A consultation proposing changes to the admissions criteria for a number of schools is being launched on 20 October. Surrey has 92 community and voluntary controlled schools of which 87 currently give some level of priority to children who have the school as their “nearest school”.
Nearest school is measured in a straight line from the child’s home address. Although this is currently used as a way to prioritise applicants, it may not reflect the school that is nearest by walking or road route, or the school that is easiest for the child to get to.
It is proposed that, for 79 of these schools, priority for children who have the school as their nearest school will be removed.
As Surrey only has 4 community and voluntary controlled secondary schools this mainly affects primary schools.
By removing priority for children who have the school as their nearest school, the standard admission criteria for the majority of schools is proposed to be as follows:
- Looked after and previously looked after children
- Exceptional social/medical need
- Children of a member of staff
- Siblings
- Any other children
However, a small number of schools with feeder links will retain school specific criteria.
The consultation will run until Tuesday 1 December 2020 at www.surreysays.co.uk
