Councillor Jonathan Hulley, Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Lifelong Learning, approved the Fair Access Protocol for 2025-26 and the expansion of Portesbery School onto a satellite site. The Fair Access Protocol ensures that vulnerable children who have not been successful in gaining a school place through the normal admissions process are offered a place at a suitable school within 20 school days. The expansion of Portesbery School will create 15 additional places for pupils with severe learning difficulties and profound and multiple learning difficulties in North West Surrey.

Expansion of Portesbery School

Councillor Jonathan Hulley approved the proposal to expand Portesbery School by creating a satellite sixth form site at the current Deep Cut Community Centre and increasing its planned places from 105 to 142. The Education Place Planning Manager, Lauren Comer, explained that the school's sixth form satellite site will be located 90 metres away from the current main site.

The proposal responds to rising demand for specialist school places for pupils with severe learning difficulties (SLD) and profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD) in the northwest of Surrey. The Public Reports Pack noted that this project is a part of a suite of proposals to provide additional state-maintained specialist school places for pupils in Surrey by 2030-31, which are delivered under the SEND Capital Programme.

A consultation on the expansion was published from 10 March to 4 April 2025, and further statutory notices were published from 28 May to 2 July 2025. According to the Portesbery School Consultation Representation Period Analysis, during the initial consultation period, 87% of respondents agreed with the proposal, 3% disagreed, and 10% stated they didn't know. During the representation period, 100% of respondents agreed with the proposal.

Fair Access Protocol 2025-2026

Councillor Jonathan Hulley approved the Fair Access Protocol for 2025-2026. Janet Carlitz, Operations Manager of the school's admission team, explained that the rationale behind the document is that every child must have a school place where the parent or carer requires one, and that this is both a statutory and a moral duty for Surrey Council.

The Fair Access Protocol is the process used when a child has not gained a school place during the usual admissions process. All local authorities are required to have a fair access protocol in place, and every school in that local authority must take part in fair access. The protocol sets out how vulnerable children will be allocated a school when they are without a school place and need one.

The protocol is an annual document that all schools are a part of, and the 2025-2026 protocol is a refresh and update of dates, with no substantive changes proposed.

Janet Carlitz confirmed that a consultation was undertaken, with the consultation going out to schools via the school's bulletin for three weeks and also shared with phase councils. No responses to the consultation were received.

Janet Carlitz also provided an update on the numbers and data of fair access, stating that as of the end of the school year, 145 children in total had been through the process, of which six were primary and 139 were secondary. She noted that there has been a decrease in children who've come through fair access because they've moved into an area and there were no places, but a proportional increase in children who come under the more traditional categories of fair access, such as children with challenging behaviour or children who've been to a pupil referral unit¹ and are ready to be reintegrated back into school.