Agenda item

To consider a report by the Chief Executive Education Leeds setting out details of the arrangements for the transfer of learners from year 11 into school sixth forms

(Report attached)

Mrs S Duxbury presented a report on a review of the existing arrangements for admission to school 6^th Forms. Responsibility for 6^th Form admissions had previously been devolved to school governing bodies which had led to the development of different local practices across the city. Processes had been put in place to ensure the Admissions Forum could readily monitor adherence to the School Admissions Code in terms of lawfulness and fairness

The report detailed the usefulness and take-up of Leeds Pathways – the on-line Common Application Process (CAP) – in Leeds and the role of the Connexions Service in providing advice and guidance to students and parents/carers.

Mrs Duxbury reported Pathways had proved a very useful tool for Connexions advisers as it enabled them to track the preferences and progress of young people moving onto post 16 education as well as providing fairness and transparency to the application process.

The Forum discussed the following:

Garforth - Councillor Dowson commented that having received figures for oversubscribed, Garforth Community College appeared to have 250 over, however only 1% of its pupils applied on line. Mrs Duxbury responded that Garforth used its own system, not the Pathways system.

Case Study – Mrs L Bryan expressed concern over the case study which revealed three applicants had been rejected on the grounds of poor behaviour/attendance despite meeting the 6^th form entry requirements. Mrs Buckland responded that a Connexions Personal Adviser (PA) had challenged the decision of the school which had then made appropriate offers. She confirmed that PA’s challenged and addressed any rejections as they became aware of them through the CAP system

Personal Advisers – The Forum queried whether there were sufficient PA officers, bearing in mind the PA at Garforth had to ask individual students in order to monitor their applications and the number of parents/carers relying on PA’s for guidance.

Access – Mr Razak expressed concern over the 80% take-up target as he believed not all elements of the community would have internet access. Mrs Buckland clarified that each Year 11 student was issued with a personal log-in which they could use from a school computer.

It was noted that the system would be improved in the next few months to include a tag to identify looked after children

The Forum indicated they wished to receive an annual report on admissions to 6^th form using the CAP system, as well as a report back on the number of rejections and follow-up cases this year

RESOLVED –

a)  To note the benefits of a transparent admissions process to support the monitoring of fairness and equity of progression into Leeds 6^th forms

b)  To note the continuing promotion of the Leeds Pathways and the roll-out of the Common Application Process across Leeds schools and Academies

c)  To receive an annual report on the transfer of learners for year 11 to school sixth forms

d)  To receive a report back on the number of rejections and subsequent follow-up cases relating to September 2010 6^th form admissions