Introducing the new system

In 1989 a legal ruling known as the Greenwich Judgment stated that 'local education authority-maintained schools may not give priority to children simply because they live in the council’s geographical area'. One result of this was the Education Regulations Act 2002, which forced local authorities (LAs) to co-ordinate the admissions procedures they use to transfer pupils from primary to secondary education. The London Inter-Authority Admissions Group (LIAAG) subsequently introduced an integrated admissions system to smooth over the whole process. Work started on the Pan-London Co-ordinated Admissions System three years ago and the first children to use it transferred in 2005.

The Pan-London Co-ordinated Admissions System

Introduced in 2004 its aims were to:

• make the admissions system fairer;
• result in more parents getting an offer at one of their preferred schools earlier with fewer getting no offer at all;
• create a simpler system for parents which is easier to manage.

The government requires all adults with parental responsibility for a transferring child to complete a Common Application Form (CAF). This must be sent to the LA that governs the child's permanent residence (Home LA). In their application, parents are allowed to name the six schools that they would most prefer for their child. These must be written in order of preference. Crucially, the schools can be located inside OR outside the child's home LA. Since the scheme's introduction the number of parents receiving no offers has been cut by a massive 63.5%.

This is has been achieved by cutting the number of parents who receive multiple offers. Every multiple offer given means there is another parent who receives no offer at all. The schools listed on the child's CAF are first notified of the application. They then individually decide whether to offer a place at their respective schools. The outcomes of all 6 applications are then forwarded back to the home LA. The successful offer with the highest preference on the CAF is then reserved for the child. All other offers are withdrawn and the schools are notified of this so that they may offer the place to other applicants. Eventually most children have each been allocated one offer by National Offer Day, the date on which parents are made aware of which offer (if any) they hold. For the current cycle of applicants, National Offer Day falls on Monday 3rd March 2008.

Please note independent schools are not part of the Pan-London Co-ordinated Admissions System and should be contacted separately as they have their own admissions procedures.

The Equal Preference System

In addition to the Pan-London Co-ordinated Admissions System, the majority of London LAs now advocate a policy known as the Equal Preference System. If the LA does operate this system then the schools participate on an opt-out basis, whereby they are not given applicant's preference details unless they specifically request them. Whether or your preferred schools operate this policy is of critical importance to those parents applying to selective schools. To quote one local authority, the Equal Preference System means that: 'Applications for lower preference schools are not disadvantaged if their higher preference schools cannot be offered.'

In essence, the clause means that schools are not informed by the LA of what preference they are on a child's CAF. As such, they cannot have a bias against candidates who do not name that school as a first preference. This is of great importance to parents who want to put their child in for the eleven plus exam but are unsure whether to do so. The fear being that naming their reputable local school as second preference may lead to a rejection, leaving them with a poor school should their child fail the eleven plus. If the second preference school uses the EPS, there is no reason not to put them in for the eleven plus. If they don't, serious consideration must be given to the risk that neither school offers your child a place.