Councillors agree to change school admission arrangements from 2026

Councillors have agreed to change school admission arrangements in Brighton & Hove from September 2026. 

The changes were voted through by Labour councillors, together with cross-party support from members of the Greens and Independents and Brighton & Hove Independent Group. The Conservative Group, as well as some Green and Independent councillors, voted against the recommendations.  

A series of proposed changes were discussed at a Special Council meeting on Thursday 27 February, following feedback from pupils, parents and carers, school staff and governors, and communities through an online consultation and a range of consultation events.

These changes intend to address falling pupil numbers in Brighton & Hove, improve equality and fairness across the city’s schools and give greater equity of choice.

Improving educational outcomes

Councillor Jacob Taylor, Deputy Leader of the Council, said: “Admission arrangements in Brighton & Hove have been largely unchanged for the past 18 years.

“These carefully considered decisions will allow us to build a better future for children and young people in Brighton & Hove, by tackling inequality, creating greater equity of opportunity and improving educational outcomes for all young people in the city.

“I’d once again like to thank everyone who fed back on our proposals. We have listened and those responses shaped the final version of these changes to admission arrangements.”

Open admissions

Some areas of Brighton & Hove include one secondary school, while others include two schools. This means that young people in different areas have unequal options in terms of accessing secondary education within the city.

We will be introducing an open admissions criterion that reserves up to 5% of places in each of the city’s community secondary schools for pupils who live in single-school catchment areas. This will create more equity of access to education across the city.

Published admission numbers

In response to falling pupil numbers in Brighton & Hove – and forecasts that suggest they will continue to fall – we will be amending the published admission numbers (PANs) at three secondary schools from September 2026.

We will be changing the PANs at Longhill High School from 270 to 210, at Blatchington Mill School from 330 to 300, and at Dorothy Stringer School from 330 to 300.

School budgets are determined by pupil numbers, with empty places impacting the resources, teaching and support available to pupils. Reducing PANs will help protect the long-term future of the the city’s education system.

Catchment area boundaries

The catchment area boundaries for Longhill High and Dorothy Stringer and Varndean schools will be amended.

This will see the BN2 5 north area, above Manor Way and Manor Hill, brought within the Varndean/Dorothy Stringer catchment area, and the BN2 1 and BN2 5 (south) Kemptown area moving into the Longhill High catchment area. 

A sibling link for families affected by the changes to catchment area boundaries will be maintained.

Looking ahead 

Over the course of the consultation, many respondents indicated a willingness to support the council in its goals of tackling disadvantage, raising attainment for all and contributing to the vision for Brighton & Hove’s school system. 

We are exploring opportunities for greater collaboration between schools, including forming a federation, and will also build on the interest generated by the engagement on school admissions with a call for evidence on the medium- and longer-term strategy for the city’s education system.