Next steps on secondary school admissions
We’ve received around 2,600 responses to the recent engagement exercise on secondary school admission arrangements from September 2026.
More than 400 people attended the public meetings to discuss the illustrative models that were put forward to stimulate a discussion in the city about the future of school admission arrangements.
Councillor Jacob Taylor, Deputy Leader of the Council, said: “I am very appreciative of the time and energy that people have put into responding to the council’s engagement exercise – and the very high level of responses received.
“We welcome the robust discussion and raising of alternative options - it does help to inform our thinking. We deliberately opted for an engagement exercise ahead of a potential consultation, as we want to give this important issue the time and careful consideration it deserves.
“The council must look to tackle differences in our city and support all the city’s children and young people. I know that opinions will differ on how to do that, and we will now be working through the detail of the best way to proceed.
“Our task now is to put forward detailed proposals about any next steps. I can assure all residents that these will be carefully considered.”
The council consults on its admission arrangements each year even if there are no major changes proposed.
The council’s Cabinet were due to consider the start of a formal consultation at the meeting on 14 November, but will now take extra time to consider the responses received, and what steps to take next.
The options include taking forward one of the illustrative models, a variation on a model, a different idea received during the engagement, or taking no further action this year at all.
A summary of the responses received during the engagement exercise will be made publicly available soon.
Recordings of the public meetings are available to view on our Your Voice engagement platform. The summaries of the meetings and the consultation responses will also be made available on the Your Voice site as soon as possible.
