The Education (Co-ordination of School Admission Arrangements and Miscellaneous Amendments) (Wales) Regulations 2024

Title, coming into force and application E+W

1.—(1) The title of these Regulations is the Education (Co-ordination of School Admission Arrangements and Miscellaneous Amendments) (Wales) Regulations 2024.

(2) These Regulations come into force on 28 June 2024.

(3) These Regulations apply in relation to Wales.

Commencement Information

I1 Reg. 1 in force at 28.6.2024, see reg. 1(2)

Interpretation E+W

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“the 1996 Act” (“Deddf 1996”) means the Education Act 1996;

“the 1998 Act” (“Deddf 1998”) means the School Standards and Framework Act 1998;

“academic year” (“blwyddyn academaidd”) has the meaning given in section 89B(6) of the 1998 Act;

“admission arrangements” (“trefniadau derbyn”) has the meaning given in section 88(2) of the 1998 Act(1);

“admission authority” (“awdurdod derbyn”) has the meaning given in section 88(1) of the 1998 Act(2);

“admission year” (“blwyddyn dderbyn”) means the academic year during which pupils are admitted to a relevant age group under a qualifying scheme or a Welsh Minister scheme;

“application” (“cais”), in relation to arrangements made by a local authority under section 86(1) of the 1998(3) Act, means a parent’s expression of preference in a common application form as to the maintained school at which that parent wishes education to be provided for their child;

“child” (“plentyn”) has the meaning given in section 84(6) of the 1998 Act(4);

“common application form” (“ffurflen gais gyffredin”) means a form provided by a local authority for completion by a parent in respect of an application by that parent;

“composite prospectus” (“prosbectws cyfansawdd”) means the composite prospectus that a local authority is required to publish under regulation 4 of the School Information (Wales) Regulations 2011(5);

“determination year” (“blwyddyn benderfynu”) in relation to the proposed admission arrangements for a school, means the academic year beginning 2 academic years before the academic year to which the admission arrangements relate;

“governing body” (“corff llywodraethu”) has the meaning given in section 19(1) of the Education Act 2002(6);

“local authority” (“awdurdod lleol”) means a county council in Wales and a county borough council in Wales;

“maintained school” (“ysgol a gynhelir”) has the meaning given in section 84(6) of the 1998 Act;

“offer date” (“dyddiad cynnig”) has the meaning given in regulation 6;

“offer year” (“blwyddyn gynnig”) means the academic year immediately preceding the admission year;

“parent” (“rhiant”) has the meaning given in section 576 of the 1996 Act(7);

“primary school” (“ysgol gynradd”) has the meaning given in section 5(1) of the 1996 Act(8);

“pupil” (“disgybl”) has the meaning given in section 3 of the 1996 Act(9);

“qualifying scheme” (“cynllun cymhwysol”) means a scheme formulated by a local authority for co-ordinating arrangements for the admission of pupils to maintained schools in its area under section 89B(1)(a) of the 1998 Act and these Regulations;

“relevant age group” (“grŵp oedran perthnasol”) has the meaning given in section 142(1) of the 1998 Act(10);

“secondary school” (“ysgol uwchradd”) has the meaning given in section 5(2) of the 1996 Act;

“Welsh Minister scheme” (“cynllun Gweinidogion Cymru”) means a scheme for the co-ordination of admission arrangements imposed by the Welsh Ministers under [F1 section] 89B(2) of the 1998 Act;

F2 ...

(2) For the purposes of these Regulations an application is made in the course of a normal admission round if—

(a) it is for the admission of a pupil to a relevant age group, and

(b) it is not a late application or an in-year application.

(3) For the purposes of these Regulations an application is a late application if—

(a) it is for the admission of a pupil to a relevant age group,

(b) it is submitted before the first day of the first school term of the admission year,

(c) it is submitted after the date set out in the composite prospectus for the receipt of applications for admission of a pupil to a maintained school, and

(d) a determination relating to the application is not made by an admissions authority on or before the offer date.

(4) For the purposes of these Regulations an application is an in-year application if—

(a) it is for the admission of a pupil to a relevant age group and it is submitted on or after the first day of the admission year, or

(b) it is for the admission of a pupil to an age group other than a relevant age group.

Textual Amendments

F1 Word in reg. 2(1) substituted (4.11.2024) by The Education (Amendments Relating to the Co-ordination of School Admission Arrangements) (Wales) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/1002), regs. 1(2), 2(2)(a)

F2 Words in reg. 2(1) omitted (4.11.2024) by virtue of The Education (Amendments Relating to the Co-ordination of School Admission Arrangements) (Wales) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/1002), regs. 1(2), 2(2)(b)

Commencement Information

I2 Reg. 2 in force at 28.6.2024, see reg. 1(2)

Formulation of qualifying schemes E+W

3.—(1) Each local authority must formulate, in relation to the determination year 2025 to 2026, and in relation to each subsequent determination year, a qualifying scheme in relation to each maintained school in its area.

(2) A qualifying scheme must comply with the requirements in the Schedule.

Commencement Information

I3 Reg. 3 in force at 28.6.2024, see reg. 1(2)

Action to be taken by a local authority to secure adoption of a qualifying scheme E+W

4.—(1) Each local authority must adopt a qualifying scheme relating to the determination year 2025 to 2026 by 1 January 2025 and subsequently by 1 January preceding each determination year to which the qualifying scheme relates.

