Schools Declining Applications

In its annual report to the Office for the Schools Adjudicator - link here: https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/downloads/file/10528/lincolnshire-report-to-office-of-the-schools-adjudicator-2025 - the council said: 'The situation continues whereby an increasing number of secondary schools are declining applications for in-year admissions at levels below their Published Admission Number (PAN), often citing prejudice as the reason.

'While this practice is lawful, it falls outside the Local Authority's jurisdiction to challenge. Consequently, a growing number of children are being referred through the Fair Access Protocol, which can delay their access to education while the process is completed.

'We have observed that some schools are more receptive to admitting pupils via the protocol than others. In certain cases, extended discussions are occurring before an offer is made, despite the statutory duty on schools to admit pupils when requested under the protocol. These challenges and delays are becoming more frequent.'

I would like to be sent:

1 - The names of the schools (along with their URNs) referred to above that are 'declining applications for in-year admissions at levels below their published admission number'. I would also like to be sent figures for 2024-25 showing their published admission number and the capped admission figure
2 - Figures for 2023-24 and 2024-25 broken down by year showing the number off in-year rejections citing prejudice as the reason. I would also like these to be broken down by school, please
3 - The names of the schools (along with URNs) that require 'extended discussions' before a fair access offer is made

If any of the information is already in the public domain, please can you direct me to it, with page references and URLs if necessary.

I understand you are required to respond to my request within 20 days of receiving this email.

I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received this request.

I can confirm that the information requested is held by Lincolnshire County Council. I have detailed below the information that is being released to you. 

 1 - Lincolnshire County Council do not hold data on the reasons schools decline applications other than prejudice, prejudice relating to infant class size, non-qualification and cases involving challenging behaviour. This applies regardless of whether schools are refusing places below their Published Admission Number at the year of entry. Consequently, this information is not held. In addition, we do not hold details of in-year admission limits for schools.

2 – Lincolnshire County Council have provided the total number of applications where the outcome was recorded as 'school refused'. However, we are unable to break this down further to specify the reason for refusal, as this would exceed 18 hours. Applications within this dataset may have been refused on the grounds of prejudice (full), non-qualification/entrance test not taken (relating to Grammar Schools only) or challenging behaviour, in accordance with the School Admissions Code 2021.

Please note that these figures will not align with those outlined in the referenced OSA report, as the report reflects the number of applications submitted (one per child), rather than individual school responses. A single child may apply to multiple schools within one application.

This data includes all cases where a school has refused admission, regardless of whether its Published Admission Number had been reached for the year of entry or otherwise,

3 – Lincolnshire County Council do not hold data on the length of time taken to discuss a FAP case, so this information is not held, the information is anecdotal only.