FAQ for Parents/Carers

• Read your local authority starting school/secondary transfer booklet.
• Visit the schools that you are considering apply for.
• Read and try to understand the school’s admissions policy.
• Ask the school any questions that are unclear from the admissions policy.
• Never only name one school on the common application form; if your child is not offer a place at this school the local authority may allocate him/her a place at a school that has a vacancy.

For some children it is essential that they are admitted to a particular because of special circumstances do with significant medical or social needs, which relate to the child or an immediate member of the child’s family.

Some schools will have an admissions criterion where they will consider a child’s medical or social needs, but not all schools have this criterion so check the admissions policy.

Parent/Carers will need to supply  supporting evidence  from a GP or hospital consultant, social worker or similar professional. The evidence should set out the particular reasons why the school is the most suitable and the difficulties that would be caused if  the child had to attend another school.

You can name up to 6 schools that you would like your child to be considered for on the local authority (LA) (whom you pay your council tax) common application form (CAF) regardless of whether the school is in a different LA.

Ensure that when you have completed your online CAF that you press the submit button and that you receive a confirmation email.

You should name the schools in your own preference order as there is no guarantee that your child will get a place at any of your preferred schools.

Check to see if the school requires a supplementary form

Check to see if the school requires children to take a secondary transfer admissions test.

No.

You may have heard in the past that a child has been offered a place at a school that has been named as a lower preference and a child who had it as their 1st preference was not offered a place.

There reason for this is that schools are not allowed to know the preference number that the parent/carer has put the school on the CAF.  All schools can only consider  applicants under their published admissions criteria and will advise the LA is they can offered the child a place.

If more than one school can offer the child a place then the LA will check the information on your CAF  to see which one has the parent/carer  has placed higher on the CAF.

The higher preference will then be offered and the lower one can then be offered to another child.

There is an expectation that children will start school in the September of the school year in which they will reach 5 years old. A school year runs from September to August.

2.17 of the School Admission Code: ‘Parents of a summer born child may choose not to send that child to school until the September following their fifth birthday and may request that they are admitted out of their normal age group – to reception rather than year 1. Admission authorities must make clear in their admission arrangements the process for requesting admission out of the normal age group.’

The statutory deadline for completion of the CAF is the 15 January of the year the child is due to start school.

If a school is over-subscribed (received more applications that there are places available) all applications will be considered under their published admissions criteria. This means that there is no guarantee that a child will be offered a place unless the child is a looked after child or a previously looked after child.

If you are applying under the distance criterion, ask the school in question the distance measurement of the last distance place offered for the previous 2 years. This will give you an idea of the likelihood of your child being offered a place, however it can never be guaranteed as distances often change from year to year.

Unless the admissions criteria states that children who attend the nursery will be given priority for the places available,  then the answer is No.  All children will be considered under the published admissions criteria.

• ‘When an admission authority informs a parent of a decision to refuse their child a place at a school for which they have applied, it must include the reason why admission was refused; information about the right to appeal; the deadline for lodging an appeal and the contact details for making an appeal. Parents must be informed that, if they wish to appeal, they must set out their grounds for appeal in writing. Admission authorities must not limit the grounds on which appeals can be made.’ School Appeals Code February 2012
• When considering whether to appeal for a reception place parents should be aware of the following which has been taken from the School Appeal Code: ‘Section 1 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 limit the size of an infant class (a class in which the majority of children will reach the age of 5, 6 or 7 during the school year) to 30 pupils per school teacher. Only in very limited circumstances can admission over the limit be permitted.’

No, any appeals that are upheld will mean that the school will have go over their published admissions number and offer the child a place.

Appeals are normally only upheld for exceptional medical and social reasons or if  maladministration has occurred.

Children start secondary school in the September of the school year in which they will reach 11 years old. A school year runs from September to August.

The statutory deadline for completion of the CAF is the 31 October of the year the child is in year 6.

• ‘When an admission authority informs a parent of a decision to refuse their child a place at a school for which they have applied, it must include the reason why admission was refused; information about the right to appeal; the deadline for lodging an appeal and the contact details for making an appeal. Parents must be informed that, if they wish to appeal, they must set out their grounds for appeal in writing. Admission authorities must not limit the grounds on which appeals can be made’. School Appeals Code February 2012

No, any appeals that are upheld will mean that the school will have go over their published admissions number and offer the child a place.

Appeals are normally only upheld for exceptional medical and social reasons or if  maladministration has occurred.