Primary application

[Gardenfairy678]

Hi all

Things run away with me and I completely overlooked the application for reception, ds is currently in nursery attached to the primary school. Opening date for applications was 1st September and closes Jan 2025. I am doing the application now but I am panicking I've left it to late, nursery application I did on the day it opened I'm so annoyed at myself. If they have hundreds of applicants and say 30+ meet the criteria do they do it by who applied earliest when they dwindle it down? Am I panicking over nothing?! 😭

Yes you are panicking over nothing! It's not first come first served - you have until the January deadline to send it in and you are not any more likely to get the place you want by sending it earlier.

That said, don't leave it right until the last day as quite often the website crashes with everyone trying to log in at once.

It doesn’t work on a first come first served basis. If you applied the night before the deadline (which is what I did!) you’d have exactly the same chance of getting your preferred school as if you’d applied the day applications opened.

Hello both

Thank you for commenting, I have no idea how it all works so thank you

Take your time, visit the schools and think carefully.

All the applications are ranked solely on the entrance criteria, not when they are recieved. I doubt any open days have even happened yet.

Don't worry, it's not first come first served. Although it's best not to leave it until the last day because the website crashes then due to loads of people leaving it to the last minute.

Our local open days are all in the next couple of weeks.

@Gardenfairy678 hope you get the school you want 😊 (you won't find out until April though which will feel like absolutely ages)

Don't panic! It's not a first come first served situation, they won't prioritise early applications.

Do remember that unless the oversubscription criteria specifically state that there is preference for DC already attending the nursery, then it's not a relevant factor (and most schools do not have that as a criterion)

Use all the spaces on your form, and remember that schools aren't allowed to prioritise by where you list them on the form. The order of preferences is looked at only if you qualify for more than one school, and the offer will be for the one you ranked higher.

So always put your genuine first choice in first place (even if it's a long shot) because it will make no difference whatsoever, if you don't qualify for it, to the likelihood of your getting your second.

If you don't qualify for any of the schools you list, you will be offered the nearest school with a vacancy. That's why it's always worth using all your preferences - better a school you're iffy about that has easy logistics, rather than being allocated one that you might find just as iffy but has an inconvenient school run as well

As long as you apply before the deadline, it doesn't matter when you do it. Applications are not sorted by date.

Put them in your true order of preference.

Ensure you have one 'banker' on the list that you will definitely get into, even if you don't much like it. Better a school you dislike on your doorstep than one you dislike 5 miles away.

You do have plenty of time so honestly, spend it really getting into the details of how it all works and understanding that, as well as researching schools. Loads of good info on this thread but it really pays to be empowered with the knowledge yourself and your local council will have a page explaining the process. Once you know the process make.sure you know your school's individual admissions criteria.

And please use all your options. Just because your child attends the nursery won’t give them priority. Check on your councils website, where each school will list the order of priority they follow, it could differ slightly from school to school.

Put your preferences ( and they are preferences) not choices, in the order you like them. Schools don’t know what order you list them. You will then be considered for all your preferences using each school’s criteria. Your offer will always be the highest preference that you are eligible for. It might not be your first listed school. Always make sure that at least one of your preferences is a sure fire winner, you don’t want to end up being offered Unloved School on the other side of town because you listed schools you didn’t have a hope of being offered.

And don’t make the mistake of only putting one school down thinking that they will automatically offer it to you. They will offer it to you - if you would have qualified for it anyway by the schools criteria, but won’t offer it if you don’t. Every year there are stories on MN saying “ My friend only put down Outstanding School and was offered it so she says they have to give it you if is the one you want.” The friend would have been offered the school because they qualified for the place, and for no other reason.

Use all those options, you never know when three families of triplets have moved into the area and there are 15 siblings as well!

Do not rush such an important decision! As everyone has told you already, it is not first come first served so it's pointless rushing through the paperwork before you've had a chance to research and visit schools in your area. Most schools don't even host open days until October/November, to give their current Reception children time to settle in before visitors descend on their classroom for tours.

As many gave already advised, use all of your preferences. By all means list your favourites first, but always put your most local school too, even if you're not keen, as it you don't meet the criteria for your other choices you're highly likely to get the one most geographically close to you. Even if you don't like it, it's better to be allocated something you don't like that's convenient rather than something miles away which you didn't even apply for as they're the only one left in the area with space.

Only the deadline counts, miss that and it's tricky but how long before the deadline doesn't matter at all

There is no advantage to submitting before January's deadline, so don't panic. Visit local schools, look at reports, speak to friends with older children, check the priority admissions criteria and allocation data for 2024 then list your preferences including one local school you are certain to be allocated.

It is however worth doing it comfortably before the deadline in case of any tech glitches.

And it's really important to double and triple check that it has submitted properly, and that you have email acknowledgement and a reference number, and that what it says your application says is indeed what you meant to put!

Also double check if any of the schools you prefer require a SIF (supplementary information form) and make sure you have submitted those on time, to the right place, with appropriate counter-signature (if one is needed). If possible, get a receipt for submitting that too.