Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their recent proposal to prevent groups and organisations from objecting to the admissions arrangements of schools, what assessment they have made of whether the average parent has the expertise to identify and object to breaches of the School Admissions Code.

Parents do not need a detailed knowledge of the School Admissions Code to be able to refer objections to the Schools Adjudicator. Many parents refer objections to the Schools Adjudicator.

The Department’s proposed changes are intended to ensure that the Adjudicator is able to focus on the concerns parents may have about the fairness of the admission arrangements of their local school.

The Department will be conducting a full public consultation in due course and will give careful consideration to all the views expressed in that consultation.