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CHOOSING A SCHOOL
ANNEX
You may want to know exactly what the law says about the circumstances in which an authority can refuse a placing request. This is in section 28A(3) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, as inserted by section 1 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1981, and section 28A(3A) to (3E) of the 1980 Act, as inserted by section 33 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1996, as inserted by section 44 of the Standards in Scotland's Schools etc. Act 2000. The circumstances set out in section 28A(3) are:
' (a) if placing the child in the specified school would -
(i) make it necessary for the authority to take an additional teacher into employment;
(ii) give rise to significant expenditure on extending or otherwise altering the accommodation at or facilities provided in connection with the school;
(iii) be seriously detrimental to the continuity of the child's education;
(iv) be likely to be seriously detrimental to order and discipline in the school;
(v) be likely to be seriously detrimental to the educational well-being of pupils attending the school; or
(vi) assuming that pupil numbers remain constant, make it necessary at the commencement of a future stage of the child's primary education, for the authority to elect to create an additional class (or an additional composite class) in the specified school or take an additional teacher into employment at the school.
(b) if the education normally provided at the specified school is not suited to the age, ability or aptitude of the child;
(c) if the education authority have already required the child to discontinue his/her attendance at the specified school;
(d) if, where the specified school is a special school, the child does not have special educational needs requiring the education or special facilities normally provided at that school; or
(e) if the specified school is a single sex school (within the meaning given to that expression by section 26 of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975) and the child is not of the sex admitted or taken (under that section) to be admitted to the school.'
Section 28A(3) goes on, however, to say that:
'an education authority may place a child in the specified school notwithstanding paragraphs (a) to (e) above.'
This means that a Council may agree to a request even if they would have to employ an additional teacher, or spend money on accommodation, or even if they thought the move would not be very good for the child. They do not have to refuse a request just because one of the reasons set out in the law applies.
Section 28A(3A) to (3D) is worded as follows:
'(3A) The duty imposed by subsection (1) above does not apply where the acceptance of a placing request in respect of a child who is resident outside the catchment area of the specified school would prevent the education authority from retaining reserved places at the specified school or in relation to any particular stage of education at the school; but nothing in this subsection shall prevent an education authority from placing a child in the specified school.'
(Subsection 3(B) was removed by section 44 of the Standards in Scotland's Schools etc. Act 2000.)
'(3C) In subsection (3A) above, "reserved places" means such number of places (not exceeding such number or, as the case may be, such percentage of places at the school or relating to the particular stage of education as may be prescribed by regulations) as are in the opinion of the education authority reasonably required to accommodate pupils likely to become resident in the catchment area of the school in the period from the time of consideration of the placing request up to and during the year from 1 August to which the placing request relates; and different numbers or, as the case may be, percentages may be prescribed under this subsection for the purpose of different cases or circumstances.
(3D) In subsections (3A) and (3C) above, "catchment area" means the area from which pupils resident therein will be admitted to the school in terms of any priority based on residence in accordance with the guidelines formulated by the authority under section 28B(1)(c) of this Act.'
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