Education / Освіта
All children living in the UK have a right to access a school in England, irrespective of their nationality. This is made clear on the Department for Education website, which states that:
"School admission authorities must not refuse to admit a child on the basis of their nationality or immigration status nor remove them from roll on this basis."
The School Admissions Code applies to the admission to school of children from Ukraine in exactly the same way as it does to all other children.
Local authorities have a duty under section 86 (1A) of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 to support local parents in choosing schools.
Schools’ admission arrangements apply in the normal way. When parents apply for a school place, they must apply to the school, with the School Admissions Code stating that schools should aim to notify parents of the outcome of an application for a place at their school within ten school days and that they must do so within 15 school days. Where there are no school places within a reasonable distance of the child’s home, the local authority will use its fair access protocol to place them within 20 school days.
Annex A of the welcome pack for people coming to the UK from Ukraine provides advice for parents on navigating the English school admissions system.
An in-year application form must be used when applying to a school for a school place. The form that must be used is linked to this page.
Any enquiries regarding securing a school place in a Shropshire school can be directed to Children&youngpeople@shropshire.gov.uk, in particular in relation to which schools currently have vacancies.
DfE resource pack
The Department for Education has published a resource pack with links to further information for schools and colleges with Ukrainian students, including:
- Guides to the English education system
- Mental health and wellbeing support
- English language support
- Short courses
Further information
Wiltshire Council has compiled a collection of useful resources, websites and guidance to support Ukrainian students starting school in the UK
The Department for Education has provided some specific FAQs regarding securing school places based on queries they’ve received about children from Ukraine, as follows...
Can children from Ukraine be placed in clusters so that they're being educated with others from Ukraine?
Parents who have fled from from Ukraine have the same rights as any other families living within the UK to a school place for their child. This means that they have a right to express a preference for a school rather than their children being placed when schools they may want them to attend have vacancies.
Local authorities are under a duty under section 86(1A) of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 to ‘provide advice and assistance to parents of children in the area of the authority in connection with the preferences expressed or to be expressed by them’. A guide for Ukrainians arriving in the UK has been produced, and annex A provides advice on how to choose a school and apply for it.
If no schools within a reasonable distance of a child’s home is willing or able to admit more pupils, the local authority should place these children under its in-year fair access protocol, in the same way that it will place all other hard-to-place children.
A school place must be allocated under the protocol for all children referred to it within 20 school days. Once they've been allocated a school place via the protocol, arrangements should be made for the child to start at the school as soon as possible.
Any plans to cluster Ukrainian children shouldn't be used to inhibit a parent’s right to apply for a school of his or her choice. However, if schools can't or won't offer children places and it becomes necessary to use the fair access protocol to place children it would certainly be possible to refer more than one Ukrainian child to the same school under the protocol, if parents advise the local authority that a level of clustering would help their children acclimatise.
Care should, however, be taken not to prioritise the placement of Ukrainian children above the placement of other hard-to-place children – all hard-to-place children should be placed promptly under the protocol - and not to refer a disproportionate number of children under the protocol to any one school.
How will families know how to get their children into a school on arrival in the UK?
Any families moving to the UK are advised to consider, among other things, the supply of school places in the areas they intend moving to before moving to the UK. They can speak to the local authority in their chosen areas for information.
There is a welcome pack for people fleeing from the Ukraine, and annex A to that pack provides advice for parents on navigating the English school admissions system.
How quickly should children from Ukraine be offered a school?
The best place for children to be educated is in school. Being in a school is vital to help newly arrived children integrate as quickly as possible into the communities in which they are living.
It's expected that children begin attending school shortly after arriving in an area, and local authorities will seek to help Ukrainian families to apply for school places, and are best placed to inform parents about which schools have places.
The School Admissions Code requires that the school receiving an application should aim to notify parents of the outcome of any application within ten days and must notify parents of the outcome of their application for a place within 15 school days.
An application form for parents to apply for a school place is attached to this page.
Where there are no vacancies within a reasonable distance of the child’s home, the local authority must place the child quickly under its in-year fair access protocol.
Can local authorities prioritise children from Ukraine for admission to schools?
Admission authorities for schools must apply their determined admission arrangements. Children from Ukraine will have no specific additional priority for admission, but the local authority is under a duty to offer advice to parents on the school application process, and should advise them where vacancies exist and how to apply.
