Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the report entitled Social Selection on the Map, published by the Sutton Trust on 3 September 2024, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of (a) reviewing existing admissions code policies and (b) making Pupil Premium eligibility a required part of schools’ oversubscription criteria.

The department has no current plans to make eligibility for the pupil premium a mandatory oversubscription criteria in school admission arrangements.

However, through the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, the department is planning to legislate on requiring all schools to cooperate with the local authority on school admissions, special educational needs and disabilities inclusion and place planning, by giving local authorities greater powers to help them deliver their functions on school admissions and ensure admissions decisions account for the needs of communities.

We expect this will require taking forward changes to the School Admissions Code. As part of this, the department will also consider any wider changes necessary to ensure fair access to school for all. Any changes to the Code will require a statutory process, including a full public consultation and parliamentary approval.