Howard of Effingham admissions criteria - proposed change for entry in September 2024

December 1, 2022

GOOD NEWS for Bookhams’ Children if approved !

Consultation period Friday 25^th November 2022 to Friday13th January 2023

It is being proposed in the consultation that the Howard of Effingham Admissions criteria in relation to the “within catchment” tie break should there be oversubscription of places be changed from “priority will be given to children who live furthest from their nearest alternative school, regardless of whether or not a place could have been gained at that school” to “priority will be given to children who live closest to the school”. See below for the consultation document.

The current criterion means that children from the Bookhams, who can walk & cycle to the school, have a lower priority than those in the west of the catchment who live further away from the school. It is one that a past parent group DDOCA (Don’t Drive Our Children Away) and the Bookhams Residents' Association (BRA) have opposed and challenged since it was introduced in 2008, due to its lack of objectivity, clarity and fairness.

The Howard Partnership Trust, Surrey County Council, Multi Academy Trusts in Surrey and the Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA) now agree with that view and propose that those within the catchment and who live nearest the school have priority i.e. children from the Bookhams & Effingham.

BRA strongly supports this change in criterion and encourages all parent and other stakeholders in the Howard of Effingham to respond to the consultation AGREEING with the proposed changes.

How to respond:-