Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to respond to the request for guidance submitted by Dorset County Council on whether responsibility for determining the age range of entry to a maintained school rests with the local authority or with the school.

An official from the Department for Education responded to a written query from Dorset County Council on 10th December 2014.

The response confirmed that governing bodies of all categories of maintained schools can alter the upper or lower age limit of a school by up to two years (except for adding or removing a sixth form) without following a formal statutory process. Governing bodies must, however, still adhere to the usual principles of public law, including consulting local authorities to ensure the change is aligned with wider organisational arrangements.