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Consultation on school admission arrangements 2025/26

Tell us what you think about our proposed admission arrangements for community and voluntary controlled (VC) schools for the academic year 2025/26.

What are we consulting on?

Proposed reduction in the published admission numbers (PAN) at several Haringey Primary Schools

The council has a duty to make sure that enough school places are available for every school-age child whose parents wish them to attend school. To ensure there are enough places a surplus of around 5% of extra school places is usually needed, according to guidance from the Department for Education (DfE).

Demand for primary school places has fallen in recent years and our projections of future demand show that this will continue to fall, so we are consulting on proposals to reduce the PAN at several of our primary schools. This proposed reduction follows on from the agreement by council's Cabinet in February 2023 to reduce the PAN for 8 primary schools from September 2024.

The consultation will run until 5 January 2024. You can find more details of the proposals below, as well as respond to the consultation.

We are seeking your views on proposed reductions in the PAN at the following schools:

Table: proposed PAN reductions

SchoolCurrent admission numberProposed Admission NumberProposed reduction
St Francis de Sales Catholic Infant School, N17 8AZ9060-30
St Mary’s Priory Catholic Infant School, N15 5RE6030-30
St Ignatius Primary School, N15 6ND6030-30

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Background information

Following many years of rising demand for school places, due to the growth in Haringey’s population, we now need to reduce the general school capacity across the borough.

This is because:

  • the birth rate in Haringey and in London generally is no longer continuing to increase
  • more families are now moving out of the London area than was predicted in the past

Both of these factors have contributed to some areas of the borough having too many surplus school places.

The School Place Planning Report 2023 (PDF, 2.8MB)predicts that demand for Reception school places in Haringey will fall to 2,500 by the end of the decade. This is a big change from past years when we had an extremely high demand for Reception school places – for example in 2012 (3,163) and 2013 (3,116).

The decrease in demand for school places has affected some schools' ability to manage both their class sizes and the number of staff they need. In order to support some of the worst affected schools with these issues, we are proposing to reduce the number of school places being offered at Reception and future year groups at the schools listed in the table above.

Our aim is to:

  • help stabilise each school’s pupil numbers
  • make school leaders able to plan and deliver education effectively
  • meet local demand

A large portion of the funding given to schools is based on the number of pupils attending that school. Too many vacancies mean that schools will not receive the maximum amount of funding possible. Schools with small class sizes below 24 pupils may not be able to support themselves financially in the long term, as they may not be able to fund a classroom teacher.

We are proposing to reduce the number of available places to enable the schools to operate more efficiently and cost-effectively. This change aims to assist school governing bodies to plan for long-term stability, a consistent structure, and a stable financial position, providing a secure foundation for high-quality educational outcomes for all pupils.

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Will there be enough places?

A decrease in demand for Reception places has been a continuous trend in many areas of London, including in our neighbouring boroughs. This is predicted to continue over the next few years. Because of the high number of vacancies in Reception at the beginning of the 2023/24 academic year in each school, we expect that there will still be enough school places available for local children even if PANs are reduced.

What happens if there is an increase in demand later?

We will carefully track the number of school applications received. If there is an increase in demand for primary school places and more places are required, the schools proposed to reduce (in the table above) will return to their original PAN.

Are we proposing to make any other changes to the admission arrangements for community schools for 2025/26?

No, we are not proposing any other changes to the admission arrangements for the 2025/26 academic year. We previously consulted on the 2024/25 admission arrangements between November 2022 and January 2023 and the council’s Cabinet agreed the arrangements in February 2023.

When are we proposing to reduce the PANs?

Following the consultation, if the proposed changes are agreed then the school PANs for Reception will be reduced from September 2025.

See more frequently asked questions in the document below.

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Consultation documents and proposed arrangements

The full details of the proposed arrangements as well as frequently asked questions are provided below:

Have your say

You can tell us what you think anytime up to 5 January 2024:

  • Complete our online questionnaire – click on the button below:

Complete the school admission arrangements survey

What happens next?

In February 2024, the council’s Cabinet will consider the results of the consultation and make a final decision on the proposed admission arrangements for 2025/26.

If agreed, the arrangements would be introduced for September 2025 entry.

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Own-admitting-authority schools

Consultations on admission arrangements for 2025/26

Further school consultations will be available here from own-admitting-authority schools during the Autumn term.

Links to school websites can be found on our Primary schools and Secondary schools pages.

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Page last updated:

November 27, 2023

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