School Standards and Framework Act 1998

86 Parental preferences

(1) A local education authority shall make arrangements for enabling the parent of a child in the area of the authority—

(a) to express a preference as to the school at which he wishes education to be provided for his child in the exercise of the authority’s functions, and

(b) to give reasons for his preference.

(2) Subject to subsections (3) and (6) and section 87 (children excluded from two or more schools), a local education authority and the governing body of a maintained school shall comply with any preference expressed in accordance with arrangements made under subsection (1).

(3) The duty imposed by subsection (2) does not apply—

(a) if compliance with the preference would prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources;

(b) if the preferred school is a foundation or voluntary aided school and compliance with the preference would be incompatible with any special arrangements under section 91 (admission arrangements to preserve the religious character of a foundation or voluntary aided school); or

(c) if the arrangements for admission to the preferred school—

(i) are wholly based on selection by reference to ability or aptitude, and

(ii) are so based with a view to admitting only pupils with high ability or with aptitude,

and compliance with the preference would be incompatible with selection under those arrangements.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3)(a) prejudice of the kind referred to in that provision may arise by reason of measures required to be taken in order to ensure compliance with the duty imposed by section 1(6) (duty of local education authority and governing body to comply with limit on infant class sizes).

(5) No prejudice shall, however, be taken to arise for the purposes of subsection (3)(a) from the admission to a maintained school in a school year of a number of pupils in a relevant age group which does not exceed—

(a) the relevant standard number, or

(b) the admission number fixed in accordance with section 93,

whichever is the greater.

(6) Where—

(a) the admission arrangements for two or more maintained schools provide for co-ordinated admissions on the part of those schools, and

(b) they are approved by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this subsection,

they shall have effect in relation to each of those schools despite anything in subsection (2).

(7) Where the arrangements for the admission of pupils to a maintained school provide for applications for admission to be made to (or to a person acting on behalf of) the governing body of the school, a parent who makes such an application shall be regarded for the purposes of this section as having expressed a preference for that school in accordance with arrangements made under subsection (1).

(8) The duty imposed by subsection (2) in relation to a preference expressed in accordance with arrangements made under subsection (1) shall apply also in relation to—

(a) any application for the admission to a maintained school of a child who is not in the area of the authority maintaining the school, and

(b) any application made by a parent as mentioned in section 438(4) or 440(2) of the [1996 c. 56.] Education Act 1996 (application for a particular school to be named in a school attendance order);

and references in subsection (3) to a preference and a preferred school shall be construed accordingly.

(9) Where admission arrangements for a school provide for all pupils admitted to the school to be selected by reference to ability or aptitude, those arrangements shall be taken for the purposes of this section to be wholly based on selection by reference to ability or aptitude, whether or not they also provide for the use of additional criteria in circumstances where the number of children in a relevant age group who are assessed to be of the requisite ability or aptitude is greater than the number of pupils which it is intended to admit to the school in that age group.