The School Admissions (Admission Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2008
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 2008/3089 |
| Year | 2008 |
2008 No. 3089
Education, England
The School Admissions (Admission Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2008
Made 3rd December 2008
Laid before Parliament 10th December 2008
Coming into force 31th December 2008
The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, after consulting the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council pursuant to paragraph 24 of Schedule 7 to the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 20071, makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 1, 88B, 88C, 88D, 88E, 88F, 88G, 88H, 88I, 88K, 88L, 92, 100, 102 and 138(7) of the School Standards and Framework Act 19982and section 29(3) of the Education Act 19963:
PART 1
General
Citation, commencement and application
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the School Admissions (Admission Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2008.
(2) These Regulations come into force on 31st December 2008.
(3) They apply in relation to admission arrangements for schools in England for the academic year 2010-2011 and subsequent years.
Interpretation
2.—(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;
“additional radial area” means any part of the radial area which falls outside the relevant area for consultation about the proposed admission arrangements for a school (but excluding any part of such an area that is in Scotland);
“admission authority” has the meaning in section 88(1);
“admission number” means the number of children in any relevant age group intended to be admitted in any academic year as determined or, where the context requires, proposed to be determined by an admission authority in accordance with section 88D;
“determination year”, in relation to the proposed admission arrangements for a school, means the academic year beginning two years before the academic year which the arrangements will be for;
“local authority” means a local education authority;
“indicated admission number” means the number of pupils in any relevant age group referred to as such in, and determined in accordance with the net capacity assessment method set out in, the guidance “Assessing the Net Capacity of Schools” issued by the Department for Education and Skills in August 2002;4
“main entrance” means the principal entrance to the school premises or, if the school has more than one site, the principal entrance to the main administrative building of the school;
“oversubscription criteria” means the criteria to be used to allocate places at a school if the admission authority receives more applications than there are places available;
“pre-existing selection arrangements” means any selection arrangements which—
(a) were included in the admission arrangements for a school at the beginning of the academic year 1997/98 and for each subsequent academic year, and
(b) which depend solely for their lawfulness on section 100(permitted selection: pre-existing arrangements)(that is to say they are not rendered lawful by section 99(2)(c) (sixth forms), section 101 (permitted selection: pupil banding)5, section 102(permitted selection: aptitude for particular subjects), or section 39(1)(b) of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 (grammar schools);
“prescribed alteration” means an alteration prescribed for the purposes of section 18 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006;
“radial area” is the area described by a circle—
(a) of which the centre is the main entrance to the school to which the proposed admission arrangements relate, and
(b) which has a radius of 3.2 kilometres in the case of a primary school and 8 kilometres in the case of a secondary school
(but excluding any part of such an area that is in Scotland); and
“relevant area” has the meaning in section 88F(4) and The Education (Relevant Areas for Consultation on Admission Arrangements) Regulations 19996;
“school” means a community, foundation or voluntary school;
“School Admissions Code” means any code for school admissions issued under section 84;7and
“selection arrangements” means those arrangements (if any) in the admission arrangements determined for a school for a particular academic year which make provision for the selection of pupils by ability or aptitude within the meaning of section 99(5).
(2) For the purposes of these Regulations admission arrangements for a school are treated as being for the particular academic year in which pupils are to be admitted to the school in consequence of the arrangements.
(3) Save where otherwise appears, any reference in these Regulations to a numbered section is a reference to that section of SSFA 1998.
Regulations revoked
3.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) the Regulations set out in Schedule 1 are revoked.
(2) The Regulations referred to in Schedule 1 continue to have effect in relation to admission arrangements for schools in England for the academic years 2008-2009 and 2009-2010.
PART 2
Admission arrangements: general
Determination of admission numbers
4. For the purposes of section 88D(1) an admission authority must have regard to the current indicated admission number when determining the admission number for a relevant age group.
Proportion of selective admissions
5.—(1) This regulation has effect for the purposes of calculating the proportion of selective admissions within the meaning of section 100(3) and section 102(4) in relation to the admission of pupils in any relevant age group to a school in any year.
(2) For the purposes of that calculation the total number of pupils in any such age group admitted to the school in an academic year shall be taken to equal the number of pupils in that age group which it is intended to admit to the school in that year.
Selection by aptitude for particular subjects
6.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) the following subjects are prescribed for the purposes of section 102—
(a)
(a) modern foreign languages, or any such language,
(b)
(b) the performing arts, or any one or more of the performing arts,
(c)
(c) the visual arts, or any one or more of the visual arts,
(d)
(d) physical education or sport, or one or more sports,
(e)
(e) design and technology,
(f)
(f) information technology.
(2) The subjects in sub-paragraphs (e) and (f) of paragraph (1) are prescribed in relation to admission arrangements for the academic year 2010-2011 and subsequent academic years, only if the admission arrangements for that school made provision for the selection of pupils by reference to their aptitude in those subjects in relation to the academic year 2007-08 and each subsequent year.
PART 3
Admission arrangements: looked after children
Action to be taken by an admission authority to give priority to looked after children in its admission arrangements
7.—(1) Except where regulations 8, 9, 10 or 11 apply, an admission authority must give first priority in its oversubscription criteria to all relevant looked after children.
(2) For the purposes of this Part—
(a)
(a) “relevant looked after child” means a child who is looked after by a local authority in accordance with section 22 of the Children Act 19898at the time an application to a school is made, and who the local authority has confirmed will still be looked after at the time when he is admitted to the school; and
(b)
(b) any reference to an admission authority giving priority in its oversubscription criteria to a relevant looked after child is a reference to the authority giving priority to such a child when determining its admission arrangements before the beginning of each school year in accordance with section 88C;
Grammar schools
8.—(1) This regulation applies to an admission authority for a grammar school as defined by section 104(7).
(2) No priority need be given to a relevant looked after child where the arrangements for the admission of pupils are wholly based on selection by reference to ability and provide for only those pupils who achieve the highest ranked results in any selection test to be admitted.
(3) Where paragraph (2) does not apply, the admission authority must give first priority in its oversubscription criteria to all relevant looked after children who meet the pre-set standards of the school.
Schools designated as having a religious character
9.—(1) This regulation applies to an admission authority for a school which has been designated as having a religious character by an order under section 69(3).
(2) The admission authority may give first priority in its oversubscription criteria to all relevant looked after children, whether or not they are of the same faith as that which applies to the school in accordance with its designation, and must in any event—
(a)
(a) give first priority to all relevant looked after children who are of that faith over all other children of that faith, and
(b)
(b) give higher priority to all relevant looked after children not of that faith than all other children not of that faith.
Schools with pre-existing selection arrangements
10.—(1) This regulation applies to an admission authority for a school which has pre-existing selection arrangements.
(2) The admission authority must give first priority in its oversubscription criteria to all relevant looked after children who are eligible for selection for admission by reference to ability or aptitude over all other children who have been so selected.
(3) Where the admission authority has...
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