First and Primary School Applications FAQ's

Questions

1. At what age can my child start school?
2. Can I keep my child out of school until s/he is 5?
3. What if my child is 5 between 1st September 2012 and 31st December 2012?
4. Which school can your child attend?
5. How do you apply for a place at a First/Primary School?
6. Why do I have to put three preferences on the application form?
7. My child currently lives outside Worcestershire and would like a Worcestershire school place, what should I do?
8. When should you apply?
9. What if your application is late?
10. Who has responsibility for the allocation of places?
11. How are places allocated?
12. When are decisions made?
13. What happens if you are moving into a new area?
14. How many children may be admitted to each school?
15. How can my child be placed on a waiting list for a particular school if the year group is full?

Answers

1. Q. At what age can my child start school?
   A. The law requires all children to start full-time education by the beginning of the term following their fifth birthday. Children who have reached their fourth birthday are entitled to attend full-time in a reception class from the September after their fourth birthday.
   
   The Reception academic year group from 1st September 2012 – 31st August 2013 is for children who were born between 01/09/2007 – 31/8/2008.
   
   Parents must apply for a school place by the closing date 15th January 2012 for admissions in the school year 1st September 2012 to 31st August 2013.
   
   Parents can request that their child attends part-time until the child reaches compulsory school age. Many schools provide for children to attend part-time at first. Any period of part-time attendance could vary according to the circumstances at each school and perhaps also according to the age of the child.
   
   You will need to check with the school you would like your child to attend, to see what their induction arrangements are.
   
   A small number of pupils are educated at home through arrangements made by their parents/carers. The Local Authority verifies the quality of the provision on a regular basis. Information on elective home education is made available through the Parent Partnership Service by telephoning: 01905 727940.
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2. Q. Can I keep my child out of school until s/he is 5?
   A. Parents may request that their child's entry to a reception class be deferred until later in the same reception academic year group. Parents wishing to consider this should discuss the situation with the Headteacher at the school.
   
   Parents must apply for a school place in the normal way at the usual time. By law children must start school at the beginning of the term following their fifth birthday.
   
   Children with a date of birth in the summer term wishing to start school in the September after their fifth birthday would start in Year 1 and consequently miss the entire reception year. To apply for a place in Year 1 and not reception please refer to Section 3.13. Please be aware that there may not be a vacancy in Year 1 at that time.
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3. Q. What if my child is 5 between 1st September 2012 and 31st December 2012?
   A. The Council does not allow a school to admit your child into reception class before the school year in which s/he becomes 5. If your child is 5 between 1st September 2012 and 31st December 2012 s/he cannot therefore start school until September 2012.
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4. Q. Which school can your child attend?
   A. The law says that the Local Authority (LA) must give parents the chance to state their preference for the school they wish their child to attend. The law does not give parents/carers an absolute right to "choose" the school for their child.
   
   It is important to find out the name of the catchment area school for the home address. Search for your catchment school by postcode or view all the schools in your local area.
   
   You may apply for other schools (other than the catchment area school), including Academy, Foundation or Voluntary Aided Schools,
   
   Important Considerations for you to note:
   
   
   • If your child is admitted to a first school or primary school of your preference (other than the catchment area school), your child will not have the highest priority for transfer to the related middle school or high school. If the related middle school or high school is oversubscribed at the time of transfer, your child might then have to move in a different direction from other children attending the same first or primary school.
     
   • Having gained admission to a first or primary school of your preference (other than the catchment area school) does not mean that younger siblings will automatically gain admission to the same school. Should the school be oversubscribed at the time of application of a younger sibling, catchment area children have a higher priority on the oversubscription criteria.
     
   • Applications where a preference is expressed on time will take precedence in relation to the school over where a preference is expressed after the closing date. In both of these instances they will have precedence over those where no preference is expressed.
     
   • You should give careful consideration to the means by which your child will travel to school (see information about School Transport)
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5. Q. How do you apply for a place at a First/Primary School?
   A. The parents of ALL pupils resident in Worcestershire, including parents whose preference is for the catchment area school for the child’s home address, seeking a place at any first/primary School, including any Academy, Foundation or Voluntary Aided Schools, and any School outside Worcestershire, must complete a Worcestershire LA Common Application Form (PA1), by the closing date.
   
   Worcestershire parents are invited to state three preferences on the Common Application Form. All preferences are treated as equal initially, and the oversubscription criteria applied to each preference. If it is possible to make a potential offer at more than one school, then the final offer will be the school ranked highest on the application form.
   
   Parents seeking a place at an Academy, Foundation or Voluntary Aided School or schools outside Worcestershire must:
   • obtain from the school an admissions pack, including a prospectus which will explain if you need to provide/complete supplementary information/forms;
   • complete a Common Application Form (PA1) naming your school preferences and attach all relevant documentation as required with your application i.e. copy of completed supplementary forms, baptism certificate.
     
     
   Please note, if applying online you will need to send any supplementary paperwork via post to the School Admissions Team. (On the online application form, within the comments section, you can indicate if doing so) Supplementary paperwork must be received by the closing date for it to be considered with your application. The postal address is:
   
   School Admissions and Transfers Team
   Children's Services Directorate
   PO Box 73
   Worcester
   WR5 2YA
   
   Parents are advised to ensure they include their child's details and their name and address with any correspondence sent.
   
