School place deadline is extended

By Angela Harrison
BBC News education reporter

Children living half a mile from the school can be denied a place

A London council has extended the deadline for parents to apply for secondary school places because of a legal row over one school's admissions.

The High Court is considering whether to uphold a ruling by England's admissions watchdog forcing Drayton Manor High School to change its policy.

The Schools Adjudicator ruled just last Thursday that the school should switch to a distance-only policy this year.

Parents will now have two more weeks, to 12 November, to apply for places.

The normal deadline for secondary school applications for 2009 for London and surrounding local authorities is this Friday, 24 October.

The authorities work together on admissions so that parents can receive one offer on the same day in early March.

Ealing Council says the court is due to confirm the admissions criteria for the popular, high-performing Drayton Manor High School in Hanwell, on Monday.

It is sending out letters to parents of children in Year 6 (10 and 11-year-olds) explaining the situation. It is also holding meetings to give more information.

It was the council - and another school which is close to Drayton Manor, Brentside High - which complained to the Schools Adjudicator.

They said the admissions policies of Drayton Manor went against the new admissions code which schools and admissions authorities have to follow when setting their criteria on whom they admit.

Alleged discrimination

The school only admits children within a certain distance if Drayton Manor is their nearest school.

This, the council complained, meant some children living even just half a mile away were being denied the chance of a place because they were slightly nearer to Brentside High School. That school is less popular and lower down the league tables.

The council argued that the policy favoured families in the more affluent areas to the east of the school and discriminated against those in the more disadvantaged areas to the north, which includes several housing estates.

The Schools Adjudicator agreed the policy could mean that children from poorer areas might be discriminated against.

He told Drayton Manor High School to switch to a strictly distance criteria - admitting children who live closest to it.

Diverse community

The school challenged the ruling through the courts - the usual channel - by seeking judicial review.

Fearing widespread confusion among parents before any final ruling was given, it took out a court order banning the council from publicising the adjudicator's decision.

That injunction has now been lifted so Ealing can inform parents about what is happening.

Most will already have submitted their application forms. They are being told that they can re-submit them - on paper only - up until noon on Wednesday 12 November.

Information from the adjudicator's website shows that the council made a formal complaint in June and that the school complained that this was too late to raise such objections. The watchdog said the complaint came within accepted time frames.

In its evidence to the adjudicator, the school argues that its intake is balanced and reflects the diversity of the wider community and that it is too late to late to change its admissions arrangements for 2009.

The adjudicator said the school believed that the admission of children from the south and east "contributes positively to the balance of its intake".

His ruling said the criteria excluded a significant proportion of children living close to the school whose families could not afford homes in the more affluent areas.

Drayton Manor's head teacher Sir Pritpal Singh has been credited with turning the school around and was knighted in 2005.

The school has said it is not appropriate to comment while the legal case is active.