Expect confusion from an unclear admissions code

So the new draft School Admissions Code is worth a careful read, especially as admissions will be managed by an ever-increasing number of admissions authorities as more and more schools convert to academies.

The draft code has three central principles: fairness, objectivity and clarity. It is very much shorter and simpler than previously. And much of the code is to be welcomed, where it explicitly supports children in care and other vulnerable groups, and encourages schools to admit pupils from a range of backgrounds.

But I have serious concerns about "clarity" in the context of a system that operates without any co-ordination by the local authority or anyone else. Even at the simplest level - that of definition of terms - the draft code says only that individual admissions authorities must define their own terms clearly. The problem is that schools will, inevitably, choose their own definitions, resulting in complete confusion among parents.