Three Bucks Grammar schools, Sir William Borlase, John Hampden and Wycombe High, are planning to give admission priority to Maidenhead town pupils over those from Bucks.
With effect from September 2020 these three schools are planning to extend their admissions catchment areas into the Comprehensive school area of Maidenhead. As a result many pupils who live in Maidenhead will have priority admissions over many Bucks pupils as well as other out-of-county pupils who live closer to one of these Bucks grammar schools.
The Schools Admission Code, which provides the legal framework for all schools admission arrangements, requires that catchment areas must be reasonable and should operate in a fair, logical, understandable way and not discriminate on the grounds of parental income etc.
The majority of Bucks parents would accept that children who live in the County should have a grammar school priority over any other out-of-county pupils. Bucks parents take the risk of a Bucks Upper/All-ability school option if their children fail the 11+ tests. It is reasonable that qualified out-of-county pupils, should have the opportunity of gaining admission to any vacant Bucks grammar school places, but there should be a level playing field for all out-of-county pupils. These proposed admission arrangements are unreasonable and unfair; additionally the the extended catchment distances would exclude pupils from families unable to afford the costs involved in travelling from Maidenhead to Wycombe and Marlow.
Admissions Code: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-admissions-code–2
John Hampden Grammar admission proposals: http://www.jhgs.bucks.sch.uk/124/admissions
Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School admission proposals: https://www.swbgs.com/index.php/home/admissions/
Wycombe High School admission proposals: http://www.whs.bucks.sch.uk/admissions/admissions-process
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