Maiden Erlegh,Parents Campaign Wins Admissions Battle

Reading Borough council News Release

Parents Campaign Wins Admissions Battle

Reading-based parents have won their campaign to change the proposed admission arrangements for Maiden Erlegh School in Wokingham which would have come into effect from September 2012.

Earlier this year Reading Borough Council threw its weight behind a parents campaign to change admissions arrangements for Maiden Erlegh which - if implemented - would have seen many fewer children from the borough be able to gain places at the popular school.

In June this year The Council wrote to the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA), the Government body which oversees schools' admissions policy, objecting to proposed admission arrangements. The Council’s letter included an objection to a proposed ‘tie breaker’ system which gave priority for places at Maiden Erlegh to families with the farthest distance to travel to a particular named alternative school.

The report by the Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA) for the Secretary of State for Education has recommended the proposed ‘tie-breaker’ arrangement be dropped in favour of one of simple radial distance.

The Adjudicator concludes “I believe that the use of [the proposed tie-breaker] is unfair to families who live relatively close to the School whilst also increasing the number of families who cannot assess whether they have a reasonable likelihood of gaining a place at the School for their child in 2012.”

The Adjudicator also recommends keeping the proposed enlarged catchment area as “… virtually all parents who live in the combined designated area would have access to an alternative suitable designated school within the statutory walking distance.”

As Maiden Erlegh is an academy, it is responsible for setting and publishing the admission arrangements. Wokingham Borough Council has stated it understands the school has indicated its intention to accept the direction.

The ruling signals a victory for the determined parent campaigners who were backed by Reading Borough Council.

John Ennis, Reading’s Lead Councillor for Education and Children’s Services, said: “I am very pleased for the parents who have campaigned hard for this decision. The Council supported the objections as we believed that the proposed arrangements were unfair and are satisfied that the recommendation from the OSA will ensure that Reading families continue to have a fair chance of securing a place in their local school.”