Proposed changes – school admission arrangements for 2027 to 2028
Consultation closed: Wednesday 3 December 2025
Consultation opened: Wednesday 22 October 2025
Shillington Lower School
The school currently admits 30 children into reception each year. Pupil forecasts show fewer children living in the local area in future years.
We propose to reduce the number of reception places from 30 to 15 from September 2027.
Rationale for the change
The pupil forecasts for 2027 onwards show a decrease in children living in the school’s catchment area, with 9 in 2027, 15 in 2028 and then 13 in 2029. A decrease to the school's published admissions number therefore supports the school to manage this in line with the pupil forecasts for the area it serves.
The headteacher and governing body are in support of this proposal for us to consult on this change to reduce the school’s published admissions number.
If in future years, the pupil forecasts show an increase of children in the area, we and the school can review the published admissions number and increase it if necessary. An increase to the PAN does not require consultation.
Edward Peake CofE VC School, Biggleswade
Since September 2024, the school has been a secondary school, having previously been a middle school, and will welcome its first year 7 intake in September 2026, of up to 180 children. As the school is currently operating with a catchment area based on its former middle school status, we propose changes to the admissions criteria to reflect this new status as a secondary school.
A review of the school’s admissions criteria has taken place with the headteacher to look at how the school can better serve local pupils and their families now the school is operating as a secondary school.
It was proposed that the catchment area of the school would change and that places would prioritise applications based on whether children had siblings or attended feeder schools or had faith reasons for attending the school.
| Academic year 26/27 criterion | Proposed criterion for 27/28 |
|---|---|
| All looked after children and all previously looked after children, including those children who appear to the Council to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. | All looked after children and all previously looked after children, including those children who appear to the Council to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. |
| Children of staff | Children of staff |
| Children living in the catchment area with a sibling at the school | Children with a sibling at the school. |
| Children living in the catchment area | Children attending feeder primary schools in the local area: Biggleswade Academy, Caldecote CofE Academy, Dunton CofE Junior School, Lawnside Academy, Northill CofE Academy, Potton Primary School, St. Andrew’s CofE VC Primary School and Sutton CofE VA Primary School. |
| Children living outside the catchment area with a sibling at the school | Children, one or more of whose parents/carers have, at the time of application, shown commitment to the Church of England or another Christian church by attending a service at least once a month for the year prior to an application being made. |
| Children, one or more of whose parents/carers have at the time of application, shown commitment to the Church of England or another Christian church by attending a service at least once a month for the year prior to an application being made. | Any other children |
| Children attending Dunton Junior School, Northill CE Academy, Sutton C of E VA Primary School | Not applicable |
| Any other children | Not applicable |
Rationale for the change
The rationale for proposing this criteria is to ensure that after the priorities of looked after/previously looked after children and then children of staff, the school can ensure that younger siblings of children already at the school are given priority for a place which ensures that siblings can benefit from the same educational opportunities and aids family logistics of having their children in the same school.
Prioritising local feeder primary schools after the sibling criterion also ensures that children in Biggleswade can gain priority to one of their preferred local secondary schools and ensures continuity of education for those children particularly when the town has recently transitioned to a 2-tier system.
The prioritisation of the faith criterion ahead of ‘any other children’ then enables those children who do not have a sibling or are attending a local feeder school to gain a place at the school on faith grounds ahead of any other children, which recognises that Edward Peake CofE VC School has religious affiliation to the Church of England, which provides a faith-based education for parents who may be stating a preference for the school on these grounds.
St. Andrew’s CofE VC Primary School, Biggleswade
The school also changed as part of the reorganisation from the three-tier system to the two-tier system in 2024, becoming a primary school from a lower school. It has two sites with a total of 120 reception places. We propose changes to the admissions criteria and removal of the catchment area to align with other local primary schools.
Discussions were had with the school about their admissions criteria for the two schools to ensure that this aligns with the other two primary schools in the town and provides fairness and equity for families.
One of the primary schools in the town will not operate a catchment area from 2026 and will prioritise applicants on distance after the sibling criterion. The other primary school has a catchment area which serves the whole town of Biggleswade therefore enabling children from across the town to be considered for a place.
| Academic year 26/27 criterion | Proposed criterion for 27/28 |
|---|---|
| All looked after children and all previously looked after children, including those children who appear to the Council to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted | All looked after children and all previously looked after children, including those children who appear to the Council to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted |
| Children of staff | Children of staff |
| Children living in the catchment area with a sibling at the school | Children who have a sibling at the school |
| Children living outside the catchment area with a sibling at the school | Children who are living in the ecclesiastical parish of St Andrew’s Biggleswade and whose parent/carer has attended a Church of England or other Christian church within the same parish at least once a month for the period of one year prior to the application being made |
| Children living in the catchment area | Any other children |
| Children, one or more of whose parents/carers have, at the time of application, shown commitment to the Church of England or another Christian church by attending a service at least once a month for the year prior to an application being made | Not applicable |
| Any other children | Not applicable |
Rationale for the change
The removal of the catchment area for both sites at St. Andrews was discussed to better align the school’s admissions oversubscription criteria with the other schools in the town and provide a clear, fair and equitable criteria for families. The proposed criteria prioritises siblings after looked after/previously looked after children and children of staff. This enables younger siblings to access the same education provision as their older sibling(s) and helps with family logistics of having children of the same age range in the same school.
After the prioritisation of siblings, priority will be given to children whose parents are living in the ecclesiastical parish of St Andrew’s Biggleswade and attending a Church of England or other Christian church within the same parish. The definition of attendance for this criterion is defined as one or more parents who attend church once a month for the period of 1 year prior to the application being made. This criterion is being proposed as the school provides a Church of England faith-based education which some parents choose on this basis.
After the faith criterion, the final criterion would be any other children and applicants in this criterion would be ordered in accordance with their straight-line distance from their home address to the designated measuring point to the school.