Maintained schools and further education

Admissions in maintained schools

Every child of compulsory school age must engage in full-time education. A child begins to be of compulsory school age:

1. •

   when they attain the age of five, if they attain that age on a prescribed day, and

2. •

   otherwise at the beginning of the prescribed day next following their attaining that age. In nearly every case, the child is enrolled at a school for this purpose

Prior to school, age early years provision is free but attendance cannot be enforced.

Admission to a school roll is often simple, but complications arise when the number of applicants for admission exceeds the school’s capacity. Each admission authority must set an admission number for each age group at which children are normally admitted.

The oversubscription criteria for selecting children for admission are important and often controversial.

The following criteria are