Plymouth’s In-Year Fair Access Protocol
Under the School Admissions Code 2021 (Section 3.14) all admission authorities must operate an In-Year Fair Access (IYFA) scheme. All schools must participate in their local authority area’s protocol. This is to ensure that, outside the normal admissions round, unplaced children, especially the most vulnerable, are offered a place at a suitable school as quickly as possible.
This protocol has been written in line with the DfE Fair Access Protocols document of August 2021.
The aim of Plymouth’s scheme is to:
- have every child on the roll of a school; and ensure that the needs of vulnerable children and young people are dealt with quickly and sympathetically; and
- reduce the time that hard to place pupils spend out of school; and
- ensure that no school, including those with available places, is asked to take a disproportionate number of children who have been excluded from other schools, or who have challenging behaviour; and
- to be fair and transparent.
| Panel meeting dates | Deadlines for paperwork |
|---|---|
| Thursday 21 September 2023 | Thursday 7 September 2023 |
| Thursday 19 October 2023 | Thursday 5 October 2023 |
| Thursday 23 November 2023 | Thursday 9 November 2023 |
| Thursday 14 December 2023 | Thursday 30 November 2023 |
| Thursday 25 January 2024 | Thursday 11 January 2024 |
| Thursday 29 February 2024 | Monday 19 February 2024 |
| Thursday 21 March 2024 | Thursday 7 March 2024 |
| Thursday 9 May 2024 | Thursday 25 April 2024 |
| Thursday 13 June 2024 | Monday 3 June 2024 |
| Thursday 11 July 2024 | Thursday 27 June 2024 |