Parents, carers and school staff want the same thing for the children in their care when it comes to education: the best possible outcomes allowing them to make informed choices for their futures. It is the job of schools to provide an education which makes this possible.
At The Totteridge Academy (TTA), we have seen first-hand the impact that school improvement has on student outcomes.
I started as principal at TTA in 2016, the same year the school joined United Learning. At that time, our Year 11 outcomes were the lowest in the borough, well below national average. We were significantly under-subscribed, with a falling roll.
Now, TTA is one of the top-performing schools in the country. In 2024, a GCSE progress score of +1.32 put us in the top 0.5 per cent, with pupil premium students achieving +0.87, well above national average.
Good results and an improved, wider educational experience has meant increasing demand for places. Since 2016, we have more than doubled our intake and quickly became highly oversubscribed.
As we reviewed our admissions, however, we noticed something disconcerting: the proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) in our intake was falling as more affluent families chose the school. As a result, we were becoming less representative of our wider community.
Nationally, the attainment gap between students with Pupil Premium funding and those without is stark. Many of the poorest pupils achieve over half a grade less than expected by the end of KS4 compared to their more affluent peers.
We all know that this is not about a lack of potential, or teachers not working hard enough. Many of us trained with Teach First to help build a fairer education system and narrow the attainment gap.
We saw a chance to embed our commitment to educational equality
That commitment remains at the heart of our school. We strongly feel that our ethos and ambition of achieving ‘the best in everyone’ mean serving our whole community.
As we continued to refine our strategy towards narrowing the attainment gap year on year, we refused to compromise on inclusivity. We saw a chance to embed our commitment to educational equality into the fabric of our admissions system, ensuring that access to the school gates was not determined by income or postcode.
We introduced a priority admissions band, reserving 60 places each year for Pupil Premium pupils. We arrived at that number because it meant that at least one-third of new places would be reserved for pupils eligible for pupil premium.
In reality, the overall figure tends to be higher, since many pupils who qualify under the other criteria (siblings, EHCP, distance) are also eligible for pupil premium. Setting aside 60 places gave us the best chance of keeping pupil premium representation to at least 50 per cent overall.
This change required careful planning, community engagement and compromise between us, families and key stakeholders. Changing admissions is a process which requires time, capacity and will.
We were fortunate to have staff and governors who saw the benefit of this bold approach, a supportive parental community who helped us refine the details of the change to avoid other unintended consequences, and a trust which supported our vision in every way.
As a school, we are confident that this was the right decision, enabling fairer opportunities for all pupils regardless of background. Moreover, this change has had a notable impact on our whole school culture, creating a clear moral purpose and shared vision that ensures all pupils make excellent progress.
Admissions policies are of course just one lever schools can pull to effect positive change. But having done so, we are proud that our school’s aspirations and achievements now remain firmly rooted in our community.
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