Controversial changes to Hemel Hempstead School's allocation policy approved despite hundreds of objections

Last month, The Scholars’ Trust approved plans to change which schools get priority for secondary places at The Hemel Hempstead School.

From September 2027, a new oversubscription policy will give priority to students who attended Oakleaf Primary School. According to estimations from local Dacorum Borough Councillors around 60 students will be affected by the changes.

According to data released by the trust, 100 responders to an open consultation backed the scheme while a further 600 participants were against the change.

An issue which has been raised by families is the number of schools located between the two education institutions in the Dacorum area. Parents in Boxmoor criticised the move on social media highlighting that their children would now have to travel further to receive an education.

It is claimed that 15 other primary education centres are closer to the Hemel Hempstead School than Oakleaf Primary, which is roughly 1.5 miles away.

It has been argued that more children throughout Hertfordshire will be dropped off in cars and reliant on buses and alternative transport to attend school when the changes come into effect.

The Scholars’ Trust, which oversees both schools as part of its multi-academy umbrella, declined to provide a comment for this article.

Upon announcing the changes, the trust said it followed a “compliant, lawful, procedurally fair and reasonable” process which followed the parameters set out in the School Admissions Code 2021.

It said in a statement: “The board decided that the amendment would be in line with the trust’s values and enable pupils to benefit from a one-trust experience.”

Other complaints made by parents, some of whom are considering an appeal to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator, surrounded the timeframe with parents lamenting the fact they have just six months to assess other schools before Hertfordshire’s application deadline.

A lack of transparency has also been raised with some parents arguing an open meeting should have been held allowing families an opportunity to discuss the impacts of the changes with decision-makers.

One resident wrote during the consultation period: “Instead of incentivising families to attend an underperforming primary school by offering a pathway to a popular secondary school, the trust should focus on raising standards and letting results and reputation speak for itself to raise admissions for Oakleaf.”

Minutes from an admissions meeting held by the trust in January show that officials thought complaints regarding an increase in traffic which could lead to pollution in Hemel Hempstead were “not of significant concern”. In the meeting it was claimed that most students walk to The Hemel Hempstead School and a change to the admissions criteria would not have a significant impact.

Data provided by campaigners conflicts with this claim, suggesting that under the new oversubscription policy children from as far as 4.3km away could qualify for a placement.

The committee argued that most of the 600 objections did not engage with the trust’s reasons for seeking a change. The committee states: “We are a trust ‘family’ of schools and our key objective in putting forward these proposals is to improve the outcomes for children attending one of our most disadvantaged schools.”

The trust, which runs schools in Bedfordshire and Essex as well as Hertfordshire, also outlined how it experienced a similar level of objections when changing the admissions policy involving schools in Harpenden, and in the years since the proposals were launched it has become a “non issue”.

It was also highlighted that all secondary schools within Hemel Hempstead’s boundaries have achieved ‘Good’ ratings in their most recent Ofsted inspections.

However, the trust did acknowledge complaints from councillors. Dacorum Borough Councillors Claire Hobson, Simy Dhyani and William Allen submitted an open letter to the trust during the consultation period.

They argued that to adopt the proposals would be to “disregard” the “positive” relationship the Hemel Hempstead School already has with the two primary schools located in Boxmoor. “Pupils from these two primaries have integrated more easily into [The Hemel Hempstead School] than pupils from other primary schools because of shared values and high quality preparation for transfer undertaken by the schools,” the councillors argued.

It has been claimed by parents considering an appeal that the proposals highlight an issue with the Government’s plans to move all schools to academy systems. Education secretary Bridget Phillipson’s recent White Paper states it wants all schools within trust systems.