Schools: Admissions

Mr. Gibb
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of pupils were admitted to their first preference school in the last year for which figures are available for all secondary schools.

Jim Knight
The information requested is not collected centrally.

Mr. Willetts
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) which admissions authorities include ballot by lottery amongst their oversubscription criteria, in each local authority;

(2) which admissions authorities allocate places (a) primarily by lottery and (b) by lottery within fair banding, in each local authority;

(3) which admissions authorities include catchment area amongst their oversubscription criteria, broken down by local authority;

(4) which admissions authorities allocate places primarily by catchment area, broken down by local authority;

(5) how many children living within a catchment area for a school which they listed as first preference did not get a place in that school in the latest period for which figures are available, in each local authority;

(6) how many children living within a catchment area for a school to which they applied did not get a place in that school in the latest period for which figures are available, in each local authority.

Jim Knight
None of the data requested is collected centrally, but they may be available from individual local authorities.

The admissions framework is flexible enough to allow admission authorities to take account of local circumstances. They may set whatever admission criteria they consider appropriate as long as they are in accordance with the School Admissions Code. Random allocation, use of catchment areas, or banding are all acceptable means of determining which children should be given priority for admission to oversubscribed schools. They can also be used together—for example, by using random allocation within a defined catchment area—or alongside other criteria—for example, giving priority to siblings.