Education (Scotland) Act 1980

[F128A Duty to comply with parents’ requests as to schools.S

(1)Where the parent of a child makes a written request to an education authority to place his child in the school specified in the request, being a school under their management, it shall be the duty of the authority, subject to subsections (2) [F2, (3) and (3A)] below, to place the child accordingly.

Such a request so made is referred to in this Act as a “placing request” and the school specified in it is referred to in this Act as the “specified school”.

(2)Where a placing request relates to two or more schools under the management of the education authority to whom it was made, the duty imposed by subsection (1) above shall apply in relation to the first mentioned such school, which shall be treated for the purposes of this Act as the specified school.

(3)The duty imposed by subsection (1) above does not apply—

(a)if placing the child in the specified school would—

(i)make it necessary for the authority to take an additional teacher into employment;

(ii)give rise to significant expenditure on extending or otherwise altering the accommodation at or facilities provided in connection with the school;

(iii)be seriously detrimental to the continuity of the child’s education;

[F3(iv)be likely to be seriously detrimental to order and discipline in the school; or

(v)be likely to be seriously detrimental to the educational well-being of pupils attending the school;]

(b)if the education normally provided at the specified school is not suited to the age, ability or aptitude of the child;

(c)if the education authority have already required the child to discontinue his attendance at the specified school;

(d)if, where the specified school is a special school, the child does not have special educational needs requiring the education or special facilities normally provided at that school; or

(e)if the specified school is a single sex school (within the meaning given to that expression by section 26 of the M1Sex Discrimination Act 1975) and the child is not of the sex admitted or taken (under that section) to be admitted to the school,

but an education authority may place a child in the specified school notwithstanding paragraphs (a) to (e) above.

[F4(3A)Subject to subsection (3B) below, the duty imposed by subsection (1) above does not apply where the acceptance of a placing request in respect of a child who is resident outwith the catchment area of the specified school would prevent the education authority from retaining reserved places at the specified school or in relation to any particular stage of education at the school; but nothing in this subsection shall prevent an education authority from placing a child in the specified school.

(3B)An education authority shall not be entitled to refuse a placing request on the ground mentioned in subsection (3A) above where there is another equivalent school managed by the authority within—

(a)in the case of a request relating to any stage of primary education, 3.2 kilometres (2 miles); and

(b)in any other case, 4.8 kilometres (3 miles),

walking distance by the nearest available route of the specified school; and in paragraphs (a) and (b) the references to imperial measurements are supplementary indications of distance.

(3C)In subsection (3A) above, “reserved places” means such number of places (not exceeding such number or, as the case may be, such percentage of places at the school or relating to the particular stage of education as may be prescribed by regulations) as are in the opinion of the education authority reasonably required to accommodate pupils likely to become resident in the catchment area of the school in the period from the time of consideration of the placing request up to and during the year from 1 August to which the placing request relates; and different numbers or, as the case may be, percentages may be prescribed under this subsection for the purpose of different cases or circumstances.

(3D)In subsections (3A) and (3C) above, “catchment area” means the area from which pupils resident therein will be admitted to the school in terms of any priority based on residence in accordance with the guidelines formulated by the authority under section 28B(1)(c) of this Act.

(3E)In subsection (3B) above, “equivalent school” means—

(a)where the specified school is a denominational school, a school of the same denomination;

(b)where the specified school is a special school, another special school; and

(c)where the specified school is neither a denominational school nor a special school, another such school,

being a school which provides school education at the stage sought in the placing request.]

(4)An education authority shall inform a parent in writing of their decision on his placing request and, where they decide to refuse it, shall give him written reasons for their decision and inform him of his right to refer it under section 28C of this Act to an appeal committee.

(5)The Secretary of State may, by regulations, make provision for deeming an education authority to have refused a placing request in the event of their not having informed the parent in writing of their decision on it in accordance with subsection (4) above within such period or before such date as may be prescribed in the regulations and different periods or dates may be so prescribed for different purposes.]