   You can apply for your school place online via the link on the top right hand side of this page.
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6. Q. Why do I have to put three preferences on the application form?
   A. You are not required to use all three preferences, however you should consider all schools in an area in case your application for your higher preference schools are unsuccessful. If the local authority cannot offer your child a place at your preferred schools, you will be offered the nearest school to your home address that has a place available.
   
   By including three preferences, it helps the local authority consider schools that you would find acceptable for your child.
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7. Q. My child currently lives outside Worcestershire and would like a Worcestershire school place, what should I do?
   A. You should apply to your child's home Local Authority, regardless of which schools you are placing as a preference. If you would like to express a preference for a Worcestershire school, you will need to add it as a preference on the Common Application Form for your child's home Local Authority. Please refer to the website of your home Local Authority for information on their School Admission process and timescales.
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8. Q. When should you apply?
   A. Places in reception classes are allocated on the basis of applications received on or before the closing date of: 15th January 2012 for admissions in the school year September 2012 to August 2013. Parents who do not wish their children to start until they have reached compulsory school age must discuss their intentions with the school, and must also apply for a school place by; 15th January 2012, so that their application can be considered. Proof of application – It is the parent/carers responsibility to ensure a receipt is obtained when making an application. Please retain any receipt as proof of application.
   
   • Applications made online will receive a return receipt via email once the application has been submitted.
     
     
   You can apply for your school place online via the link on the top right hand side of this page.
   
   
   • Paper application forms have a detachable receipt – see form for details.
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9. Q. What if your application is late?
   A. It is likely that a number of late applications will be received. The Council has agreed in it’s co-ordinated scheme to accept late applications within this time-frame, and treat them as being on time, only in the following circumstances;
   
   a) where a family have just moved address, (See Section 8b - Living in a school catchment area explanatory notes)
   
   b) where it is agreed by the Directorate of Children’s Services, that individual circumstances apply and the delay was reasonable given the circumstances of the case; In each case independent supporting documentary evidence will need to be submitted with the application.
   
   In all other circumstances, or if the application is not received until after 29th February 2012, late applications will receive a lower priority, and will only be considered after the applications received (or deemed to be) on time.
   
   NB. If the late application is for an Academy, Foundation or Voluntary Aided School, or a school outside Worcestershire, it will be necessary to refer to the late application policy of the school or the LA, in whose area the school is located. If making an application after the start of the autumn term 2012 please see the in-year admission to first and primary school page.
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10. Q. Who has responsibility for the allocation of places?
    A. If a school is oversubscribed (has more applications than places), it will use admission criteria to decide who to offer places to. Read them carefully for the schools you are interested in.
    
    For Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools, decisions are made by the School Admissions and Transfers Section. For Academy, Foundation or Voluntary Aided Schools decisions are made by the governing bodies of the individual schools. See published admissions policies.
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11. Q. How are places allocated?
    A. The School Admissions and Transfers Section will send details to its Academy, Foundation or Voluntary Aided Schools of all applications received for that school, irrespective of ranking, for initial consideration, and also to neighbouring LAs, who will then apply their own oversubscription criteria. The School Admissions and Transfers Section will then receive the outcome of these initial considerations, and will compare against lists of potential offers at other schools nominated on the application, to identify any pupils, who may potentially be offered more than one place. If this is the case, then the single offer will be the higher ranked school on the application form. If no place is available at your second or third preference schools as well, or if you have not expressed a second/third preference, the Home Local Authority will name an alternative school with places available. This will normally be the nearest school to where you live with available places.
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12. Q. When are decisions made?
    A. Offer letters will be posted on 23rd April 2012 via second class postage. They will be sent direct to parents, by the School Admissions and Transfers Section, even if it is on behalf of the governing body of an Academy, Foundation or Voluntary Aided School, or a school in a neighbouring LA.
    
    

    In the few cases where it may not be possible to offer a place at any of the preferences nominated on the application form, a place will be offered at the nearest school with available places for pupils who live in Worcestershire.

    • For pupils not resident in Worcestershire, the offer or refusal letters will be sent direct to parents by the home LA, even if it is for a school in Worcestershire.
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13. Q. What happens if you are moving into a new area?
    A. Where families with children of school age are moving into a new area and wish to transfer their children to a different school, parents should at the earliest opportunity either enquire at schools in the area or contact the Local Authority School Admissions and Transfers Section in the area.
    
    

    Please be aware that some schools may well already be full at the time of your application.
    

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14. Q. How many children may be admitted to each school?
    A. The County Council has a duty to ensure the provision of efficient education and the efficient use of resources. Schools cannot be permitted to become overcrowded.
    
    The number of pupils that may be admitted to a school in the relevant year group is known as the Published Admission Number (PAN).
    
    Details for each school are given in Section 3a of the Information for Parents booklet.
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15. Q. How can my child be placed on a waiting list for a particular school if the year group is full?
    A. Waiting lists for Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools, are maintained by the School Admissions and Transfers Section, and parents need to apply, in order to be included. For full details on how to apply please refer to Section 7.7 of the Information for Parents Book.
    
    Waiting lists are operated in line with the admissions criteria as published in Section 7.3 of the Information for Parents Book. Please refer to the relevant section for full details.
    
    Waiting lists for Academy, Foundation and Voluntary Aided Schools, are maintained by the individual schools and parents will need to contact the school directly, in order to be included.
    
    You should be aware that a school waiting list is an active document. As parents request for their children to be included on the list the position of an individual child already on the list can change. A waiting list does not give priority based simply on the date an application was added to the list.
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