If a primary school has places, can they refuse to admit a pupil ?

[OnEdge]

Our choice of Primary School has been refused us because it is full and we are out of it's catchment area. The Council has given us another school which I really don't like. There is a school several
Miles away which I much prefer. If they have places left, are they obliged to accept my DD or can they refuse ?

A LEA school has to accept you if they have places.

In our LA, you can apply to any school, and if they have places they'll accept you.

If you are applying for the normal year of entry (Reception) and there is a place available in Reception they have to admit your child.

If you have applied as part of the normal admissions round and have been refused I would presume that means Reception is now full. It may be that the school is not full to capacity because there are spare places in other years but that is not relevant. You cannot insist on your child being admitted to Reception on the grounds that Y6 is not full.

If you are applying for a place in another year which is not the normal year of entry the rules are slightly different. In most circumstances it is expected that the school will stick to the same admission number and admit the child if there is a vacancy. However, in some circumstances they can refuse to admit. For example, if Y2 is below the admission number but Y1 is over and admitting a child to Y2 would mean they would have more than 30 in a class they can refuse admission.