Sutton Trust, Selective Comprehensives, 2024<\/a>)<\/p>\nI don\u2019t mean this to sound disrespectful. We all strive hard for our children. But if we are serious about tackling educational inequality, we must examine the barriers children face before they arrive at our gates alongside teaching, curriculum, pastoral care and attendance.<\/p>\n
Admissions is not the whole answer, but ignoring it means accepting inequality at the point of entry.<\/p>\n
Why this matters to us<\/h2>\n At Orion Education our eight schools have aligned decisively around a mission to improve outcomes, transform lives and enable social mobility.<\/p>\n
We have not yet closed the attainment gap for our most vulnerable pupils, but we are determined to do so.<\/p>\n
Our schools have made it their business to do the best for those who are most vulnerable, with the belief that if we get it right for them, we get it right for all.<\/p>\n
This culture is the foundation for our practice, not for Ofsted, but because it is the right thing to do.<\/p>\n
Start by aligning practice to vision<\/h2>\n The most important change we made was aligning our schools behind a single mission, shared by all.<\/p>\n
That clarity has driven transformation over recent years. Like many schools and trusts, we have worked to improve equity by focusing first on what sits within our circle of control.<\/p>\n
School admissions was our next logical step.<\/p>\n
The Sutton Trust Fairer schools bronze award gave us a helpful structure: short school-level reviews of admissions documentation, clarity and openness, followed by a small number of practical commitments to improve what wasn\u2019t working.<\/p>\n
We didn\u2019t rush into rewriting policy, we started by making sure our practice matched our values.<\/p>\n
Review what you currently have in place<\/h2>\n Our reviews were straightforward but revealing: were our policies easy to find, simple to understand and genuinely welcoming to families who have had the hardest experience of education?<\/p>\n
Where language was unclear, or processes complicated, we changed them.<\/p>\n
Like many groups of schools, we found a mixed picture in our admissions arrangements. It raised an obvious question: why, if we are one trust with a common mission?<\/p>\n
We also found elements worth spreading. For example, one school had a written commitment to prioritise places for up to 25 per cent of pupils eligible for free school meals.<\/p>\n
Groups of schools can change the system<\/h2>\n We involved trustees early and agreed a clear step: reserve priority places for up to 25 per cent of pupils eligible for free school meals across all our schools.<\/p>\n
In some schools, the change will be barely noticeable. In others, the impact will be more profound. For us, the point was about coherence. Admissions should reflect our mission, not undermine it.<\/p>\n
We took a careful, considered approach by listening to our communities and we made sure our consultations were meaningful.<\/p>\n
Our conclusion? Groups of schools can change the system, starting with what sits within their own control.<\/p>\n
Small steps that leaders can take<\/h2>\n\nAnalyse your intake data against your local area (FSM, SEND, mobility, ethnicity)<\/li>\n Identify where disadvantage is compounded by oversubscription criteria, transport, cost or complexity<\/li>\n Bring trustees and governors in early. Frame admissions as a values decision, not a compliance task.<\/li>\n Run a fair-access check: is your policy easy to find, easy to understand, and translated where needed?<\/li>\n Choose one lever you can implement well (like priority places for FSM) and consult properly<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If we\u2019re serious about equity, admissions can\u2019t be the blind spot<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":245286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"post-theme":[],"class_list":["post-245231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t