secondary admissions review

You are here - home : learn : schools : secondary admissions review

New secondary admissions system agreed

A new school admissions policy has been agreed for pupils starting secondary school in September 2008. It uses fixed catchment areas based on postcodes.

The new arrangements have now been agreed by the Office of the Schools Adjudicator, on the understanding that the council will review the system during the first year of its operation.

The adjudicator is independent of the council and the government. This decision is legally binding.

Read the Adjudicator's full decision here [MS Word 105kb].

The new system will give all parents priority for at least one school near to them – a situation denied to many parents in the city by the current criteria based on home to school distance. The system was confirmed on 27 February 2007 by the council's Children, Families & Schools Committee following further consideration as requested by a council scrutiny committee.

Under the new system Portslade Community College, Longhill, Falmer High and Patcham High will all have their own catchment areas. Hove Park and Blatchington Mill share a joint catchment area, as do Varndean and Dorothy Stringer.

• the catchment area for Portslade Community College covers postcodes BN41 1 from its northern boundary south down to the railway line, and BN41 2
  
• the catchment area for Hove Park and Blatchington Mill covers postcodes BN1 2, BN1 3, BN1 5 (including Tongdean Lane west of the railway line), the whole of BN3, and BN41 1 south of the railway line, and BN1 8 west of London Road (the Brangwyn estate)
  
• the catchment area for Varndean and Dorothy Stringer covers postcodes BN1 1, BN1 4, BN1 6, BN1 7, BN2 0, BN2 1, BN2 3, then lower half of BN2 5*, BN2 9 and Tongdean Lane east of the London to Brighton railway line
  
• the catchment area for Patcham High covers postcodes BN1 8 excluding the Brangwyn estate, and BN1 9 excluding North Moulsecoomb
  
• the catchment area for Falmer High covers postcode BN2 4 and BN 1 9 to the east of Lewes Road
  
• the catchment area for Longhill School covers postcodes BN2 6, BN2 7, BN2 8, and the upper half of BN2 5*
  
• * BN2 5 is divided along the following roads. Follow the road from the top of Manor Hill to the junction with Manor Way. East to the junction with Whitehawk Road. Follow the line of Whitehawk Road to Marlow Road. East to Wilson Avenue. Follow the line of Wilson Avenue to the A259.

As a church-aided school, the governing body of Cardinal Newman RC School is responsible for deciding admission policy for that school, not the council.

An ‘equal preference’ system will be introduced to replace the current ‘first preference first’ system, which will no longer be allowed by the government as of 2008. This system is expected to mean more people getting one of their preferred schools, and will hopefully eliminate the need for tactical preferences.

At oversubscribed schools, once exceptional circumstances and sibling links have been taken into account an electronic ballot will be used to allocate places rather than the current system of home to school distance measurement.

The sibling link rule will change as of September 2013 so that it would only apply within a person’s designated catchment area.

High priority has been given to getting a better balance in schools of children from a variety of backgrounds. In drawing up the catchment area boundaries the working group has taken into account not only projected pupil numbers, but also the number of pupils receiving free school meals – a recognised indicator of deprivation.

The system is the result of what is believed to be the most comprehensive consultation on school admissions ever carried out in this country.

Linking the catchment areas to postcode areas makes the system easy to understand. And by taking into account the number of children receiving free school meals in each area – a nationally recognised indicator of deprivation – the system has an element of social justice that is now considered best practice by the government.

Questions you may have

• View map showing catchment areas [PDF 55kb]
• See our Secondary Admissions System question and answer sheet [PDF 34kb] for more information.

If you have any questions on this please contact sar@brighton-hove.gov.uk or visit the committee section of the website to read the relevant committee reports.

Previous Papers

Minutes from the Working Group Meetings

• 18 January 2007 [MS Word 57kb]
• 15 January 2007 [MS Word 72kb]
• 20 December 2006 [MS Word 68kb]
• 06 October 2006 [MS Word 62kb]
• 25 September 2006 [MS Word 76kb]
• 11 September 2006 [MS Word 79kb]
• 28 July 2006 [MS Word 79kb]
• 21 June 2006 [MS Word 106kb]
• 8 June 2006 [MS Word 69kb]
• 25 May 2006 [MS Word 89kb]
• 25 April 2006 [MS Word 60kb]

Minutes from Parents Stakeholder Group meetings

• 18 December 2006 [MS Word 74kb]
• 26 April 2006 [MS Word 49kb]
• 05 June 2006 [MS Word 61kb]
• 14 June 2006 [MS Word 95kb]
• 29 June 2006 [MS Word 69kb]
• 02 August 2006 [MS Word 64kb]
• 06 September 2006 [MS Word 80kb]
• 18 September 2006 [MS Word 57kb]
• 28 November 2006 [MS Word 62kb]