School told to change admissions procedure

A school has been told to change its admission arrangements following a backlash.

The oversubscribed Gosforth Academy in Newcastle was the subject of parents' fury after admitting pupils on a lottery basis, which left some siblings separated and having to learn in temporary classrooms.

The Office of the Schools Adjudicator ruled the school must "revise its admission arrangements" by the end of next week, after objections were made by parents and members of the public.

A spokesperson from the school's trust, The Gosforth Group, said it was considering the comments and "will respond accordingly by the deadline".

Earlier this year, some families who had Gosforth Academy as their first choice school were allocated places at Great Park Academy, which is three miles away and not yet built.

Gosforth Academy's admissions criteria listed children in its feeder schools as having fourth priority for places, with distance from school fifth.

But, with more children in feeder schools than places, pupils were selected on a lottery basis.

This resulted in some pupils living closer to Gosforth being sent to Great Park, and vice versa.

Furthermore, delays to the construction of Great Park, also run by the Gosforth Group, meant 120 children would be taught in temporary classrooms on Gosforth's playing fields for at least a year.

Schools Adjudicator Jennifer Gamble said the multi academy trust was required to revise its admission arrangements by 4 October 2024, for 2025.

A report found the school did not conform with some requirements.

This included oversubscription criteria not being easy to understand, and that random allocation arrangements were not "clear and transparent".

The report said the trust had "recognised the need for such revisions" in the oversubscription criteria.

However, Ms Gamble did not uphold all the objections, stating "on balance" she did not find the [allocation] arrangements to be unfair.

She also noted that complaints about the mishandling of the administrative process would need to be made to the Department for Education.

Newcastle City Council said it had received a copy of the decision made by the adjudicator, but it was for the school trust to put required actions in place.

A spokesman added that once admissions policies for 2025 were revised, parents and carers would be informed ahead of making an application for a school place.

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