Suella Fernandes MP: Parents and children deserve a fairer Primary school admissions system

Few issues in education are more emotive and controversial than school admissions. Parents pin their hopes for their children on getting them into a school which is right for them, and wait eagerly to hear if they have been successful. Where places are limited, tough choices have to be made, and many can be disappointed.

But for some parents, failing to get a place for their child in a particular school is more than a disappointment – it can be the cause of serious problems and hardship.  That is the background to a debate I led in Parliament this week on the subject of primary school admissions and exceptional circumstances.

The issue was raised with me by a group of concerned campaigners including many experienced people working in the field of school admissions appeals. They have highlighted a particular problem relating to admissions to infant classes for children facing severely difficult circumstances.

Currently, the law limits class sizes to 30 pupils for infant classes, a principle that had widespread support and is not in question. However, the law allows a narrow exception for certain categories of pupils that an admissions authority deems ‘excepted pupils’ who can be allowed into a particular school even if the infant class size limit has been reached. These include children in local authority care, for example. At the same time, all parents of children who fail to gain a place at a particular school have a right of appeal to an independent appeal panel. 

However, the current system does not provide as much support as it should to those facing a sudden crisis at home. A family may have a convincing and exceptional reason for their child to attend a particular school, but there is no discretion to enable the admission authority to consider their circumstances, especially if they arise after the application has been made.  There is then no power for the appeal panel to consider those factors when they review the decision.

The situation is leading to serious injustice for a small but significant group of vulnerable children facing severe and exceptional problems, such as murder, suicide or serious domestic violence in the family.  Whilst we would all agree those should be material considerations, the rules currently leave those making the decisions powerless to act. Whatever human sympathy we and the appeals panels may have in such circumstances, there is nothing that can be done: The rules are the rules, and the law is the law. My response to that is to ask if the rules need to be changed, and that was what I argued in the debate.

There is a possible solution – which would involve creating an additional category of ‘excepted pupils’ similar to that which exists at the moment for previously looked-after children. I was very encouraged to hear the Schools Minister Nick Gibb say in his response to the debate that the government would examine this suggestion as part of a forthcoming review of the School Admissions Code.

Getting a place at a good school is what most parents aspire to – which is why the government’s free schools revolution is so important, creating more good schools where parents want them.  The other side of the coin is ensuring the admissions system supports those in most need, and I hope we can find a way to make it work even better at doing that.