The local education authority has directed our community school to admit more pupils next September than specified in our planned admission limit. We really do not have the space. Can we refuse?
Admissions is one area where, in the case of community schools, the LEA retains full control, with the school and governor rights limited to consultation.
A planned admission limit is a figure agreed between the LEA and the governing body for general planning purposes. It is not legally enforceable and, if the LEA sees the need to vary it, it has the power to do so, once the governors have been consulted. Consultation does not imply consent, although the governors would be right to draw to the LEA’s notice the problem of accommodating the increased number, especially if this may affect the school’s ability to deliver the national curriculum.
Archimedes
