Allergies considered as a special medical need?

[Cantsleeppast3am]

Currently choosing a primary school for my child who has a peanut allergy. Spoken to many schools, some of whom seem confident enough to deal with it and some of whom don't.
I'd have thought they'd have been a process all schools have to follow and although it's seem there is, some just seem more robust in dealing with it.
Can I state on my application a preference for the schools who've handled my queries well and who I feel better about having my child in their care.
Is this allergy considered an exceptional medical issue?

I don’t believe it is. You can state your preference, but allergies are pretty common these days, and certainly not exceptional.

Ok thank you,

My daughter's school is nut-free. They are quite strict about it

The Local Authority will always say that any school will be able to cope with handling pupils with specific allergies like peanut. As each school has a set of admission criteria which will not mention allergies it will not aid you in getting into a specific school.
I would agree with you that some schools seem far more clued up than others to deal with this, so I think you need to start by finding all the schools in your neighbourhood, visiting them and seeing what they have to say, then you can indicate your preferences based on the criteria such as whether you are in catchment and distance but also taking heed of the schools that seem more on the ball.

It would be a medical need once attending so staff would know how to respond etc.

It's not a medical need for the purposes of admissions.

It wasn't considered medical needs for admission in my dc's case. Most school are capable of dealing with it. You can always state your preference and the reason, but I don't think you get a priority because of allergy. Saying this as mother of a child who has multiple and fatal allergies.

Even were it to be considered an exceptional medical need, you would have to provide documentary evidence from a relevant professional responsible for your DD's mefical care, stating why it is necessary for your DD to attend the specific named school. Just ticking a box on the CAF would not be enough, even where a school actually has an 'exceptional medical need' criterion or override in its admissions policy.

Every school is considered able to provide for all allergies.
By itself It would not be considered by admissions.

Last year, there were five kids in my dd's class that had proper allergies (including my DD). It's nowhere near as rare as people think. All schools should be able to cope with common allergies.