Thank you for contacting me about the proposed changes to the School Admissions Code which will ensure that only local parents and local authorities are able to object to a school's admission arrangements.
Ensuring every child has access to a good local school is a vital part of ensuring educational excellence everywhere, as is freeing schools from bureaucracy wherever is possible. I recognise how time consuming the current system can be for a school, and I want parents to be confident that it also works for them.
Where a parent has concerns about the fairness of the admission arrangements of their local school, they should be able to refer those concerns to the Adjudicator, who can focus on them and not be held up by large numbers of objections from interest groups from outside the area which can clog up the system and slow down objections from concerned parents. There have been concerns that these groups are attempting to influence government admissions policy, rather than out of concern about the arrangements of a school which they wish their child to attend, and I think it is right that the Government is taking steps to address this.
I do not think that parents will be adversely affected by these changes. Many parents already do refer objections - over half of the objections received by the Adjudicator last year were submitted by parents - and under the new arrangements, there would be nothing to prevent a parent from seeking the support and advice of a relevant organisation in submitting an objection if they wished to do so. Local authorities also play an important role in ensuring that the admission arrangements of the schools in their areas are fair when considered collectively, so I agree with the Government's proposals on admission arrangements.
This proposal will be subject to a full public consultation and parliamentary approval, and I know my colleagues in Government will give these concerns careful consideration during the consultation process.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
