admissions | Schools Week

Ombudsman wants to intervene over academy admission disputes

LGSCO role does not currently cover academies

Top university places up 28% after record A-level results

Accepted student numbers on competitive courses have soared

School admission appeals flexibilities extended again to September 2022

Changes to the way appeals process works extended for another year, albeit with slightly different wording

Speed read: ASCL’s blueprint to tackle education’s ‘entrenched injustice’

The school leaders’ union wants wide-ranging reforms, warning studies suggest rich-poor attainment gap ‘may never close’.

Secondary school admission appeals fall for first time in six years

The number of secondary school admission appeals heard in England has fallen for the first time in at least six years, new figures show. Parents whose children are refused a place at a school they applied for have the right to appeal against the decision. These appeals are heard by independent panels. Data published by the […]

Williamson wants to rush through university admissions reform ‘without legislation’

The government wants to rush through its plans for a post-qualifications admissions (PQA) system for universities “without legislation”, the education secretary has said. Gavin Williamson told the House of Commons today that “we really want to bring PQA forward as rapidly as possible”, and said he would like to do it “without legislation and in […]

20,000 students hit as UCAS glitch rejects university offers

Tens of thousands of students faced more stress this morning as a glitch in UCAS’s system automatically rejected their university offers. Around 100,000 students have until midnight today (June 10) to make their decisions through the admissions service’s portal. But as many as one in five received emails from UCAS in the early hours of […]

Admissions shake-up in September to end struggle for in-year school places

The Department for Education has confirmed a shake-up of in-year admissions to stop schools turning away “challenging” pupils will come into force in September. It also set out multiple changes to the reforms first proposed last June after analysing consultation feedback from councils, academy trusts and parents. Previous investigations by Schools Week have revealed how vulnerable […]

DfE extends emergency school admission appeals flexibilities until September

Flexibilities in the way school admission appeals are handled have been extended until the end of September. The school admission appeals code was amended last April by emergency legislation to give admission authorities, local authorities and appeal panels “some additional flexibility when dealing with appeals” during the Covid-19 outbreak. The temporary changes were due to […]