The Greenwich judgment of 1990 declared as unlawful a decision by the
local education authority
Local education authorities (LEAs) were local councils in England that are responsible for education within their jurisdiction. The term was used to identify which council (district or county) is locally responsible for education in a system wit ...
(LEA) of the
London Borough of Greenwich
The Royal Borough of Greenwich (, , or ) is a London boroughs, London borough in southeast Greater London. The London Borough of Greenwich was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The new borough covered the former area of the Metr ...
to give priority in school admissions to its own residents over residents from neighbouring LEAs, clarifying that applicants must be treated equally, whether they reside inside or outside the authority.
It has been associated with a decline in the use of
catchment areas as a means of managing school admissions,
and an associated increase in cross-border mobility.
History
The
Greenwich Council policy on admissions had been formed in the context of the dissolution of the
Inner London Education Authority
The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was an ad hoc local education authority for the City of London and the 12 Inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990. The authority was reconstituted as a directly elected body corpor ...
, and was similar to established LEA policies used in other parts of the country. However, following complaints from parents and school leaders in neighbouring
Lewisham
Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified i ...
, the policy was judged to be in breach of section 6(5) of the
Education Act 1980
The Education Act 1980 was an Act of Parliament relating to education in England and Wales. The Act gave local authorities greater autonomy, and had a large effect on the lives of children.
Passage through Parliament
The Education Bill referre ...
.
This set a precedent in UK law, establishing that
maintained schools may not give admissions priority to children for the sole reason that they live within the LEA's administrative boundaries.
[ This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th]
Open Parliament Licence
. © Parliamentary copyright 2004. The judgment was later codified in section 86(8)(a) of the
School Standards and Framework Act 1998
The School Standards and Framework Act 1998 was the major education legislation passed by the incoming Labour government led by Tony Blair.
This Act:
* imposed a limit of 30 on infant class sizes.
* abolished grant-maintained schools, introducing ...
and also in the National Admissions Code.
The Rotherham judgment (1997) later established that the principle of admission authorities operating catchment areas as part of their over-subscription criteria in allocating school places was lawful provided that in so doing authorities are not in breach of the Greenwich judgment.
Parental preference was confirmed to have primacy, so that applicants from outside of a school's catchment area, who express a preference for that school, should be prioritised over applicants within the catchment area who express no preference.
Interpretation and mitigation
Despite the Greenwich judgment, catchment areas can be wholly contained within administrative boundaries, and even coincide with administrative boundaries, provided the area is clearly defined and there is some additional justification for the choice of area that is considered reasonable, such as distance from the school or ease of access.
Catchment area boundaries may align with postcode areas or roads, and these sometimes coincide with administrative boundaries.
Some
faith schools have catchment areas that are aligned with diocesan boundaries or deaneries which follow the local authority's boundaries, and these have been deemed not in breach of the Greenwich judgment provided that faith criteria are also applied.
Some
grammar schools
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school, ...
, community schools and academies which have historically aligned their catchments with administrative boundaries, have been able to sustain their arrangements in spite of the Greenwich judgment.
More recently there have been local authorities who have set up new catchment areas coinciding with their borough boundary, and these have been judged to be acceptable by the
Schools Adjudicator
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...
.
Catchment area boundaries, in common with other over-subscription criteria used in admissions policies, must not unfairly disadvantage children from particular social or racial groups.
A number of local authorities wishing to reduce the impact of the Greenwich judgment have abandoned catchment areas in favour of
nodal points (or admissions points), which are the equivalent of defining the centres of catchment areas but with no outer borders.
There are also schools which use a single point on the borough boundary to define the radius of a circular catchment area.
Opposition
Some local authorities have found that the increase in cross-border movement associated with the Greenwich judgment makes it more difficult for them to fulfil their statutory duty to ensure all children within their area are offered a school place.
It also removed from LEAs one means of helping local families to secure places at local schools of their choice.
The
Liberal Democrats have attempted to persuade the UK Parliament that the Greenwich judgment should be overturned, due to perceived negative effects on school admissions patterns in some local authorities.
Kingston upon Thames Council
Kingston London Borough Council is the local authority for the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London.
History
There have previously ...
has also attempted to overturn the judgment via the
Local Government Association
The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local authorities. Its core membership is made up of 339 English councils and the 22 Welsh councils through the Welsh Local Government Association.
The LGA is p ...
.
Bromley Council
Bromley London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Bromley in Greater London, England. It is one of 32 London borough councils.
History
There have previously been a number of local authorities responsible for the Bro ...
challenged the Greenwich judgment in the
High Court and House of Lords but was unsuccessful.
Manchester City Council
Manchester City Council is the local authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester is the sixth largest city in England by population. Its city council is composed of 96 councillors, three ...
also expressed its disappointment with the Greenwich judgment after its ten-year old admissions policy was found to be in breach of it in 2015.
References
{{reflist, 30em
Education policy in the United Kingdom
Education in England
History of education in England