Introduction

A Fair Access Protocol (FAP) is a mechanism developed by the Local Authority in partnership with all schools in its area. It operates within the non-statutory guidance in the DfE’s Fair Access Protocol (August 2021).

The aim is to ensure that unplaced vulnerable children, and those who are having difficulty in securing a school place in-year, are allocated a school place as quickly as possible. Children missing education are at a significant risk of underachieving, becoming victims of harm or exploitation or becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training) later in life. There is an expectation that we all work in partnership to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

The FAP plays a key role in helping to keep children safe by ensuring the most vulnerable children can access education as quickly as possible. Referral to the FAP should be seen as the last resort to secure a school place for a child. Where possible, children should be placed in school through the usual in-year admissions process, in the first instance.

The FAP will provide a fair and transparent system to ensure that all schools share the collective responsibility of helping the most vulnerable, by admitting their fair share of children being placed by the FAP. This includes those children who may have been permanently excluded from other schools and those who display challenging behaviour (see Section 5 on Challenging Behaviour).

Consultation and review

The Local Authority must consult on and develop the FAP in partnership with all schools in its area. It will do this through discussion with the Warrington Association of Primary Headteachers (WAPH) and Warrington Association of School and College Leaders (WASCL) groups. The FAP will be kept under review to ensure it remains fit for purpose.

The FAP should be agreed with the majority of schools and academies. However, all schools and academies must participate in its operation once agreed by the majority.

The Warrington Local Authority Fair Access Protocol was agreed with the majority of school and academies in September and October 2024.

Participation in the fair access protocol

There is a statutory duty that schools participate in a Fair Access Protocol (FAP) in accordance with the School Admissions Code 2021. The FAP should be read alongside the following documents:

• School admissions code
• School Standards and Framework Act 1998
• Equality Act 2010
• Travel to school for children of compulsory school age
• Warrington’s Home to School Transport Policy

The admission authorities of all schools in the area must participate in the FAP. This means a school must admit its fair share of children when asked to do so in accordance with the FAP.

When schools are asked to admit under the Fair Access Protocol, they are expected to do so.

Where cases to be discussed may involve the consideration of cross local authority border placements, representatives from neighbouring authorities should be included in FAP discussions. The Local Authority will consider whether the views of other agencies, such as social workers, education psychologists and occupational therapists, are required to inform FAP decisions.

Effective FAP discussions have an emphasis on the common goal of ensuring all children referred to the FAP have access to a suitable school place as quickly as possible.

Principles

• FAP arrangements must be fair, equitable and transparent.
• FAP must acknowledge and address the needs of the children not on a school roll, and deal with place requests quickly and sympathetically.
• FAP will seek to reduce the time that vulnerable children spend out of school.
• FAP will seek to share FAP admissions between schools in an area, though there will be occasions where a strict order cannot be applied.
• FAP will apply to in-year admission requests only and not to children already within the normal admissions round.
• The Admissions Team will administer and monitor FAP on behalf of schools.
• Warrington’s FAP will apply to all families resident within the local authority. Those resident in other areas should approach their home local authority for advice. There may be exceptions where the local authority or a panel has accepted a referral within its agreed FAP.
• Looked After Children and Previously Looked After Children cannot be placed through the FAP. These will be considered as exceptional admissions through the normal in-year admissions procedures. Admission to full year groups will often be required in these cases.
• Parental school preference and denomination/faith requirements will be noted, but these do not have to be taken into account in applying FAP and making referrals for admission.

Which children are eligible to be placed through fair access?

The FAP only applies to pupils without a mainstream school place.

FAPs may only be used to place the following groups of vulnerable children who fall into the categories below, where they are having difficulty in securing a school place in-year, and it can be demonstrated that reasonable measures have been taken to secure a school place through the usual in-year admission procedures.

The categories for FAP are as follows:

1. Children either subject to a Child in Need Plan or a Child Protection Plan or having had a Child in Need Plan or Child Protection Plan within 12 months at the point of being referred to the Protocol;
2. Children living in a refuge or in other relevant accommodation at the point of being referred to the Protocol;
3. Children from the criminal justice system;
4. Children in Alternative Provision who need to be reintegrated into mainstream education or who have been permanently excluded but are deemed suitable for mainstream education;
5. Pupils that have Special Educational Needs and are currently receiving additional targeted support within school (including children undergoing statutory assessment) but do not have an EHC Plan.
6. Children who are carers;
7. Children who are homeless;
8. Children in formal kinship care arrangements (as evidenced by a Child Arrangements Order not relating to either birth parent or a Special Guardianship Order);
9. Children of, or who are, Gypsies, Roma, Travellers, refugees and asylum seekers;
10. Children who have been refused a school place on the grounds of their challenging behaviour (see ‘Challenging Behaviour’ for definition);
11. Children for whom a place has not been sought due to exceptional circumstances; (it is for the Local Authority to decide whether a child qualifies to be placed via the FAP under this category, based on individual circumstances);
12. Children who have been out of education for four or more weeks where it can be demonstrated that there are no places available at any school within a reasonable distance from their home;
13. Previously Looked After Children for whom the Local Authority has been unable to promptly secure a school place.

