Phase II of eAdmissions goes live
December 11, 2007
Phase II of London’s eAdmissions system has gone live. Following the successful implementation of Phase I, the pan London eAdmissions system developed by System Associates, has been revised to include greater reporting functionality as well as providing more user friendly features to make the eAdmissions process even simpler.
London’s eAdmissions system was initially launched at the beginning of the academic year 2006 and early results for user adoption of the service were very positive. The system has been developed as a joined up service involving 33 London boroughs, providing significant economies of scale. This year, Surrey County Council also joined the pan London eAdmissions system.
The system was implemented by the Pan London Coordinated School Admissions Team, led by Wandsworth Borough Council and London Connects. The London Grid for Learning (LGfL) took over management of the pan London eAdmissions system once the initial project had been completed and the system was ready to go live in August 2006.
Take up results in year one of operation were very positive, with the London Borough of Hackney achieving the highest number of applications across the whole national programme – 81 per cent of its applications were made online. Overall, on average, the London boroughs achieved 14 per cent take up, surpassing national targets, and so far the number of online applications are indicating a significant increase upon last year.
Shamaila Ahmedi, LGfL’s Business Operations Manager for pan London eAdmissions, comments “Early feedback from this year’s school admissions indicates a significant increase overall of parents and carers making school applications online.”
Both primary and secondary school applications can be made online by parents and carers, at a time convenient to them, via the Your London web portal. Forsecondary applications, which closed on the 19 October 2007, parents could apply cross borough by filling in a single application form. Parents can also access useful online services, such as Ofsted reports and school prospectuses, which help them to select a school.
In a recent draft independent review of the national eAdmissions project, London’s programme was reviewed as the most useable. Phase II has made usability even easier by including automatic address look-up and a few alterations to the structure of the online form.
Management and reporting tools allow administrators to monitor the number of applications submitted to each borough, as well as monitoring the workflow of each application. Phase II provides even greater accountability and reporting for the London boroughs, admin staff and the London Grid for Learning, and new features will help to monitor whether targets are being met.
Peter Williams, Deputy CEO for London Connects comments “Phase I of the eAdmissions programme has made it far easier for parents and carers to be able to apply for school places. Phase II aims to build on our initial success to make it even easier for applications to be made, while also making it easier for us to process and monitor the number of applications across London and Surrey.”
Related links
For more information on the online schools admissions service, refer to: