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Primary & Secondary School. The result of your application
If your application for primary school is submitted on time you will be advised of the outcome in the following April.
If your application for secondary school is submitted on time you will be advised of the outcome in the following March.
When possible, places are offered in your preferred school. However, if there are more applicants for a school than there are places available, the places will be allocated using the school’s admissions criteria.
There is no guarantee that you will receive an offer of a place at one of your preferred schools and you will not receive more than one offer of a school place
If one of the applications you have made is successful you will receive an offer for that school.
If more than one of your applications is successful, you will receive an offer at whichever one you ranked highest on your application.
If none of your applications have been successful:
- you will be advised of schools where there are vacancies and where possible an alternative offer of a school place will be made.
- you will be able to join waiting lists for your preferred schools.
- you have the right, by law, to appeal to an independent appeals panel*.
Information on how to do these will be included in your letter from the local authority.
Please note that accepting an offer at an alternative school does not affect your place on waiting lists or your right to appeal.
Deferred Entry to Reception Year
If you feel that your child is not ready to start primary school, you can request that the date your child is admitted to the school is deferred until the start of the spring term in January, (i.e. one term later).
As foundation and voluntary aided schools make their own admission arrangements, you should check the position on “deferred entry” with these schools directly.
If you decide to defer your child’s entry to reception class and your child is in attendance at Local Authority nursery, he/she may be able to continue in attendance in the nursery for the autumn term before transferring to reception in the following January. However, this cannot be guaranteed and you should ensure that you investigate the possibility of a further term’s nursery provision early in the spring term.
For free independent advice and information on admissions and appeals visit ACE (Advisory Centre for Education)
Primary and Secondary School Admissions and Appeals: A Guide for Parents