We are proposing a change to our admissions criteria for children starting school from 1 September 2027.

Every year, the admission arrangements for schools and academies are reviewed and determined. In accordance with statutory guidance, a consultation must take place if any significant changes are proposed or if a consultation has not occurred within the last seven years. We are therefore undertaking a consultation on our proposed changes, which will run from 3 November to 15 December 2025 at 4:00pm.

The key proposed change is to our Published Admission Number (PAN). Due to a national decline in birth rates, we believe it is both sensible and sustainable to reduce our PAN from its current level of 90 to 60 pupils for Reception intake from September 2027. PAN refers to the maximum number of pupils that the school will admit to a specific year group. While schools may admit above their PAN, this number sets the standard intake for each academic year. This will be reviewed every year to ensure our numbers are in line with national and local birth rates.

Please be assured that this change will not affect children who currently attend the school.

Our full admissions criteria and proposed policy for 2027–2028 is available below. We encourage you to review the document and share any comments or feedback you may have during the consultation period. 

If you wish to comment on the proposal, please email the school office at office@dorridge.solihull.sch.uk, FAO Mrs R Ashe, using the reference Admissions Consultation.  We will collate parents' responses and provide an overview at the end of the consultation period. In the meantime, please refer to our FAQs sheet which can be found below.

We have also added Arden Academy's consultation on admissions for 2026-27 below.