Where there are no vacancies in local schools, the local authority should use its in-year fair access protocol to place any children (including refugee children from Ukraine) into schools, above those schools’ normal capacity where necessary.
Can children from Ukraine be placed into schools ahead of other children or be put at the head of any waiting list for a school?
Children from Ukraine will have no specific additional priority for admission.
Admission authorities for schools must apply their determined admission arrangements. This means that families from Ukraine should apply for a place in the normal way and, should vacancies exist, their children should be admitted, like any other children, in strict order of priority according to each school’s published admission arrangements. As is always the case, waiting lists must be ranked in order according to each school’s published admission arrangements.
Admitting children from Ukraine without taking account of a school’s admission arrangements would not only breach the School Admissions Code and be likely to lead to a number of successful admission appeals from those who are at the head of any existing waiting list, but may also be in breach of equalities legislation (ie by treating one nationality more favourably than another – ‘race’ is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010 and is defined as ‘(a) colour; (b) nationality; or (c) ethnic or national origins’).
Where there are no vacancies in local schools, the local authority will use its in-year fair access protocol to place any children (including children from Ukraine) into schools, above those schools’ normal capacity where necessary. This would be the lawful approach. Children from Ukraine should be given the same level of priority (ie ‘high’) for a place under the protocol as any other children referred to the protocol.
Can schools exceed the infant class size limit of 30 children per teacher to accommodate children from Ukraine?
Legislation limits the size of an infant class to 30 pupils per teacher. Normally this can't be exceeded, but it's worth remembering that there are exceptions to this limit set out in paragraph 2.16 of the School Admissions Code.
The exceptions are mainly for vulnerable groups of children, but also include children who move into the area outside the normal admissions round when there are no other available schools within reasonable distance.
Where possible and needed, schools are encouraged to admit children from Ukraine as exceptions to the infant class size limit, in the circumstances permitted by the code.
Do schools have discretion for phased/gradual reintegration plan?
As a rule, no. All pupils of compulsory school age are entitled to a full-time education.
In very exceptional circumstances there may be a need for a temporary part-time timetable to meet a pupil’s individual needs, for example where a medical condition prevents a pupil from attending full-time education and a part-time timetable is considered as part of a reintegration package.
A part-time timetable must not be treated as a long-term solution. Any pastoral support programme or other agreement must have a time limit by which point the pupil is expected to attend full-time or be provided with alternative provision. In agreeing to a part-time timetable, a school has agreed to a pupil being absent from school for part of the week or day, and therefore must record it as authorised absence.
What leeway do schools/LAs have in terms of providing access to education?
There is no leeway. Children of compulsory school age must receive full-time education. Parents are under a statutory duty to ensure that their children receive a full-time education, and local authorities are under a duty to provide suitable school places.
In Ukraine, children don't attend school until they're 7. Consequently, the English schools system will be unfamiliar to parents from Ukraine. We look to local authorities to help parents understand that children of compulsory school age (aged 5 but under 16 at the start of the school year) must attend school full-time unless the authority is assured the child is receiving suitable home education.
Due to the trauma they may have suffered, some Ukrainian children will have special educational needs. The local authority should assess children for an EHCP on the basis of their needs.
How strongly must schools and local authorities enforce attendance at school for children from Ukraine?
School attendance is mandatory, and parents have a legal duty to ensure that their child of compulsory school age receives a full-time education and regularly attends the school where they're registered.
Central to raising standards in education and ensuring all pupils can fulfil their potential is an assumption so widely understood that it is insufficiently stated – pupils need to attend school regularly to benefit from their education. Missing out on lessons leaves children vulnerable to falling behind. Children with poor attendance tend to achieve less in both primary and secondary school.
The government expects schools and local authorities to:
- Promote good attendance and reduce absence, including persistent absence
- Ensure every pupil has access to full-time education to which they are entitled
- Act early to address patterns of absence.
Local authorities have a duty to put in place arrangements for identifying (as far as it's possible) those children of compulsory school age in their area who aren't school registered or receiving suitable education other than at a school. Local authorities should trace those children and ensure that they receive full-time education.
Only exceptional circumstances warrant an authorised leave of absence. Schools should consider each application individually taking into account the specific facts and circumstances and relevant background context behind the request — this may be particularly true for families who have recently come from Ukraine.