Concern over proposed changes to Desborough College's admissions policy

Residents have hit out against proposed changes to the oversubscription criteria at Desborough College.

Desborough College is part of the Pioneer Educational Trust. The trust is conducting a consultation on the admissions arrangements in September 2025, as required by the School Admissions Code.

It proposes the oversubscription criteria will prioritise children attending the ‘feeder schools’, and members of the Pioneer Educational Trust - Foxborough Primary School in Langley or Trevelyan Middle School in Windsor.

These students may be given higher priority to the children with siblings at the school of compulsory school age and those living within the ‘designated area’ of the college.

One parent, Jo Smith told the Advertiser: “It's difficult to see why any school would think it’s a good idea to not have siblings higher up the priority because there are lots of benefits, particularly for working parents of having children in the same school.

“Most people want their children to go to a local school where they know they can get in and home safely. Lots of people can't afford to be putting their children onto buses to get to school.

“It seems ludicrous that we would have people from that far away being able to unseat the siblings of someone who's already at the school.

“[The schools] have no reasonable connection to Desborough College other than the accident of them being in the same trust. The feeder school argument makes sense when you’re looking at a geographically local group of schools.

“If you can’t send your child to a school at the end of your road because the children 11 miles away are prioritised, that is damaging to the community because you’re splitting up friendship groups, sending people miles away to different schools and potentially having your children at different schools.”

The consultation runs until the end of the month and will be finalised by the Governing Board in February 2024.

Jo said she has filed an objection as she believes ‘if residents don't object now, this just goes through on the nod’.

She added: “If [Desborough College] is oversubscribed, why should someone from [Foxborough Primary School], 11 miles away get priority over someone who lives in Oldfield, who is badly served by secondary schools in Maidenhead? I am a bit cynical about it.”

A spokesperson for the Trust said: “As a Trust, we are fully committed to ensuring each of our schools provides a high-quality, enriching and inclusive education which meets the needs of the local community it serves.

“As is legally required, we are currently consulting on admissions arrangements for the College for entry from September 2025. As part of meeting the statutory Admissions Code, schools are required to provide oversubscription criteria which would help to allocate places to young people in the event there are more applications than there are places available.

“Population changes in the local authority mean that the College, and the area as a whole, continues to have a surplus of places available. Every child who has selected the College on their admissions form has received a place for a number of years, and we expect this to continue.

“Should it ever become necessary to apply the oversubscription criteria, in line with our trust-wide policy, one of the proposed oversubscription criteria means we might offer a place to a child who has attended one of our primary-aged schools, should they wish to continue their education within the same ethos of our Trust.

“However, given the potential travel time and the population changes, we would not expect this to be an option which is frequently used. Indeed, because there are places available, it is already the case that children from those schools would obtain a place if desired. We very much welcome feedback on the consultation through the official process so any thoughts can be considered in full.

“We can reassure families that, as always, the College will continue to be a local school for local children.”