Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 28th January, 2020.

I, Joe McHugh, Minister for Education and Skills, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 65 (inserted by section 9 of the Education (Admission to Schools Act 2018 (No. 14 of 2018)) of the Education Act 1998 (as adapted by the Education and Science (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2010 ( S.I. No. 184 of 2010 )), having had regard to the principles mentioned in, and having consulted with the persons specified in, subsection (1) of that section, hereby make the following regulations:

Citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 (Admission Policies and Admission of Students) Regulations 2020.

Preparation and publication of draft admission policy

2. (1) The patron of a school shall, in respect of admission to a school in, or after, September 2021, as soon as practicable but in any case not later than the 15^th day of September following the receipt by the patron of the draft admission policy from the board, approve –

(a) a draft admission policy of the school, in accordance with subsection (4), or

(b) the draft admission policy as amended under subsection (5),

of section 62.

(2) Where a patron has approved a draft admission policy subject to modifications, the board shall as soon as practicable, but in any event not later than 2 weeks from the date the patron approved that draft policy subject to modifications, make the specified modifications and return the amended policy to the patron.

(3) Not before 1 September 2020 and, in any case, not later than 2 weeks after the date of receipt of the admission policy or amended admission policy as approved by the patron and forwarded to the board in accordance with section 62(6), the board shall –

(a) cause to be published and maintained on a publically-available website maintained by the school a copy of the approved policy, and

(b) on written request to the board, make available a copy of the policy to a parent, the Minister or a member of the public.

Timeframes for annual admission process

3. (1) Subject to paragraph (2), a school may not accept an application from a student for admission to the school’s intake group before the first day of October of the year preceding the start of the school year for which admission is being sought.

(2) In the case of admission to a residential place in a boarding school, the school may not accept an application from a student for admission to the school’s intake group before the first day of October of the year 2 years preceding the start of the school year for which admission is being sought.

Annual admission notice

4. (1) Not later than one week before the date on which a school shall commence accepting applications for admission to the school for the school year concerned, the board shall –

(a) cause to be published and maintained on a publically-available website maintained by the school a copy of its current annual admission notice, and

(b) on written request to the board, make available a copy of its current annual admissions notice to a parent, the Minister or a member of the public, as the case may be.

(2) In the case of a school where an offer of admission has been made and accepted prior to the coming into operation of section 62, that school shall include the number of such places offered and accepted in its annual admission notice for the school year concerned.

Admissions Process

5. (1) Subject to paragraph (2), decisions by a school in respect of applications for admission to the school shall be notified in writing to the applicant not later than 3 weeks after the closing date for the submission of such applications, specified in the school’s annual admission notice, for the receipt of applications.

(2) Decisions by a school in respect of applications for admission to the school, received after the closing date for receiving applications for admission to the school, specified in the school’s annual admission notice, shall be notified to the applicant in writing not later than 3 weeks after the date on which the school received the application.

(3) A school shall set out in its annual admission notice –

(a) the maximum period from the date of an offer of admission within which a student must accept that offer, and

(b) that, in the case of a failure to accept an offer within the maximum period set out in its annual admission notice, the offer may be withdrawn.

Application form

6. For each school year, the board shall during the period from the date of publication of the admission notice until the last school day of the school year concerned –

(a) cause to be published and maintained on a publically-available website maintained by the school a copy of its current application form, and

(b) on written request to the board, make available a copy of its current application form to a parent, the Minister or a member of the public, as the case may be.

Selection criteria

7. Where a primary school is oversubscribed, it may give priority to the admission of a student to the intake group on the basis –

(a) of the earlier date of birth of the student, or

(b) that the student has reached a minimum age,

subject in all cases to the student being not less than 4 years of age on the first day of September of the school year concerned.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

14 January, 2020.

JOE MCHUGH,

Minister for Education and Skills.