(2) Before adopting a qualifying scheme, if the conditions set out in paragraph (3) are fulfilled, a local authority must consult the bodies set out in paragraph (4).

(3) The conditions referred to in paragraph (2) are—

(a) the qualifying scheme is substantially different from the qualifying scheme adopted for the preceding determination year, or

(b) the local authority has not, in the previous 6 determination years, consulted on a qualifying scheme which it has adopted.

(4) The bodies to be consulted are—

(a) the admission forum,

(b) each governing body which is the admission authority for a maintained school in the local authority’s area, and

(c) any other local authority that the local authority thinks is likely to be affected by the qualifying scheme.

(5) The consultation carried out under paragraph (4)(c) must be undertaken with a view to securing that the arrangements for the admission of pupils to maintained schools in the areas of different local authorities are, so far as is reasonably practicable, compatible with each other.

(6) After the local authority has carried out any consultation required under this regulation it must—

(a) determine the qualifying scheme—

(i) in its original form, or

(ii) with such modifications as the local authority thinks fit, and

(b) adopt the qualifying scheme and take all reasonable steps to secure its adoption by each governing body which is an admission authority that the local authority consulted in relation to it.

(7) In this regulation “admission forum” means a body established by a local authority in Wales for maintained schools in its area under section 85A of the 1998 Act(11).

Commencement Information

I4 Reg. 4 in force at 28.6.2024, see reg. 1(2)

Information to be provided to the Welsh Ministers E+W

5.  For the admission year 2027 to 2028 and every subsequent admission year, each local authority must inform the Welsh Ministers on or before 28 February in the relevant determination year whether or not it has adopted a qualifying scheme.

Commencement Information

I5 Reg. 5 in force at 28.6.2024, see reg. 1(2)

Offer date E+W

6.—(1) The single date in each year on which a determination, made under the provisions of a qualifying scheme or a Welsh Minister scheme, to offer or refuse a pupil admission to a maintained school must be communicated to a parent—

(a) for primary schools, is 16 April in the offer year, and

(b) for secondary schools, is 1 March in the offer year.

(2) When in any offer year the offer date is not a working day, the offer date is the next working day.

(3) This regulation only applies to determinations made in the course of a normal admission round.

Commencement Information

I6 Reg. 6 in force at 28.6.2024, see reg. 1(2)

Part 2 of the School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013 E+W

7.—(1) Chapter 1 of Part 2 of the School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013 (“ the 2013 Act”) is to apply as if any obligations imposed on a governing body under a qualifying scheme or a Welsh Minister scheme were imposed on it by the Education Acts.

(2) Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the 2013 Act is to apply as if any obligations imposed on a local authority under a qualifying scheme or a Welsh Minister scheme were education functions.

(3) In this regulation—

(a) “the Education Acts” (“y Deddfau Addysg”) has the meaning given in section [F3 578] of the 1996 Act(12);

(b) “education functions” (“swyddogaethau addysg”) has the meaning given in section 579(1) of the 1996 Act(13).

Textual Amendments

F3 Word in reg. 7(3)(a) substituted (4.11.2024) by The Education (Amendments Relating to the Co-ordination of School Admission Arrangements) (Wales) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/1002), regs. 1(2), 2(3)

Commencement Information

I7 Reg. 7 in force at 28.6.2024, see reg. 1(2)

Amendments to the Education (Admission Appeals Arrangements) (Wales) Regulations 2005 E+W

8.  The Education (Admission Appeals Arrangements) (Wales) Regulations 2005(14) are amended as follows—

(a) in regulation 3, in the first place it occurs omit “Schedule 1”, and

(b) in regulation 5, in the first place it occurs omit “Schedule 2”.

Commencement Information

I8 Reg. 8 in force at 28.6.2024, see reg. 1(2)

Amendments to the School Information (Wales) Regulations 2011 E+W

9.  In the School Information (Wales) Regulations 2011(15), after paragraph 5 in Part 1 of Schedule 2 insert—

“5A.— (1) For the admission school year 2026 to 2027 and all subsequent school years, a summary of the scheme for co-ordinating admission arrangements of the local authority (“the scheme”) including—

(a) a brief description of how an application for admission to a school under the scheme can be made, including how to apply and by what date,

(b) a brief description of when offers of admission to a school will be communicated to parents under the scheme,

(c) a brief description of when appeals against a refusal of a place will be heard,

(d) a brief description of how applications made otherwise than in a normal admission round will be determined under the scheme, and

(e) a copy of the common application form for the scheme referred to in regulation 3(1) of the Education (Co-ordination of School Admission Arrangements and Miscellaneous Amendments) (Wales) Regulations 2024(16) (“the 2024 Regulations”).

(2) In this paragraph—

“a normal admission round” has the meaning given in regulation 2(2) of the 2024 Regulations;

“the scheme for co-ordinating admission arrangements of the local authority” means—

(a)

a scheme adopted by a local authority pursuant to regulation 2(1) of the 2024 Regulations, or

(b)

a scheme imposed on the local authority by the Welsh Ministers pursuant to subsection 89B(2) of the 1998 Act.”

Commencement Information

I9 Reg. 9 in force at 28.6.2024, see reg. 1(2)

Lynne Neagle

Cabinet Secretary for Education, one of the Welsh Ministers

24 May 2024