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Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
World
Laycie Beck

What to do if your child doesn't get their preferred primary school choice

Whilst the majority of children will be offered a place at their first choice primary school or one of their preferred schools, this may not be the case for everyone. Parents and carers across Nottinghamshire are finding out which primary schools have offered their child a place for the next academic year today (Monday, April 17).

The decision will be sent to families by their local council either by letter or email. In 2022, 92.2% of families across the UK received an offer from their first choice of primary school and 98.1% received an offer from one of their top three choices.

School places are decided based on who lives close to the school, who already has a brother or sister at the school, if the child is from a particular religion for faith schools, is eligible for the pupil premium or has a parent that has worked at the school for two years or more.

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Unfortunately, some schools receive more applications than places it has available and unfortunately, not every applicant will be successful and priority will be given to those who closely meet the school’s specific admission arrangements. If the local authority cannot offer a place at one of the preferred schools for a pupil, it must offer a place at another school.

If a child is not given their first-choice school then you can appeal the decision. However, it is recommended that you still accept the offer your child did receive to make sure they still have a school place if the appeal is unsuccessful as accepting another offer won’t affect your appeal or limit other options available.

Parents or carers who want to appeal a decision should contact the school’s admission authority, which is responsible for organising the appeal panel. The panel is independent and will look at the case presented by both the admission authority and the parent before coming to a decision.

It is also possible to add your child's name to the waiting list to any school that they have applied for as schools must keep a waiting list for at least one term. However, families should still accept the offer they received as this will not affect the waiting list placement.

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