Oxfordshire County Council Consultation
From 1 December 2025 to 26 January 2026, Oxfordshire County Council is consulting on the 2027-28 admissions arrangements for community and voluntary controlled schools.
You can find the following documents on Let’s Talk Oxfordshire here: School admissions consultation 2027/28 | Let's Talk Oxfordshire along with arrangements for other own admission authority schools who have provided them:
- Scheme of Co-ordination for Normal Points of Transfer
- Admission Arrangements and Oversubscription Criteria for Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools
- Published Admission Numbers (PANs)
- In-Year Admissions Scheme
If you have any comments, queries or concerns about the proposed admission arrangements, you can add your comments using the survey form available on the above page, or email consultationforadmissions@oxfordshire.gov.uk
The period for consultation must last for at least 6 weeks between 1 October and 31 January. If you are planning to consult upon your arrangements and would like for them to be displayed on Let’s Talk Oxfordshire, they must be sent to us at consultationforadmissions@oxfordshire.gov.uk along with the dates of your consultation and a document detailing any changes proposed. The last date for us to receive them in order to ensure they can be published in time is 11 December 2025.
The Office of the Schools Adjudicator has made it clear that it is the responsibility of individual admission authorities to decide how best to consult and we recommend at a minimum you place the policy on your website and notify families with children who attend your school as well as those schools/early years providers that you have identified as key colleagues from whom the majority of your prospective children come from. The bigger the changes you intend to make, the more widely you should consult.
Key Areas to check compliance:
Home Address:
Paragraph 1.13 of the School Admissions Code 2021 states that admission authorities must make clear how the “home” address will be determined, including provisions for cases where parents have shared responsibility for a child following the breakdown of their relationship and the child lives for part of the week with each parent.
This should also include whether or not the school will accept evidence of a future move for school admission purposes. In the case of children of UK service personnel with a confirmed posting and crown servants returning from overseas, you should make reference to the provisions made in paragraph 2.21 of the School Admissions Code 2021.
Children of Staff (if applicable):
If you include children of staff within your oversubscription criteria, please check that you only refer to staff working at the school and not the Trust, and that you specify which groups of staff this applies to. Please see paragraphs 1.39-1.40 of the School Admissions Code 2021.
Social or Medical Need:
If you include Social or Medical need as an oversubscription criterion, you must explain how this will be determined (ie: describe the make up of your panel) and detail any evidence you will require. Please see paragraph 1.16 of the School Admissions Code 2021.
Admission of children outside their normal age group:
Admission authorities must make clear in their admission arrangements the process for requesting admission out of the normal age group and must make decisions on the basis of the circumstances of each case and the best interests of the child concerned. This includes how applications for summer born children will be considered. Please see paragraphs 2.18-2.20 of the School Admissions Code 2021 for further details.
No changes to your admission arrangements?
Even where there are no changes, academies, free schools and voluntary aided schools need to consult once every seven years.
However, if you are not consulting, you will still need to have your determined admissions policy for 2027/28 signed off by 28 February at the latest, published by 15 March at the latest, and made available on your school website. Please also send a copy of your determined arrangements to: consultationforadmissions@oxfordshire.gov.uk