Hundreds of pupils miss out on choice of school
Parents lodged nearly 300 appeals with Bath secondary schools after their child was refused a place this year nearly 100 more than last year. The sharp rise in disputed rejections has emerged as some rue the loss of a secondary school in the city. Bath and North East Somerset Council said secondary schools in the district received 281 appeals this year from parents whose children had missed out on a place, compared with 185 last year. Of the 281 appeals made this year, 171 were heard and 62 were upheld. The council provided the figures in response to a request from our website Bath Live after some parents expressed dismay that their child had been refused a place at their local school. Some parents were left facing huge journeys to take their kids to school, with many in south Bath unhappy at having to cross the city to get to St Mark’s School in Larkhall. The council pointed to the failure of some parents to put down five preferences, saying their request for a place fell to the bottom of the list when their top choice of school was full. The authority introduced the five preference system this year ad encouraged parents to name five schools, “particularly if they wanted to guarantee a place in a B&NES school, as we recognised that the competition for places was going to be high”. But some parents have accused the council of failing to plan for a “boom” year of children, while others have said it should have done more to keep a secondary school in the south-west of Bath. Bath Community Academy, formerly Culverhay School, was closed by the Cabot Learning Federation last month. The council said it has a duty to ensure there are sufficient school places for all local pupils and it plans provision based on population growth. A spokesman said there are enough places at present, but it was difficult to find a place at a Bath secondary school for every pupil in the city because of the “pattern of applications” this year which meant “it was particularly challenging to ensure we were able to allocate a place in a Bath secondary school for every pupil living in the city of Bath this year”. The spokesman added: “With the support of some of the schools who have been flexible about their planned admission numbers, we have managed to achieve it.” It pointed out that academy schools set their own admission numbers so the council must rely on their cooperation to provide enough places for local pupils.