Consultation and engagement

Consultation on School Admissions Arrangements

Start date: 13th October 2026
End date: 1st December 2026

What are we consulting on?

It is a statutory requirement for the Local Authority to determine the admission policies for community and voluntary controlled schools and to determine and co-ordinate admission arrangements in order to ensure that that school places are offered and allocated in accordance with the provisions of the Schools Admissions Code.

As no significant changes to admissions arrangements have been proposed for approaching 7 years, in accordance with the provisions of the School Admissions Code, the local authority is required to carry out a once every 7 year consultation.

The consultation is being circulated to all relevant admissions stakeholders, both within the Local Authority and across neighbouring areas, in accordance with the requirements of the School Admissions Code.

No substantive changes to the admission arrangements or to the published oversubscription criteria are being proposed.

However, following advice received from the Schools Adjudicator, the admission arrangements have been reviewed to improve their clarity and transparency and to ensure that they more accurately reflect the requirements of the School Admissions Code, particularly in relation to the operation and application of the published oversubscription criteria.

The review has identified a number of areas throughout the arrangements where wording can be clarified or amended to ensure that the arrangements accurately and transparently reflect the statutory framework to ensure the following:-

  • Ensuring that the arrangements accurately reflect the statutory rights of parents and the obligations of admission authorities.
  • Strengthening the overall clarity and transparency of the admission arrangements for parents, schools and other admission authorities.
  • Ensuring that terminology and definitions used within the admission arrangements accurately reflect the requirements and terminology of the School Admissions Code.

Pages 11-17 within the Primary School Admissions Arrangements and Pages 13-15 within the Secondary School Admissions Arrangements specifically reflect updates to the following points:-

  • Clarifying the treatment and priority afforded to children falling within statutory priority categories, so that the arrangements clearly set out how these provisions operate.
  • Clarifying the operation of distance and other tie-break arrangements, including how these are applied where applicants cannot otherwise be prioritised.
  • Ensuring that arrangements concerning admission outside of the normal admissions round are clearly distinguished from, and do not become confused with, the arrangements that apply to the normal admissions round.
  • Removing or amending wording which could be interpreted as giving the Local Authority discretion where such discretion is not permitted under the School Admissions Code.

These documents that we are consulting on are available below.

You can also access these documents on our school admissions pages.

Banks Road Primary School PAN Reduction Proposal

Separate from the review of the school admissions arrangements, as part of the Local Authority's ongoing review of primary school capacity across the city, it is proposed to reduce the Published Admission Number (PAN) at Banks Road Primary School from 60 to 30 for admissions from September 2028.

During 2026, School Organisation Officers engaged with schools identified as having surplus capacity exceeding 25%, in accordance with the intervention framework set out within the School Organisation Policy. This process considered a range of factors including demographic forecasts, admissions trends, parental preference, housing development, financial sustainability, community need and wider local circumstances, alongside school-specific intelligence and stakeholder engagement.

Banks Road Primary School is located within the Speke Garston Primary Planning Area, which is currently experiencing significant levels of surplus Reception capacity. The planning area currently provides 310 Reception places across eight schools and, based on September 2026 allocations, has a Reception surplus capacity of 38.1%. Forecasts indicate that demand for Reception places will continue to decline, through to 2031.

Even with the proposed reduction at Banks Road, sufficient capacity will remain across the planning area to accommodate anticipated demand.

The proposed reduction has been discussed and agreed in principle with the school's leadership and governing body and forms part of this statutory consultation on the Local Authority's admission arrangements for 2028/29. Responses received during the consultation period will be considered alongside the supporting evidence before a final recommendation is presented to Cabinet for determination in January 2027. Subject to approval, the determined admission arrangements will be published by 28 February 2027.

Who is being consulted?

The Local Authority welcomes views from all stakeholders with an interest in school admissions, including:

  • All schools and academies within the Local Authority area.
  • Governing bodies and admission authorities.
  • Headteachers and school leaders.
  • Parent and carer representatives.
  • Diocesan authorities and other relevant faith organisations.
  • Neighbouring local authorities and their admission authorities.
  • Other admission authorities whose schools may be affected by the arrangements.
  • Local authority officers and relevant partner organisations.
  • Any other persons or organisations with an interest in the admission of pupils to schools within the Local Authority area.

How to comment

To comment on the school admissions process please send an email to admissions@liverpool.gov.uk. 

What happens to my views?

Once the consultation closes, results will be accessed by a restricted team of Liverpool City Council staff only. The results will only be used to inform consideration for Liverpool City Council’s latest determined admission arrangements & policy.

The results will be published online from January 2027. You will be able to view the results on our School Admissions pages.

Responses will be summarised for inclusion in the report. Your comments may be included in the report, but this will be done anonymously.

The data from this consultation will be kept securely for a maximum of 12 months and then destroyed.

What happens next?

Consultation responses would be submitted to committee/cabinet as soon as possible, with a view to determination of the admissions arrangements at January 2027’s cabinet session.

Further information

For further information please contact admissions@liverpool.gov.uk or view more information relating to school admissions on our School Admissions pages.