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Academies: Admissions

Asked by Claire YoungLiberal DemocratDepartment for EducationTabled Answered 29 March 2025UIN 36905

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that unlawful academy trust admissions policies are amended for future admissions rounds.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell

Once a school’s admission arrangements have been determined, anyone who believes they are unfair or unlawful may submit an objection to the Schools Adjudicator.

Where the Adjudicator determines that a school’s admission arrangements are unlawful, the admission authority has a statutory duty to revise its admission arrangements within two months of the decision, or by 28 February following the decision, whichever is sooner, unless an alternative timescale is specified by the Adjudicator.

An Adjudicator’s determination is binding and enforceable by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education.

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