Brighton and Hove’s fair admissions reform is now a national example
In the early days of Class Divide, one message came back again and again: Brighton school admissions would never change. Not in a way that shifted who gets access to which schools, and not in a way that tackled segregation by income. To be honest, we were as shocked as everyone when groundbreaking policy change was voted through in February 2026. Then came the news in October that the national schools adjudicator had turned down objections to those policy changes.
One of our goals was to create a more socially and economically mixed school system in Brighton & Hove - and in the process, give more choice and chances to children living in families living in poverty or on a low income. We always thought that changing our city’s catchment and admissions policies was a legitimate way to do this, and the Schools Adjudicator confirmed it is.
So it really matters that a new national report has chosen Brighton and Hove as a leading example of what local action can achieve.
In its section on how communities “start young” and build stronger connections across difference, the report argues that schools have become increasingly segregated by income, and that admissions reform is one of the practical levers that can pulled. It then points directly to Brighton and Hove’s locally led changes as proof that “fair admissions can already be achieved locally”, without waiting for national reform.
What the report says about Brighton and Hove
The report highlights Brighton and Hove’s admissions reform as a model for “school integration through admissions reform”, including:
reserving places in community secondary schools for pupils eligible for Free School Meals (FSM), to strengthen economic mix across schools
and, from 2027, reserving 5% of places for children in single-school catchment areas, so families who have historically had the least choice have a real route to other schools
How we got here
This did not happen because a few people had a clever idea in a committee room. It happened because communities kept pushing, for five years.
Parents and residents across East Brighton got involved. They have delivered thousands of leaflets and zines, spoken at meetings, shared personal stories, and refused to accept the old, quiet assumption that some children simply get less. That pressure is exactly what “locally led” change looks like in real life, and we are proud that this report recognises Brighton and Hove’s reforms as a serious national example.
The context for why this fight matters has never been in doubt. Outcomes for the poorest children in our city have been among the worst in the country, and that reality is concentrated in communities like Whitehawk.
Why this matters, beyond “policy”
Admissions is not the only driver of inequality. But admissions shapes who sits next to who, and which schools carry the weight of concentrated disadvantage.
The whole point of these reforms is simple: a fairer mix of pupils across schools, and a city that stops organising opportunity by postcode and housing wealth. The national report makes the same case: early mixing matters, and admissions is one of the tools to make that mixing real.
Read it, share it, use it
Please read the report, share it with others, and use it in conversations with schools, councillors, community groups, and anyone who still thinks change is impossible.
