A DECISION will be taken today about whether to allow St Nicholas Primary School, Marston, to take more pupils.

Oxfordshire County Council schools improvement cabinet member Michael Waine is due to rule on whether the school can take an extra 15 pupils each year, rising from 45 to 60.

The decision is part of proposals to make sure there are places for pupils in schools near their homes.

The council has launched a consultation into its admission arrangements and numbers for 2011-2012, which show plans to create 355 additional spaces in 28 schools in the county.

If proposals are taken forward, there will be individual consultations on the arrangements for each school before a final decision is made.

There are also slight changes to admissions procedures, including the introduction of random allocation if there are not enough places to admit sets of twins, triplets or larger groups of children from multiple births to the school of their choice.

The report, by Jill Harding from the council’s admission team, said: “The proposed admission numbers have been set with regard to the capacity of the schools concerned.”

St Nicholas School headteacher Rachel Crouch said she believed local people backed the school’s expansion.

She said: “It has been a real struggle turning down children who live in the catchment area, because they are having to travel quite far to other schools, whereas they could have walked here.”

People have until Tuesday, February 23, to respond to the consultation. Go to oxfordshire.gov.uk for details.