IMPORTANT information concerning the admission arrangements for Thurlbear Church of England Voluntary Aided (VA) Primary School.

Notice of a statutory admission arrangement consultation.

In accordance with the 2021 school admissions code, notice is hereby given that the Governing Body (the admissions authority) proposes to alter the admission arrangements applying to Thurlbear Church of England Voluntary Aided (VA) Primary School for the 2025 – 2026 academic year.

A statutory consultation will commence on 6^th November 2023 and will end at 4pm on 11^th December 2023.

You are invited to view the proposed 2025 – 2026 admission arrangements on the school website and to submit any comments during the consultation period using the email link provided, or by writing to the school office.

The proposed 2025–2026 admission arrangements aim to reflect the statutory responsibilities of the admission authority for the school and to embed local procedure that is fair and reasonable in practice.

Please especially note, the following elements of the proposed 2025-26 admission arrangements which are altered following advice from the Diocese of Bath & Wells, that faith-based oversubscription criteria should not be used in admission arrangements.

• Section 4.2 the oversubscription criteria.

Both the 2023–24 and the 2024–25 admission arrangements are set out on the school website and available for further comparison.

The Governing Body will meet shortly after the consultation closes in order to consider any comments received during the consultation period and a response will be sent to all those who contributed. A final version of the 2025–2026 admissions arrangements will be published on the school website by 15^th March 2024, following which no further alteration will be made, unless for a matter of legal compliance.

Please submit your consultation response by email to office@thurlbearprimaryschool.co.uk or by post: Thurlbear Church of England Voluntary Aided (VA) Primary School, Thurlbear, Taunton, Somerset, TA3 5BW

Please see the Consultation Paper on the following link: