Event Details

Title:	New School Admissions and Appeals Codes: Creating a Simpler, Fairer and Transparent System
Date:	Tuesday 27th March 2012
Time:	10.00am – 4:30pm
Venue:	Broadway House, Westminster
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Key Speakers

	Dr. Elizabeth Passmore OBE, Chief Schools Adjudicator, Office of the Schools Adjudicator
	Paul Dalgleish, Assistant Director, School Choice, Organisation and Fair Access Division, Department for Education

Overview

School Admissions is one of the most highly regulated and monitored aspects of the education system, with many schools being oversubscribed and appeals becoming more frequent. Whilst approximately 600,000 children enter state education every year, 79,000 children missed out on a place at their first-choice secondary school for September 2011.

In the White Paper ‘The Importance of Teaching’ (November 2010), the Government set out a radical reform programme for the schools sector, announcing a review of the school admissions system to make it simpler, fairer and more transparent. It outlined plans to simplify the School Admissions and School Admission Appeals Codes ensuring that school places are offered and admission appeals are heard in a fair and lawful way. The Department for Education has refined the Codes, making them simpler and easier to use. The new framework comes into effect in February 2012 and will impact upon pupil admissions from September 2013 onwards. The two key proposals of the Code are:

• The introduction of a new ‘National Offer Day’ for streamlining the primary school place offer system with all 800,000 primary school places to be offered on a single day from 2014
• Giving adopted children who were previously ‘looked-after’ the same, highest priority for places as when they were ‘looked-after’, benefiting around 5,000 children each year

Other areas of reform include allowing popular schools to increase their number of places, banning local authorities from using area-wide ‘lotteries’ and reducing bureaucracy within the admissions process. Furthermore, the Schools White Paper has outlined proposals that Academies and Free Schools should be able to give priority to children attracting the Pupil Premium, for which funding is due to increase to £1.25bn in 2012.

As we embark on a crucial year for the education sector, preparation and planning starts now to set in place “the building blocks for education and later life”. This timely symposium offers an invaluable opportunity for schools, local authorities and other relevant bodies to examine the impact of the impending changes on the current schools admissions and appeals system – both at primary and secondary level. The symposium offers an essential platform to help shape a system that offers equal and fair access for all.

Delegates will:

• Discuss the new Codes and assess their impact on the current School Admissions and Appeals System
• Understand the role of the Chief Schools Adjudicator in ensuring fairer access
• Explore how the new system can be developed to create an efficient and coordinated local admissions scheme
• Examine the practical implications of the new arrangements at a local level and explore how clarity and fairness can be achieved

Programme

09:30	Registration and Morning Refreshments
10:15	Chair’s Welcome and Introduction
10:30	Panel Session One: The New School Admissions and Appeals Codes – Towards Fairer Access for All Analysing the New School Admissions Code and School Appeals Code Understanding the Criteria for Admission – Ensuring Equal and Fair Access for All and Making the Admissions Process Easier to Understand for Parents Greater Transparency – The Role of the New Chief Schools Adjudicator and Reduction of Bureaucracy The Impact of the New Code on Academies and Free Schools and on Local School Intakes The Admissions System and Looked After Children – Understand the Current Situation and the Effect of Greater Control of Academies and Schools on Looked After Children
11:15	Morning Coffee Break
11:30	Open Floor Discussion and Debate with Panel One
12:30	Networking Lunch
13:30	Panel Session Two: Transforming the National Vision into Local Reality The Impact of the New Codes on Local Authorities and their Role in Improving Access to Schools Creating Clarity and Consistency with the Introduction of a New ‘National Offer Day’ The Local Picture – Planning for the New Arrangements and the Effects of the Coordinated Admissions System Benefits of Online School Admissions and Ensuring Online Services are Equally Accessible Ensuring Safeguards for Vulnerable People are Central to the Admissions System
14:15	Afternoon Coffee Break
14:30	Open Floor Discussion and Debate with Panel Two
15:30	Chair’s Summary and Closing Comments
15:40	Networking Reception
16:30	Close

Who Should Attend?

• Primary and Secondary School Teachers
• Headteachers, Principals and School Management
• Central Government and Agencies
• Behaviour and Attendance Teams
• School Admissions Teams
• Chief Education Officers
• Child Poverty Teams
• Children Missing Education Teams
• Children in Care Teams
• Children and Young People’s Services
• Local Councillors
• Children’s Trusts
• Connexions
• Curriculum Leads and Development Teams
• Directors of Education
• Disabled Children’s Teams
• Educational Welfare Teams
• Parent Council Representatives
• Parent Partnership Teams
• Parent Support Advisors
• Parental Engagement Teams and Advisors
• Parenting Organisations
• Independent Learning Providers
• Learning and Skills Council
• Education Providers
• Teaching Unions and Federations
• SEN Coordinators
• Skills and Apprenticeships Teams
• School Governors
• Vocational Learning Teams
• Qualification Authorities and Exam Boards
• Charities, Social Enterprises and Cooperatives
• School Access Managers
• External Relations Teams
• Extended Schools Services
• 14-19 Managers and Advisors
• Early Years and Childcare Practitioners
• Partnership Development Teams
• Performance, Standards and Quality Teams
• School Access Managers
• School Adjudicators
• School Business Managers
• School Governors and Management
• School Improvement Teams
• School Inclusion Teams
• School Place Planning Managers
• Local Education Authorities
• LEA Teams
• Strategy and Commissioning Teams
• Third Sector Practitioners
• Equality and Diversity Practitioners
• Academics and Researchers

“The new Admissions Codes are slimmer, less repetitive and easier to read and use. For these reasons alone they should help to reduce the stress confronting parents as they navigate the schools admissions system and find a place for their child.

A new 'National Offer Day' for primary schools – as recommended by the Chief Schools Adjudicator – will introduce clarity and consistency in the system for hundreds and thousands of parents. Receiving offers on different days is confusing and stressful, especially for parents making cross-border applications to schools in neighbouring local authorities. ”
— Schools Minister, November 2011