School Admission Arrangements for 2016/17 Entry

Overview

Proposed changes to the admission criteria for Rochdale Borough Community and Voluntary Controlled Primary Schools

Rochdale Council is consulting on a proposed change to the admission criterion to give priority to children eligible for the service premium.

 Background

Subject to a new Admissions Code coming into effect, admission authorities can give a priority to children eligible for early years premium, pupil premium and service premium. The Local Authority is also consulting on changes to the arrangements for within –year applications.

 Proposals:

Rochdale Local Authority proposes to introduce a priority for children eligible for the service premium only from September 2016. This is consistent with the Local Authority’s commitment to reducing disadvantage for children of service families and service families returning to the Borough. Children eligible for admission under this priority would be those where:

*  one of their parents is serving in the regular armed forces;

*  one of their parents served in the regular armed forces in the last 3 years;

*  one of their parents died while serving in the armed forces and the pupil is in receipt of a pension under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) and the War Pensions Scheme (WPS).

For within year transfers, the Local Authority is asking governing bodies of community and voluntary controlled schools whether they want to administer within-year applications themselves.