Free School Meals Admissions Priority In Brighton & Hove Wins Backing

Young people receiving free school meals will have greater priority for secondary school admissions in Brighton and Hove than others living closer.

The move was agreed by Brighton and Hove City Council’s Children, Families and Schools Committee after a public consultation on the topic received a positive response.

Councillors and the council’s head of school organisation Richard Barker cited support for the policy by the education and social mobility charity the Sutton Trust.

The charity said that oversubscribed schools with distance-based catchment areas had led to “selective comprehensives” and this would be addressed by the proposal.

Labour councillor Jacob Taylor, who co-chairs the council’s Children, Families and Schools Committee, said that most people who responded to the consultation were in favour of the idea.

He said that he wanted to address educational inequality in Brighton and Hove and said that every community should have a great local school.

Councillor Taylor said:

“We do have an issue where educational outcomes are not equal for people from different backgrounds.

“Those from more disadvantaged backgrounds don’t attain the same level as those from non-disadvantaged backgrounds.

“We know that’s been an issue in this city for many years. We know that’s partly driven by the geography of the city and partly driven by the location of the schools.

“We’re proud to be putting forward this policy and we’re proud it’s got such support from the population.”

The Trust for Developing Communities’ director of youth work, Adam Muirhead, who represents the voluntary sector on the committee, said:

“I offer a ringing endorsement for systemic responses to systemic educational inequality.

“I have said before we cannot simply teach our way out of educational disadvantage.

“The proposed changes do represent a step in the right direction for the ways we can make Brighton and Hove favour for its care and consideration those most in need.”

Green councillor Sue Shanks praised Carly Goldsmith and the campaign group Class Divide for their work promoting the issue of educational inequality particularly in their podcast.

She said:

“Poverty is a big issue, not just in education. Unfortunately, it did remind me of the reason we do not have a school in Whitehawk, which is why we’re doing this partly, is because it was closed down in 2005 by Labour.

“There are reasons for doing that. We really miss a school in that area so it means children have to travel long distances.”

Councillor Shanks said that it would be good to consider free school transport in the future.

Pupils on free school meals will now have the third highest priority when applying for a secondary school place for September 2025 onwards – after children who are or were in care and those with a compelling medical or other exceptional reason to attend a particular school.

At the moment about 25 per cent of children are eligible for free school meals – but the proportion at schools such as Blatchington Mill, Dorothy Stringer and Varndean is lower.

Meanwhile, above average numbers of children qualifying for free school meals attend the likes of Longhill, Hove Park, the Portslade Aldridge Community Academy (PACA) and the Brighton Aldridge Community Academy (BACA).

Any changes would affect “local authority maintained schools” in the first instance – Blatchington Mill, Dorothy Stringer, Hove Park, Longhill, Patcham High and Varndean School.

Academies, church schools and free schools are free to set their own admissions policies but, locally, have traditionally worked within the council’s framework

At secondary level, there are four schools in these categories that could chart their own course – PACA, BACA, Cardinal Newman Catholic School and the King’s School.

Forecasts indicate that fewer primary school pupils are likely to be starting at secondary schools in Brighton and Hove from 2025 onwards.

A report to the council’s Children, Families and Schools Committee said that Brighton and Hove currently has 2,560 state secondary school places, with 2,279 required in 2025.

Hundreds of secondary school places are expected to remain unfilled in Brighton and Hove from 2025 onwards, according to the report.

The numbers are projected to fall every year, with 2,011 secondary school places expected to be required in 2030 based on current school census numbers.