Commenting on secondary school offer day, Geoff Barton, General
Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:
“We would like to send our best wishes to all families receiving
school offers today.
“The number of pupils in secondary schools has been rising in
recent years and is expected to continue to do so through to
2025. It is therefore very likely that there will be more
pressure on secondary school places this year and next. This
pressure will be most keenly felt by schools that are already
over-subscribed. In most cases these are schools located within
affluent areas that have an outstanding or good Ofsted
rating.
“There are well-known issues around people moving into catchment
areas to get their child into these schools. This results in
other families effectively being priced out and a review of the
school admissions code is needed to explore how to provide better
access to school places for disadvantaged children. This should
examine the impact of requiring schools to prioritise all
children eligible for the pupil premium, or in persistent
poverty, in a similar way to how they already prioritise looked
after and previously looked after children.
“However, the best way to tackle this inequality is to ensure
that there are good school places available to all communities.
Schools that are facing the biggest challenges must be given the
support they need and Ofsted needs to work more closely with
regional Department for Education teams to match issues
identified during inspection with the help the school will
receive. Consideration must also be given to the impact that
negative graded Ofsted judgements, which make it more difficult
for schools to attract staff and access certain funding streams,
are having on a school’s ability to improve.”
