Increase in objections to school admissions

The number of objections to schools admission arrangements rose last year, the annual report from the Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA) reveals today.The OSA annual report shows that there were 129 objections to admissions arrangements in 2017-18, up from 100 the previous year.But it adds that these cases related to 78 individual admission authorities (either schools or local authorities) when last year there were 91 admission authorities involved.This was due to a large number of objections made about two particular schools – 20 to do with one academy, which were not upheld, and 12 to one community school, which were upheld.The report reveals that of the 116 cases completed during the year, 37 objections were upheld, 31 partially upheld and 48 not upheld.Objections were made on a range of matters including the use of feeder schools, catchment areas, faith-based arrangements, priority given to siblings and testing at selective schools.