Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that local authorities prevent free schools and academies from adopting unfair and arbitrary admissions procedures.

Academy schools, including free schools, are required by their funding agreements to comply with the School Admissions Code when setting their admission arrangements. The Code is clear that the criteria they use to decide the allocation of school places must be ‘fair, clear and objective'.

Anyone who considers that these schools' admission arrangements are unlawful or do not comply with the Code can object to the Schools Adjudicator. An adjudicator's determination of an objection is binding and enforceable on the school concerned.

The Code requires local authorities to object to any non-compliant admission arrangements.