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Admissions to schools in Suffolk for the 2027/2028 school year

Admissions to schools in Suffolk for the 2027/2028 school year

Details of the proposed admission arrangements to schools in Suffolk for the 2027/2028 school year.

The consultation on Suffolk County Council's proposed admission arrangements for the 2027/2028 school year has now closed.

Proposed admission changes for community and voluntary controlled schools in Suffolk in the 2027/2028 school year

Suffolk County Council (SCC) is the Admissions Authority for community and voluntary controlled schools in Suffolk. When changes are proposed to the admission arrangements, we must consult on them.

Where admission arrangements have not changed from the previous year there is no need to consult, subject to the requirement that admission authorities must consult on their admission arrangements at least once every 7 years, even if there have been no changes during that period.

Consultation on Admission Arrangements for the 2027/2028 school year

Between 6 October and 17 November 2025, we asked for your views on our proposed admissions policy for the 2027/2028 school year. The admissions policy is designed to ensure school places are offered to children in an open and fair way.

Details of the proposed changes:

The OSA considered SCC’s admission arrangements for the 2025/2026 school year and found that they did not fully conform with the School Admissions Code.

The OSA’s decision is binding on SCC and the admission arrangements for the 2025/2026 and 2026/2027 school years have been amended to comply with the Schools Adjudicator’s determination. We have now consulted on these amendments for the 2027/2028 school year.

The amendments, which are shown in blue text within the proposed admission arrangements, seek to add clarity to the policy itself and make it clearer for parents and carers to understand. They do not affect how school places have been and will continue to be offered, and to whom. The proposed amendments include:

clarification on how applications would be prioritised within the sibling oversubscription criterion, if necessary.
additional information to help parents understand the process for seeking a school place outside of the normal age group.
clarification on admissions to a community school sixth form.

SCC is responsible for setting the PAN for community and voluntary controlled schools. This is the number of school places that will be available at the school in its normal year of entry.

We are proposing to reduce the PAN of four schools for the 2027/2028 school year. This is due to pupil forecasts indicating a reduction in pupil numbers and in order to sustain the viability of the schools in the area, particularly given the Infant Class Size Regulations. We are required to consult to decrease a school’s PAN.

School	Current PAN	Proposed PAN
Cedarwood Primary School, Kesgrave	60	30
Pot Kiln Primary School, Great Cornard	45	30
Sandlings Primary School, Sutton Heath, Woodbridge	38	30
Westgate CP School, Bury St Edmunds	60	45

Full list of proposed PAN’s for the 2027/2028 school year.

Full Proposed Admission Arrangements for the 2027/2028 school year

We are required to publish the Full Proposed Admission Arrangements for the 2027/2028 school year throughout the consultation period. There are no further proposed changes to these arrangements other than those mentioned above.

Proposed admission arrangements for community and voluntary controlled schools
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The consultation is now closed.

All responses will be considered before Suffolk County Council’s Cabinet is asked to make a final decision.

Admission arrangements to voluntary aided, free schools and academies

The governing body or academy trust of voluntary aided schools, free schools and academies is responsible for admissions to their schools. If you want to view the arrangements for these schools, you should look at the schools’ website or contact the schools directly.

Applying for a school place for the 2027/2028 school year

Further information about applying for a school place for the 2027/2028 school year will be available for parents from 12 September 2026 on the admissions webpage.

Admissions to schools in Suffolk for the 2027/2028 school year

Proposed admission changes for community and voluntary controlled schools in Suffolk in the 2027/2028 school year

Consultation on Admission Arrangements for the 2027/2028 school year

Details of the proposed changes:

1. To comply with the Office of the Schools Adjudicator’s (OSA) determination

2. To consider the proposed Published Admission Numbers (PAN) for the 2027/2028 School Year

Full Proposed Admission Arrangements for the 2027/2028 school year

Admission arrangements to voluntary aided, free schools and academies

Applying for a school place for the 2027/2028 school year