Schools should prioritise foreign children who grew up in care over British youngsters, minister says

Schools should prioritise foreign children who grew up in care over British youngsters, a minister has said.  

Nick Gibb, the schools minister, has said that he intends change the law so that children from outside of England who have previously been in care are given “highest priority” for places, where a school is oversubscribed.

Under the current School Admissions Code, children are put in the "highest priority" category if they are in care, or have previously been in care, in England.  

In a letter sent out to all local authorities and academies, Mr Gibb explained why he intends to update statutory guidance so that youngsters from overseas who have been in care are also given preferential treatment to their peers.

 “We are doing this because these children are also vulnerable and may have experienced abuse and neglect prior to being placed in care,” he said.

“We therefore feel it is right that these children should be on an equal footing for the purpose of admission to school as those children looked after and previously looked after by a local authority in England.”  

The letter was sent out on December 4, 2017, and published on a parliamentary website last week.  

Mr Gibb said that his proposed changes to the School Admissions Code will need to be “subject to a consultation and the will of parliament” before they can be written into law.

However, he urged local authorities and academies to voluntarily change their admissions policies and give children who have been in care overseas the second highest priority.  

“Until we are able to change the Code to require admission authorities to give such children highest priority for admission into school, I would like to encourage admission authorities, when setting school admission arrangements, to used their discretion and give these children second highest admissions priority I their oversubscription criteria,” Mr Gibb said.  

Chris McGovern, a former Government advisor and chair of the Campaign for Real Education said that the move is “well intended”, but warned that it could be “divisive”.  

“Youngsters from England who are deserving cases - but not in care - may feel that they are getting overlooked for school places,” he said.  

Mr McGovern said that such changes to the Code could be “open to corruption” as it will “set up an incentive for children from other countries to claim they are in care”.

He added: “It is very difficult for ministers to check what is going on in other countries. The definition of ‘in care’ differs from country to country - it will create a sense of unfairness in the system.”

Cllr Richard Watts, chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said he welcomes the proposed changes to the code, but added that they do not go far enough. 

“We support the changes but they currently only apply when children look to start school at reception in primary school or Year 7 at secondary school, it does not apply to vulnerable children outside of these times,” he said.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Children in care are amongst the most vulnerable in our society and wherever possible they should be admitted to the school which is best able to meet their needs.

“The department is looking to amend the Admissions Code, to ensure that children previously in care outside of the country are given the highest priority when considering school admissions.”