Where a School Attendance Order (SAO) is being considered, these pupils may fall under category k, therefore the Admissions Team will need to take the following into account before identifying a school to be named for the purpose of the SAO:

• the nearest school to the child’s home address, or
• the nearest school that has not admitted a SAO pupil during the academic year,
• or the last school the pupil was on roll at (within the local authority).

Making decisions on the placements of children

Placements are identified through a rotation, identifying the school within a reasonable distance whose turn it is to admit next under FAP. Decisions will also take into account:

The needs of the children in question

• Children eligible to be placed via FAPs are often vulnerable and may have additional needs that require support. Before making placement decisions, consideration should be given as to whether a child has any particular needs and which school might be best to meet and support those needs.

The views of the school(s) concerned

• All schools should be treated in a fair equitable and consistent manner so that no school takes a disproportionate number of children under FAP. Where a school expresses compelling reasons for not being able to admit a child via the FAP (see Section 6), these should be taken into consideration before a decision is made to place a child in that school.

Parental preference

• When allocating places though the FAP, there is no requirement to comply with parental preference when placing a child. However, parents’ views in the in-year transfer form should be taken into account. Information from a parent can provide valuable context that may help those involved in the FAP process to place a child.

Principles of the fair access protocol

1. All schools must adhere to the FAP which operates outside of normal admission processes and can allocate places in year groups which are already full or even over the school’s admission number.
2. Children may only be placed in accordance with the FAP when an application is made to transfer from one school to another part way through a school year (known as an in-year application). Children admitted to school during the normal admissions round cannot legally be considered or placed using fair access procedures.
3. Where an admission authority receives an in-year application and it does not wish to admit the child because it has good reason to believe that the child may display challenging behaviour (see Challenging Behaviour), it may refuse admission and refer the child to the FAP.
4. No school, including those with places available, should be asked to take a disproportionate number of children who have been permanently excluded from other schools, who display challenging behaviour, or who are placed via the FAP. Children who have been permanently excluded are placed at schools in accordance with a rotation system. This is a separate process which is administered by the LA through a process which has been agreed between the LA and schools.
5. An admission authority should only refer the child for placement via the FAP if it has a particularly high proportion of either children with challenging behaviour or previously permanently excluded pupils on roll compared to other local schools and because of this, it considers that admitting another child with challenging behaviour would prejudice the provision of efficient education and the efficient use of resources.
6. Admission authorities must not refuse to admit a child thought to be potentially disruptive, or likely to exhibit challenging behaviour on the grounds that the child is first to be assessed for Special Educational Needs.
7. The Local Authority will maintain an overview of the pupil placements that have taken place. This document will demonstrate the distribution of pupils amongst the schools and needs to be a ‘live’ record that will be used for future placements. The record will be shared regularly with WASCL and WAPH groups of headteachers.
8. There is no duty to comply with parental preference when allocating places through the FAP, but parents’ wishes should be taken into account.
9. Admission authorities must admit children when asked to do so.
10. Parents have the right to apply for any school place at any time and must not be refused the opportunity to make an application.
11. FAPs are handled by Warrington Admissions Team in the first instance and may progress to a Fair Access Panel if required.
12. Fair Access pupils must be given priority for admission above other pupils who may be on a school’s waiting list.
13. Use of the FAP does not remove the parent’s statutory right of appeal.

The process

FAPs are handled by Warrington Admissions Team in the first instance by identifying the next school to take a turn. Schools under consideration for the admission will be those within a reasonable distance and within a reasonable journey time. (A reasonable distance for Warrington’s Fair Access Protocol is a home to school shortest walking distance up to 2 miles for a primary aged children and up to 3 miles for secondary aged children, or where the maximum journey time one-way for a primary-aged child is 45 minutes and 75 minutes one-way for a secondary-aged child.)

Once a school has been identified, the Admissions Team will contact the school with a formal request to admit the child together with the reasons for the request. The identified school must admit when asked, unless there are particular reasons why the school cannot (see the Exemptions section).

• FAP does not affect the usual admission processes which apply to all schools and should not be used to circumvent the normal in-year admission processes. Under the in-year admission process, where places are available and parents request admission, then offers should be made. Parents must also be advised of their appeal rights where places are not available.
• FAP will apply predominantly to Warrington resident children, without a school place who are seeking admission to a Warrington school and meet one of the prescribed categories (Paragraph 3.17 of the Admissions Code 2021). FAP applies where preferred schools/year groups are already full. It also applies if the usual in year admission processes are deemed to have failed.
• When a pupil moves into Warrington and makes a request for a school place that is subsequently refused, the admission authority should consider whether the child would be eligible to be placed via the FAP. Where it considers that the child falls, or may fall, into any such category, the admission authority should notify the Local Authority of this. The Local Authority should then decide whether the child is to be placed via the FAP. The parents should be notified of this, and a school place must be allocated within 20 school days.

