School admission arrangements 2027/2028

We are the admissions authority for community and controlled primary and secondary schools in South Gloucestershire.

Following the consultation period in autumn 2025 the school admission arrangements were determined in February 2026 by the Cabinet Member for Education, Skills, Employment and Business.

There are no substantive changes to the oversubscription criteria, coordinated admission scheme, in-year admission arrangements or the relevant area.

Changes to published admission numbers

As a result of the consultation, the following schools have a change to their published admission number from 1 September 2027:

Barley Close Community Primary
Decrease from 30 to 15

Manorbrook Primary
Increase from 30 to 60

Oldbury on Severn CE Primary
Decrease from 11 to 10

St Anne’s CE Primary
Decrease from 60 to 45

The admission number will apply to new applications received for first admission in September 2027 and age through the school over a period of 7 years.

Oversubscription

The oversubscription criteria for all community and controlled schools remain largely the same as previous years and follow the requirements of the school admissions code.

Coordinated admissions scheme

We are required to have a scheme in place each year for coordinating admission arrangements for maintained schools in our area.

Coordination schemes make sure, as far as is reasonably practicable, that every parent of a child receives one offer of a school place. It is for us to decide the scheme that best suits our residents and schools.

Find our:

• coordinated admissions scheme for primary
• coordinated admissions scheme for secondary

In-year admissions scheme

Most school place applications happen at the usual start times:

• reception for primary schools
• year 7 for secondary schools

However sometimes it is necessary for a child to move schools at a different stage of their school career. This is called in-year admissions.

Our in-year admissions scheme applies to all applications from parents or carers for in-year admission to community and controlled schools in South Gloucestershire.

Parents and carers are advised to read the scheme to make sure that their application is submitted to the relevant admission authority.

Admissions to voluntary aided, foundation schools, free schools and academies

Voluntary aided schools, foundation schools, free schools and academies have their own admission authorities.

The admission arrangements for these schools must be determined by the individual governing body or trust and are available to view on individual school or academy websites.

This table shows the types of schools and their admission authority.

School type	Admission authority
Academy	Academy trust
Community school	Local authority
Foundation school	Governing body
Voluntary aided school	Governing body
Voluntary controlled school	Local authority

Relevant area for school admission

We are required to define a relevant area. A relevant area describes the geographical area where consultation on individual school admissions takes place.

The relevant area for South Gloucestershire is defined by our administrative boundaries.

Objections

Objections to admission arrangements for any school can be made to the school’s adjudicator. The annual deadline for objections to the arrangements to apply in the academic year 2027/2028 is 15 May 2026.

Parents or carers may make an objection to the Office for Schools Adjudicator.

Annual report

We produce an annual report on admissions for all schools in our area. This report must contain information about:

• how local admission arrangements serve the interests of looked after children and previously looked after children, children with disabilities and children with special educational needs
• the effectiveness of fair access protocols and coordination in our areas
• the number and percentage of lodged and upheld parental appeals
• any other issues we may wish to include

Reports are submitted to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator by 31 October each year.

They produce their own report setting out their findings from the admissions cases received within the reporting year.

Report are published on the Office for Schools Adjudicator website.