School admissions forum

The role of the Forum

Forums should:

• consider existing and proposed admission arrangements. They should assess how well they serve the interests of local parents and children collectively, and try to promote agreement on admissions issues.
• consider how admissions processes might be improved
• monitor how admissions relate to published admission numbers
• review the comprehensiveness and accessibility of guidance for parents and the composite prospectus produced by the LA – the parent governor representatives on the Forum have a particular role in advising how easy local parents will find to read and understand these documents

Forums are:

responsible for seeking to promote agreements on arrangements for dealing with a range of difficult issues, including how to ensure that potentially vulnerable children (such as looked after children or those who have special educational needs) are effectively provided for in admission arrangements.

• encouraged to discuss and agree protocols for the allocation of vulnerable children who arrive in the area outside the normal admission round, taking into account parental preference as much as possible.
• encouraged to discuss and agree protocols for the allocation of vulnerable children who arrive in the area outside the normal admission round, when popular schools are full, and those who have been excluded from school (or who have a history of challenging behaviour) so that all schools play their part in accommodating these children.

Once these agreements have been reached Forums are required to monitor how well they are working, how quickly the children are found places, and the contribution every school in the area is making.

Forums must be consulted on the co-ordinated scheme being proposed by the LA. They should consider how effective these arrangements would be and advise the LA accordingly, ensuring they advise on how decisions will be made on a place offer, in circumstances in which, potentially, a parent could be offered more than one place, or none.

Promulgating advice

Forums should promulgate advice that represents the agreed views of the whole Forum. They should therefore seek to achieve a consensus among the whole membership rather than secure a majority opinion.

Any advice should, as a minimum, be published by the relevant LA on the school admissions section of their website and copies sent to all admission authorities in the area.

It is recommended that the advice should also be included in the composite prospectus published by the LA each year for parents.