School Admissions for Ukrainian and Russian families
18 March 2022
Kent has already seen a number of Ukrainian and Russian families settling within the county and seeking education for their children.
KCC is not currently receiving information from the Home Office in relation to these families, so these are being identified as they are being brought to our attention.
It is important to note that there have been no changes to admissions or school transport legislation, so these pupils have no automatic priority for school places or related transport. This means that for the most part, pre-existing admissions and transport process will remain unchanged for this cohort. Admissions teams within Fair Access are available to support families and will ensure that both In Year and Co-ordinated Admissions requirements are considered.
If schools receive an in year application from a Ukrainian or Russian family, it should initially be processed in line with your usual procedures. A place should not be offered if you are already full with a waiting list, or another child has a higher priority for a place when considered against your oversubscription criteria. This would cause disadvantage and schools would be obliged to offer additional places to accommodate.
Where schools are unable to offer a place, they should make contact with the following Senior Access to Education Officer in Fair Access:
Senior Access to Education Officers (admin email inbox) | All Kent Districts | |
Carmen Louth | Dartford, Gravesham, and Sevenoaks | |
Lynne Northwood-Jones | Canterbury and Thanet | |
TBA | Swale | |
Andrea Roffe | Ashford, Dover, Folkestone and Hythe | |
Zoe Webb | Maidstone, Malling, Tonbridge, and Tunbridge Wells |
Where a child is unable to be offered a place at a local school, they will be considered under the In Year Fair Access protocol. While most pupils will qualify for In Year Fair Access as a result of the Refugee status, schools should not wait to offer places if they have spaces available.
As pupils are likely to be placed in the nearest school to their home with a space, transport support is likely, however, schools are advised to direct questions to the Transport team as support will dependent on a number of factors.
Craig Chapman
Head of Fair Access