Pupil vacancies and waiting lists in Brent schools

A snap-shot of Brent schools rolls taken on March 29th shows that on that date there were no primary school pupils without school places. Waiting lists consisted of children who were attending one school but wanted to tranfer to another. This is often because parents want siblings together at the same school and put names down for when a vacancy arises.  Children may be on the waiting lists of several schools.

Primary schools that have recently expanded tend to have some unfilled places. Harlesden Primary School had 25 vacancies in Reception, Uxendon Manor 21 and Strathcona-Roe Green 11.

The longest waiting lists for Reception spaces (children are already attending other schools as stated above) were: Wembley Primary 36, St Josephs RC Infants 25, Park Lane 25, Barham 23, Ark Academy and Islamia 21 and Chalkhill 20.

The closure of the private Gower House school on Blackbird Hill, Kingsbury, at the end of the Summer Term LINK will see 137 primary pupils looking for a school plcae  although they may transfer to other private schools.

The controversial proposed expansion of Byron Court from the current 3 classes of 30 to 5 classes of 30 seems unsupported by the relatively low waiting list of 9 children for a reception place.

The figures reveal that Crest Academy has 189 of 330 places unfilled in Year 7.  Crest is in the same area where Gladstone Free School wants to set up. Ark Elvin had 71of 240 places unfilled in Year 7  and Newman College 47 of 150 Year 7 places unfilled. In total there were 322 vacancies in Year 7. 195 in Year 8, 160 in Year 9, 113 in Year 10 and 81 in Year 11.

Ark Elvin figures may be out of date because the school (along with several others - see notes on spreadsheet below) does not take part in Brent Council's co-ordination of 'In Year' admissions.

Brent Council is expecting increased demand for secondary places as the increased primary roll moves on to secondary school and there are plans for a new secondary free school in Brent North. From these figures this might detrimentally impact on Ark Elvin.

Click right corner to see full table

Contribute your experience on secondary schools' socially selecting their intake

Brent parents and practioners may be interested in contributing to this research

The Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCC) has been told that some secondary schools in England are attempting to socially select their intake by reducing the admission of children with Special Educational Needs (SEN), from minority ethnic groups, with English as an additional language (EAL), and from families on a low income.

The OCC has commissioned NFER to gather the views of parents and carers from these key groups who have recently gone through the admissions process for secondary school in England. They would like us to examine whether parents and carers feel that certain schools either encouraged or discouraged them from applying for a place for their child.

The OCC, which works to make sure all adults listen to the views and experiences of children and young people, wants to find out more about the admissions process so that they can shine a light on the situation and share these findings with decision-makers, like the Government.

You have been directed to this website because you are either a parent or carer, or because you have worked with families who have recently gone through the school admissions process. If you are interested in talking to us about your views and experiences, please click on one of the links below for further information.

I am a parent or carer...

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We look forward to hearing from you.

The Research Team

Fiona Walker

Kerry Martin

Richard White

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