Admissions Arrangements 2028/29 Consultation

Townsend Church of England School is consulting on proposed changes to its Admission Arrangements for the 2028/29 academic year.

We welcome views from parents/carers, staff, schools, local authorities, diocesan representatives, community groups, local residents and other interested parties.

Documents for review

As part of the consultation, we invite you to review the following draft documents:

Proposed changes

The Governing Board is consulting on the following proposals:

1. Published Admission Number (PAN)

To reduce the school’s Published Admission Number (PAN) from 150 to 120 for Year 7 admissions.

2. Church of England feeder schools

To introduce a named list of Church of England feeder schools within the school’s admission arrangements.

The current Foundation Place criterion gives priority to children attending a Church of England primary school. Following advice from the Diocese of St Albans, the school is proposing to replace this general criterion with a defined list of individually named feeder schools, providing greater clarity and transparency within the admission arrangements.

In determining the proposed feeder schools, the Governing Board has considered relevant factors including:

• established links between Townsend and primary schools;
• historic patterns of pupils transferring from those schools to Townsend;
• the geographical communities served by Townsend;
• established travel and transport links; and
• whether Townsend is the nearest Church of England secondary school for those communities.

As a Church of England secondary school, Townsend also serves families across a wider geographical area than its immediate locality. These considerations reflect the factors identified in the advice received from the Diocese.

3. Priority for children of permanent staff

To introduce a new priority rule (Rule 4) for children of teaching or support staff who have been permanently employed at Townsend for more than two years.

This proposed change would introduce a specific admissions priority for eligible children of established permanent members of the school’s teaching and support staff.

Have your say

The consultation will run from 26 October to 6 December 2026.

We encourage everyone with an interest in the school’s admission arrangements to read the proposals and share their views.

The consultation closes on Sunday 6 December 2026.

Respond to the consultation on Townsend Church of England School – Admissions Arrangements 2028/29

Thank you for taking the time to contribute to the consultation. All responses received during the consultation period will help inform consideration of the proposed Admission Arrangements for 2028/29.