All authorities operate and all schools must participate in an In Year Fair Access scheme. The aims are:
- to ensure that the needs of vulnerable young people, who are not on the roll of any school, are dealt with quickly and sympathetically
- to reduce the time that hard to place pupils spend out of school
- to ensure that no school, including those with available places, is asked to take a disproportionate number of children who have been excluded from other schools, or who have challenging behaviours
- to be fair and transparent
Who meets the criteria
Children will be considered by the panel based on two sets of criteria:
- when a child or young person is applying for a place in a school in-year and whose behaviour can be described as challenging where it significantly interferes with the pupil’s or other pupils’ education, and also:
- jeopardises the right of staff and pupils to a safe and orderly environment
- is of such an intensity, frequency or duration that it is beyond the normal range that schools can tolerate
- is unlikely to be responsive to the usual range of interventions to address pupil misbehaviour and the school has places but feels they are unable to meet the child’s needs
- Where a child can't access a local, appropriate and accessible school place and is a child:
- in need or on a Child Protection Plan
- living in a Refuge
- returning from the criminal justice system
- returning from alternative provision or a Learning centre
- who has been permanently excluded but is deemed suitable for a mainstream education
- with Special Education Needs, disabilities or medical conditions (but without a EHCP)
- who is a carer
- who is homeless
- in formal kinship care arrangements
- is Gypsy, Roma, a Traveller, a refugee or asylum seeker
- for whom a place has not been sought because of exceptional circumstances
- who has been out of education for 4 or more weeks and for whom there is no available place
- who has been previously looked after, but the Local Authority has not manage to secure a place
When the panel meets
There will be 3 panels that meet every 2 weeks in term time. Each panel covers a geographical district - West and North, Dorchester and Chesil and East and Purbeck.
When an application meets the criteria
After an application meets the criteria:
- a request for background information is sent to the existing/previous school. This information is submitted to the panel
- any school identified on the application as a preference is made aware and invited to provide evidence to the panel
The panel considers the circumstances of the individual application in terms of:
- preference
- readiness for mainstream school
- current pupil numbers
- transport implications
- which school is best able to meet the pupil's needs
- current school profile and previous allocations
Applications will be considered for provision within the local area of the home address. This is to enable a reasonable distribution of children and ensure workable support. It is also to meet the legislative requirements for transport.
Upon determination, the nominated school will be invited to admit the applicant within 15 days of notification, unless in the interim period the applicant is assessed by the school as requiring extra support which is not readily available. Where extra support is needed the applicant will be required to be on roll of the nominated school within 3 to 6 weeks of notification
For further details please read the In Year Fair Access Policy.