Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent guidance her Department has issued on whether parents may make enquiries in respect of the availability of state school places for their children to more than one (a) local authority and (b) academy trust.

The rights of parents to make enquiries about the availability of school places, including across multiple local authorities or academy trusts, is set out in the School Admissions Code. This is mandatory and imposes requirements and guidelines relating to the functions of the local authority and all state schools’ admission authorities, including academy trusts. The School Admissions Code was last updated in 2021 and can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1001050/School_admissions_code_2021.pdf.

Paragraph 2.23 of the Schools Admissions Code states that a parent can apply for a place for their child at any school and at any time to the relevant admission authority.

Paragraph 2.27 of the School Admissions Code states that local authorities must provide information on available places in their area to prospective parents. To enable local authorities to do this, the admission authorities for all schools in the area must provide the local authority with details of the number of places available at their schools whenever this information is requested.