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School admissions changes to go before councillors

Sarah Booker-Lewis
Local Democracy Reporting Service
Getty Images A view along the beach and seafront at Brighton taken from Brighton Pier towards the ruins of the old West Pier and the i360 tower in East Sussex, UK.Getty Images
The proposals are due to go before a special council meeting on 27 February

Proposed changes to secondary school admissions across Brighton and Hove are due to go before councillors next week.

Brighton & Hove City Council wants to reduce the intake at three secondary schools, introduce an open admission policy and increase the number of preferences that families can make.

While the original proposal was to allocate 20% of places for pupils who live in single school catchment areas, this drops to 5% in the modified plans, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

An eight-week public consultation in December and January received almost 4,000 responses, while concerned parents staged a protest last month.

The proposals

  • Five per cent open admission for pupils from single-school catchment areas
  • Reduce the intake in year 7 by one class or 30 pupils at Blatchington Mill and Dorothy Stringer, and by two classes at Longhill
  • Offer four choices rather than three when applying for secondary school
  • Give priority to children eligible for free school meals up to 30% of admissions
  • Move part of Whitehawk into the Dorothy Stringer and Varndean catchment area and Kemp Town into the Longhill catchment area

The open admissions policy would give children living in four secondary school catchments – BACA, PACA, Longhill and Patcham High – a better change of a place at schools such as Stringer, Varndean, Blatchington Mill and Hove Park.

Deputy council leader Jacob Taylor said the recommendations had been "shaped by the responses we received during the consultation stage".

Separately both Brighton MPs have raised concerns about the impact on children with SEND, particularly those without an education, health and care plan (ECHP).

Chris Ward, Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven, is concerned that the current catchment proposals "could result in some children with SEND having to travel a long way and potentially via multiple forms of transport" to go to school.

The proposals will go before councillors on 27 February.

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