Explain the England pre school admission.

[mama678910]

Please can anyone help a first time mom out.

I am very confused about the whole pre-school vs reception. My son is turning 2 but people are already talking about pre-school.'

Is pre-school necessary and if so does it make it easier to admit to a reception school?

When do people apply for January born kids?

That's a tough one as it completely depends on what's on offer in your area and whether it fits your needs

There are nurseries which are independent businesses that can provide childcare from around 3 months old to when DC go to primary schools. They tend to have a 'pre school' group for the DC moving up to school.

Some primary schools have a nursery attached. This is what is a classic pre school is. These can be popular, particularly if you know your DC will go to that school. They tend to be from to 2 or 3 years of age to when they in UKstart school.
The watch out is that they are only open during term time and school hours. I have never used these as I work full time.

There will be other options but these 2 are the most common

Preschool and nursery are before formal education. Reception is the first year of 'school' and school is compulsory from iirc the term after the child turns 5

State school admissions are usually dealt with by local authority - you apply through your council and are allocated centrally. Being at a primary schools nursery or preschool does NOT make it more or less likely you'll be allocated their reception place, the two are disconnected

Also beware that a pre school at a school can usually give places to anyone. Having a place at the pre school does not guarantee you a place in reception. There are a few academy chain pre schools that I understand do guarantee a primary school place but normally the admissions criteria for primary takes no notice of where a child attends pre school. A local primary school has a yearly intake of 30 but they have 52 children attending the preschool in any one year. Therefore each year at least 22 children in the pre school will not get a place at the primary. If you need all round child care you will be better off using a private nursery or even a registered child minder.

Ah yes, very good points, going to a preschool attached to a school does NOT guarantee you a place at that school.

Every year there is a parent on a local FB group kicking off that their DC hasn't got a place at the school attached to the nursery where they attended.

I do encourage all parents to read their local authority's admission policies for both primary and secondary schools