Parents concerned about proposals to change secondary school admissions in Brighton and Hove have made their case as part of a public consultation.
Dozens of parents from Parent Support Group protested outside Hove Town Hall ahead of the full council meeting yesterday (Thursday 30 January), with the eight-week consultation due to end today.
Proposals include reducing admissions at three secondary schools, introducing an open admissions policy and changing catchment areas for Longhill and Varndean and Dorothy Stringer.
The Parent Support Group, which said that it represents more than 500 parents, submitted an eight-page response.
It raised concerns that 250 children would be randomly selected to travel long distances to secondary school away from their homes in the Stringer, Varndean, Blatchington Mill, Hove Park and Patcham High catchments.
The response said: “Children who are unable to get a place in the Dorothy Stringer/Varndean and Hove Park/Blatchington Mill catchment areas would be given the lowest priority in accessing places in other schools, meaning they would probably only be able to get a place at one of the schools furthest from where they live.
“If this policy is implemented, it would create huge uncertainty for families. The negative effects would pile up rapidly.
“On National Offer Day in March 2026, the first cohort of students would find out who has been randomly selected to be displaced. By March 2027 there would already be two cohorts of displaced children.
“Parents of younger children would quickly become aware that Brighton and Hove’s school admissions system promises longer travel distances and more uncertainty than in any other city in the country.”
The group, which was formed in November, also said that children faced potential journeys of more than three miles requiring three different buses to get to and from school.
It also noted the council’s objective to create a more socially mixed intake but said that both Stringer and Varndean already took a diverse mix of children.
The response said: “The percentage of children eligible for free school meals in the catchment area is already at the city average.
“According to the council’s analysis of data from the 2021 Census, the Stringer/Varndean catchment area includes one of the three areas in the city with the highest concentration of deprivation (Hollingdean).
“The council’s proposed catchment change would mean it included two of the three most deprived areas in the city (Hollingdean and Whitehawk).
“The council’s objective of creating an oversubscribed catchment area would put children from these areas who are not eligible for free school meals at risk of being displaced, potentially by children from more affluent families who are better able to afford the costs associated with longer journeys to school.”
One of those outside Hove Town Hall was Sarah Taylor, a mother who is concerned about the consultation process. She criticised a lack of modelling and information about the effects of the proposed changes.
She said: “It’s made it very difficult for parents to make an informed decision. All the consultation seems to do is shift the burden of previous council failures from one group of children to another.
“The positive that’s come out of this is a lot of experts, educators, governors and SEN (special educational needs) professionals have come out of the woodwork with a huge amount of creative suggestions which could provide solutions in both the short and long term.”
The deputy leader of the council Jacob Taylor has led on the school admissions reorganisation, attending several public meetings held since the process started.
Councillor Taylor said: “It’s been an important debate, a really good debate, at times. Now the council has to look at those responses and think what we’re going to take forward as a set of proposals in the best interest of the city.
“We’re looking at two key issues which is fairness of admissions across the city and falling pupil numbers.”
At the time of writing, more than 3,100 people had responded to the consultation on the council’s Your Voice website.
The consultation ends today (Friday 31 January).
