A catchment area change could mean that dozens more children from Whitehawk go to secondary school at Varndean and Dorothy Stringer instead of Longhill.
And a similar number of children from Kemp Town would be more likely to be allocated a place at Longhill rather than Stringer or Varndean.
Other changes would give more children who qualify for free school meals a higher chance of going to their first choice secondary school even if it is outside their catchment area.
And children who are currently in the BACA, PACA, Patcham High and Longhill catchments would have a better chance of going to a school such as Blatchington Mill, Stringer or Varndean.
The proposed changes to secondary school catchments – along with plans to cut intake numbers – are due before the council’s cabinet next week.
Senior councillors are expected to agree that Brighton and Hove City Council should carry out a formal consultation on the proposals next month and in January.
The proposals include cutting the published admission number (PAN) at three schools – Blatchington Mill, Dorothy Stringer and Longhill – because of the forecast increase in spare classroom places across Brighton and Hove.
If the changes are approved, parents and pupils would be able to select their first four preferences rather than three.
And a report to the cabinet said that the proposed changes affecting Whitehawk and Kemp Town made use of existing bus routes and services at a time when car trips to school are up.
The proposals would move children with a BN2 5 postcode north of Manor Way and Manor Hill out of the Longhill catchment and into the Dorothy Stringer and Varndean catchment.
Meanwhile, children living in BN2 1 and BN2 5 south of Manor Way and Manor Hill would move out of the Stringer and Varndean catchment and into the Longhill catchment.
The report to the council’s cabinet said that the proposal was intended “to address education disadvantage in one distinct area of the city”.
It said: “This proposed change seeks to address some of the systemic inequality that can be compounded by the boundaries of a school’s catchment area.”
The proposals would reduce year 7 intakes in September 2026 at three schools
• Longhill – down from 270 to 210 pupils
• Blatchington Mill – down from 330 to 300 pupils
• Dorothy Stringer – down from 330 to 300 pupils
The report said: “The proposal around catchment areas seeks to take advantage of the existing transport routes.
“Due to the location of the city’s schools, the Whitehawk and Kemp Town areas require pupils to use transport to travel to all three receiving schools.
“As such, in either the existing catchment model or the proposed future model, it is unlikely that pupils in either area would be walking to school.”
The proposed changes are described in the report as delivering a “comprehensive” offer to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.
The report comes after a public engagement exercise carried out last month. It received more than 2,400 responses and attracted criticism, in particular, from people in the Dorothy Stringer and Varndean catchments.
Some were concerned that children living close to Stringer and Varndean would face long journeys to and from school.
As a result of negative feedback, none of the three catchment proposals in the public engagement exercise have been retained.
The report said: “The proposal avoids large catchment areas which could introduce significant levels of cross-city journeys, recognises the practicality of proximity to a school site and approaches the issue of greater access with a proposed new admission priority.
“The council continues to propose a reduction in PAN of some schools because of the direct need to reflect the reduction in pupil numbers forecast in future years and thereby addressing one of the stated ambitions to maintain all the current 10 school sites in the city.”
The council has been trying to reduce primary school intakes since 2019 to reflect the falling number of children in Brighton and Hove.
But the cabinet report includes a proposal to consult on an increase to the intake at Rudyard Kipling Primary School, in Rottingdean, from 30 to 45.
School budgets are mainly funded by the government and based on pupil numbers. The report said: “The proposal to decrease the PAN across a number of schools is intended to reduce the number of surplus school places to safeguard and benefit the wider provision across the city.
“By reducing the number of surplus places in the city in the longer term, there is an expectation that school occupancy rates will increase meaning that school budgets are more sustainable.”
Subject to cabinet approval, the consultation would run on the Your Voice section of the council’s website for eight weeks from Friday 6 December to Friday 31 January.
The council is planning to hold a number of public meetings online and in person
• Monday 9 December from 6pm to 7.30pm online
• Thursday 12 December from 10am to 11.30am online
• Tuesday 7 January from 6pm to 7.30pm in person at Hove Town Hall – to be confirmed (TBC)
• Saturday 11 January from 10.30am to noon in person at the Jubilee Library – TBC
Further meetings may be scheduled after the consultation starts, should the cabinet agree.
The cabinet is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 5pm on Thursday 5 December. The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