If a FAP admission is not agreed by the school after being approached by the Admissions Team, the case will be subject to a review by the Principal Manager School Organisation at Warrington Borough Council, who may consult with the FAP Chair.

The Principal Manager School Organisation and FAP Chair will liaise with the school’s headteacher to confirm placement within the school.

• There is an expectation that the school will agree to the request to admit unless any of the criteria in the Exemptions section are met.
• In any event, schools must respond in writing within 5 school days to avoid a delay in the process. Where a school is declining the request to admit they must clearly set out their reasons for refusing to offer a place.

In the unlikely event that admission remains unagreed, then the case may progress to a Fair Access Panel of Warrington headteachers to determine the outcome.

• The Local Authority will ask the school to complete an information form. It will also contact the other identified schools, including the preferred schools, to complete an information form which will be used by the Fair Access Panel to help inform their decision.
• A Fair Access Panel will be arranged, usually within five working days
• A Fair Access Panel (see Terms of Reference) consists of:
  • The Chair (currently the Headteacher of Sir Thomas Boteler C of E High School) and primary or secondary members depending on the admission phase. The Chair is reviewed annually at the WASCL Summer 2 meeting.
  • Three headteachers from the same sector, e.g. primary – where possible the headteachers selected must have no conflict of interest, e.g. no direct connection to the child involved, not considered to be within a reasonable distance of the school involved and not in the same multi-academy trust.
• The purpose of the panel is to:
  • Review and assess the case and the process followed
  • Consider the case put forward by the school to not admit under Fair Access
  • Agree placement of the child
• The agenda for the panel meetings is as follows:
  1. Welcome and introductions
  2. Explanation of roles
  3. Local Authority’s case for identifying the school
  4. School’s case
  5. Summary
  6. School and LA leave the room
  7. Panel consider the case and make a decision on placement

The school will be informed within 24 hours of the decision

Admission authorities must admit children when asked to do so in accordance with the FAP, including where the school is operating a waiting list. Where an admission authority has failed to admit a child in accordance with the FAP, they may be directed to do so.

• A local authority has the power to direct the governing body of a maintained school for which they are not the admission authority to admit a child in their area even when the school is full. See paragraphs 3.23 to 3.25 of the Code.
• Where a local authority considers that an academy will best meet the needs of any child, it can ask the Secretary of State to intervene – the Secretary of State has the power to direct the admission of any child to any academy under the academy’s funding agreement. See paragraphs 3.29 of the Code

Retrospective fair access admissions

• In cases where following the admission of a pupil, information is subsequently received from the previous school which had this information been available at the time of admission the pupil would have been considered under FAP, the admissions authority can request a retrospective FA admission.
• The process for such a request, needs to be made in writing/email by school, providing full details of the new information received, evidence of issues which have arisen since the child was admitted to the school (within four weeks) and the reason why it is felt that this child should be considered under the FAP.
• The request will be considered against the FAP eligibility criteria, and a decision communicated to the school.
• The pupil must remain on roll at the school and the placements will then be recorded as a Fair Access admission, if appropriate.

Definition of challenging behaviour

The Admissions Code states that behaviour can be described as challenging where it would be unlikely to be responsive to the usual range of interventions to help prevent and address pupil misbehaviour or it is of such severity, frequency, or duration that it is beyond the normal range that schools could tolerate. Such behaviour would be expected to significantly interfere with the pupil’s/other pupils’ education or jeopardise the right of staff and pupils to a safe and orderly environment.

Challenging behaviour can be evidenced through schools’ records. For example, these records could be information recorded on:

• ABC forms
• Prime forms
• RIDDOR forms
• Behaviour files, e.g. SIMS, CPOMS, Arbor
• Positive Handling forms
• Attendance at an Alternative Provision

This is not an exhaustive list.

A child with challenging behaviour may also be disabled as defined in the Equality Act 2010. When considering refusing admissions on these grounds, admission authorities must consider their duties under that Act.

The Senior Education Improvement Manager will decide if a pupil eligible for FAP will require a placement directly into a PRU or Alternative Provision.

Exemptions

Participation in the Fair Access Protocol is a legal requirement, and there are only a limited number of circumstances where schools will not be considered.

The circumstances are:

1. Where the child was previously permanently excluded from a school, they will not be referred to the same establishment.
2. Where a school is in the Ofsted ‘inadequate’ category – the length of the exemption would be determined by the Head of Service – Quality of Education and Learning.
3. Where there is a serious recent or ongoing complaint/legal issue with the child or family in relation to a particular school or a member of staff at a particular school.
4. Where there has been a police investigation of a serious nature involving a pupil or member of staff at a particular school.
5. Additionally, decisions can be made by the Head of Service – Quality of Education and Learning based on information regarding a particular school.

If the Local Authority is aware that a school has recently taken a referred FAP admission and, in the short term, a second request appears, then the Admissions Team will inform the parents/carers about the principles of sharing FAP admissions and about other locally available places.

Occasionally there may be very good reasons why successive FAP requests may require admission to the same school (for example, existing family links or isolated geographical location near to home address).

Contacts

School Admissions Team

Call 01925 446226

[email protected]