Northumberland County Council - Fair Access Protocol

Fair Access Protocol

Fair Access Protocol for children without a school place

The Access Protocol is for children without a school place.

The School Admissions Code dictates that every local authority must have a Fair Access Protocol. This protocol is agreed by the majority of schools in the area, and it is there to make sure that outside the normal admissions round, unplaced and vulnerable children are offered a place at a suitable school as quickly as possible. The appropriate provision is put in place to make sure that the needs of the children are met.

Together with ensuring the secure placement of these children, the protocol makes sure that no school is asked to take a disproportionate number of children who fall under the Fair Access criteria. This is an important factor to consider as to overstretch a school and its resources would be detrimental to both the child being placed and the children currently attending.

Fair Access criteria

The criteria for Fair Access is split between two key areas of circumstance:

challenging behaviour
children who have difficulty securing a school place / unplaced children

Challenging behaviour

A child with challenging behaviour is identified as such in the following circumstances only:

a child subject to a managed move
a child previously permanently excluded from school
a child currently attending a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) in another local authority area
a child from the Criminal Justice System or attending a PRU who needs to be reintegrated back into mainstream education
a child identified as being at significant risk of permanent exclusion
a child who is Elective Home Educated (EHE) - this is only appropriate where there is evidence that the child meets any of the criteria above

In addition, applications where children meeting the following criteria may be referred to the Fair Access Panel for consideration and recommendation on suitable placement under this category:

children known to the police or other agencies
children without a school place and with a history of serious attendance problems, resulting in previous annual attendance of below 70% and / or where legal action has been taken in relation to non-school attendance, and a school is needed to be named for the School Attendance Order (SAO)
children of UK service personnel and other Crown Servants

Children who have difficulty securing a school place / unplaced children

The definition of 'unplaced children' are those who are not on a school roll, whose parents have been unable to secure a school place through the normal admissions process, and it has not been possible to secure a place at their catchment school / nearest school.

Children who fall under this category include:

children who have been out of education for longer than two months
children of Gypsies, Roma, Travellers, refugees and asylum seekers
children who are homeless
children with unsupportive family backgrounds, where a place has not been sought
children who are carers
children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or medical conditions, but do not have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)
children whose parents have been unable to find them a place after moving to the area, because of a shortage of places
children withdrawn from schools by their family, following fixed term exclusions and unable to find another place
children who are Elective Home Educated (EHE) - this is only appropriate where there is evidence that the child meets any of the criteria above.