Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many looked-after children were refused a place at an academy school in each of the last three years.

Admission arrangements for individual schools are set and applied locally, as such, the Department does not hold information around the outcome of individual applications.

We recognise that looked after children are amongst the most vulnerable in our society and, wherever possible, should be admitted to the school which is best able to meet their needs. That is why the School Admissions Code requires admission authorities of all schools, including academies, to give highest priority in their admissions criteria to looked-after children and previously looked after children.

Where a school refuses to admit looked-after or previously looked after children, they can be directed to do so.