Proposals to change school admission arrangements for September 2026 are due to go before Brighton and Hove City Council cabinet members next month.
The proposed changes have not yet been published but the cabinet forward plan said that members would be asked to approve a public consultation.
The consultation is expected to include proposals to reduce the published admission number – also known as the PAN – at primary and secondary schools.
Since 2019, the council has been trying to reduce the number of surplus reception class places at primary schools as the number of children living in Brighton and Hove continues to fall.
From September 2026, the drop in primary school pupil numbers is forecast to start affecting the secondary schools.
The council is currently carrying out a public engagement exercise which closes tomorrow (Wednesday 23 October).
It has received more than 2,400 “interactions” but the council website has stopped showing the number of completed responses.
Parents have started a petition on the council website entitled “Flawed and rushed consultation on school boundaries for Brighton and Hove”. It has attracted 348 signatures
More than 1,500 people have signed a second petition, entitled “Halt the current consultation into school admission boundaries” on the Change.org website. It calls on the council to drop the options outlined in the public engagement.
The campaign group Class Divide has urged its supporters to complete the survey because the group wants more options for children living in east Brighton and less economic and social segregation at secondary level.
So far, the council’s only recent change to secondary school admissions was introduced for September next year to give greater priority to children receiving free school meals
At secondary level, the public engagement indicated that published admission numbers would be cut at five “maintained” schools – Blatchington Mill, Dorothy Stringer, Longhill, Patcham High and Varndean – and catchments could change.
Councillors are also expected to consider how to tackle the forecast number of spare places in primary school reception classes in September 2026.
Earlier this year, councillors voted to close the two smallest schools in Brighton and Hove – St Peter’s Community School, in Portslade, and St Bartholomew’s Church of England Primary School in Brighton.
St Peter’ shut in the summer and St Bart’s is due to close at Christmas.
In January this year, councillors agreed to cut the PAN for reception classes by 30 at Brunswick, Goldstone, St Luke’s and Saltdean primary schools and Stanford and Patcham infant schools.
Goldstone, St Luke’s and Patcham appealed against the decision and the Office of the Schools Adjudicator upheld their appeals so they will retain three forms of entry – or a PAN of 90 children.
The falling number of under-fives was also reflected in the 2021 census, with 21 per cent fewer children aged four and under compared with 2011.
The drop has affected school finances because funding is based on pupil numbers. Some 34 schools are predicted to be in the red to a combined total of more than £7 million this year.
The cabinet is due to meet on Thursday 14 November. The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
One misstep after the other. The move to cabinet shifted all attention on their inadequacy. They should revert back to committees. But, I fear it is too late. Labour will loose over all control of the council again.