Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils had applications to state-funded mainstream schools rejected due to the school being unable to meet their identified SEND requirements in the 2023-24 school year.

School applications and admissions are handled by the local authority and individual schools’ admission authorities. Therefore, the department does not hold information on the reasons for applications to state-funded schools being refused.

All mainstream, state-funded schools must comply with the statutory ‘school admissions code’ and with equalities legislation. The code is clear that admission authorities must not discriminate against disabled children or those with special educational needs (SEN), and that their admission arrangements will not disadvantage unfairly, either directly or indirectly, a child with a disability or SEN. The school admissions code can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1001050/School_admissions_code_2021.pdf.

A parent refused a place at a school they have applied for must be offered the right to appeal to an independent appeal panel.

More information on school applications and appeals can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/secondary-and-primary-school-applications-and-offers, and here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/admission-appeals-in-england#releaseHeadlines-tables.