if no changes have been made.
For other types of schools (academies, foundation, and voluntary aided schools), Rotherham Council is not the admission authority. Consultations for these schools can be found on the individual school’s website.
This consultation relates only to admission arrangements for community and voluntary controlled schools for the 2027/28 admission year.
Key Principles
All schools must have admission arrangements that:
- Clearly set out how children will be admitted.
- Include criteria for allocating places when applications exceed available places.
These arrangements must include:
- Published Admission Number (PAN) for each intake year (Reception, Year 3 for Junior Schools, and Year 7 for Secondary Schools).
- Oversubscription criteria that are reasonable, clear, objective, procedurally fair, and compliant with legislation, including equalities law.
Admission authorities must determine admission arrangements annually.
Proposals Being Consulted On
1. Removal of Medical and Social Oversubscription Criteria
The proposal is to remove the medical and social oversubscription criteria (previously criteria 2 and 3).
Rationale:
- The School Admissions Code does not require these criteria.
- Children with significant medical or social needs usually have an Education Health and Care Plan naming the school.
- Decisions based on social/medical evidence can be perceived as subjective, raising expectations and causing disappointment when places are not allocated.
- No place has been allocated on this basis since 2016, indicating no recent need.
2. Relevant Area
The “relevant area” is the geographical area within which admission authorities must consult other prescribed schools on their arrangements.
No changes are proposed—the relevant area will remain the whole Borough of Rotherham.
Views are sought to meet the requirement to consult every two years.
Have Your Say
This consultation will end on Monday 19 January at 3pm.
