Reception and Year 3 offer day 16 April 2025 - frequently asked questions
How do I accept the school offered?
The offer made on 16 April is accepted automatically. If you are happy with your offer you do not need to take any action. Your allocated school will send you a pack in due course - usually this is in the period of May-July. Please do not contact schools. If you are offered a place from the waiting list, please email admissions@southend.gov.uk to accept your new offer.
How do I refuse the school offered?
You can email us and if possible, provide us with the arrangements you will have in place. Our School Admissions Team will record the decline and add you to a tracking sheet to ensure you access education for the term after your child turns 5 years old.
Why am I not guaranteed a place at my local catchment school?
It is dependent on the demand for the school and the school meeting the limit or not before it reaches your application. Living in the catchment area provides the opportunity for priority to that school. However, there are no guarantees for any places. It is advisable that you put your local catchment school as one of your preferences so that your child has a priority at a school.
Check your catchment school on our school catchment area directory.
Why have I been offered a school I did not put on my application form?
We have a duty to offer your child a school place. Where we are not able to offer you a school you have as a preference, we will offer you a place at the nearest school with a place at the time of allocation. You do not have to accept this school and can contact us to discuss options.
I did not apply, what do I do?
You can apply at any time. The School Admissions team can advise of vacancies in the City and provide you with an application form.
I applied but have not received an offer
If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan you will receive an outcome via the SEN Team, through the assessment process. If you child does not have a plan, and you did not get an offer please contact us.
How do I change the order of my preferences?
If you want to change the order of your preferences, so that you are added to the waiting list for schools, you must email or write to us. You will need to provide your child's full name, date or birth and address, and provide the full list in a numbered preference order. This change can take between 10 and 20 school days.
How do I apply to go on a waiting list?
Your child will automatically be on a waiting list for a higher preference than which has been offered. If you have an offer but want to be on the waiting list for a school lower on your list you can email our admissions team to amend your preference order so that you are on the waiting list. Waiting list updates will not be available daily and we do not encourage parents to call in for waiting list positions. If a place comes up and it is due to your child, from the waiting list, an offer will be emailed/posted to you.
Who do we call for the waiting list positions?
Only the Admission team at Southend-on-Sea have waiting lists for schools in Southend City. If you need waiting list position for schools outside of Southend, you can contact the local authority for that school after mid-May.
How do waiting lists work?
Below are the general notes on waiting lists for Southend schools from our published Primary Admissions Booklet 2025.
On offer day the School Admissions Team has a list that ranks on-time preferences for each child according to the admission priority of the school (Southend Schools only). Where there are more applications than there are places available, the ranked list is used to determine who gets a place at the school in accordance with the published admissions number. Once places have been offered, any remaining pupils on the ranked list form the basis of the initial waiting list. Names are only removed from the waiting list at the parent's request. Late applications are then placed on the list and the list is re-ranked to take account of the appropriate admission priorities for all applications.
General information on waiting lists
Changes to the waiting list occur when other applications to schools are made. This may be families moving into Southend or additional applications from those that did not get their preferred school(s). Each application will be slotted into the waiting list according to the admission criteria relevant to the school. An example of this would be a family moving into the catchment area and having a higher priority than someone already on the waiting list with an out of catchment sibling.
Do schools know what I have applied for?
No, schools only know if you have applied for them. Schools do not know the preference order or the outcome for your application for other schools.
How do I appeal?
Parents are able to appeal for schools that are higher preferences, and they did not get an offer. Information on the appeals process is available on our website. You have until 16 May to submit for an on-time appeal. Late appeals are accepted and usually heard in late September/early October.
The appeal form and further information can be found on our school admission appeals page.
Note for parents in the process of assessment for SEND
The letter you receive on offer day only refers to applications for regular school spots through the usual process.
It doesn't consider what's happening for pupils:
- being assessed for an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP), or those
- with an agreed plan that hasn't been finalised yet
Applications via the main admission process have only been ranked against respective school oversubscription admission criteria.
Where it has been agreed an EHCP is necessary for your child, the SEN Team will consult with you regarding your preferred school. Once the plan is finalised, a school will be named on the EHCP.
This decision would override any offer made via the mainstream admission process.
Parents cannot choose to take up any previous offer that is not named in the EHCP.
How do I support my child to start primary school?
You can continue to practise key skills that will help your child at school. There are lots of games to help children starting school on the TLC website.
Ensure that you familiarise yourself with the school communication systems with parents. This may be online or an app. Make sure that your allocated school have up to date contact details.
Staff at your child’s new school may.
- have induction/introductions days/sessions
- visit your child to get to know them
- offer additional school visits
- meet with other professionals supporting your child
- attend a meeting, if your child has one, so they understand how they can support your child when they start school
Some children with SEND are eligible for home to school transport. You should apply as soon as your child's school place has been confirmed. View the guide to SEND transport for parents and carers to find out more.
My child is born in the late summer months and I now want to delay them starting school. What do I do?
There are a few matters to consider. By law all parents must make sure that their children receive full time education by the start of the term following their 5th birthday. This is known as "compulsory school age". The law also entitles parents to full time education from the September after the child turns 4 and therefore you have access to education before your child is of compulsory school age.
Most children start school on a full-time basis from the September. However, where parents feel it appropriate, they can chat to the Headteacher regarding their child attending part time, or defer to the next term, until reaching compulsory school age (the term after their 5th birthday). Options are for discussion in the reception year under usual age groups. If you want your child to attend part time you must chat to the headteacher of your allocated school closer to the start of the school year.
Once a child takes up a school place in reception, you would not, be able to defer admission beyond the beginning of the term after your child's 5th birthday. Or beyond the start of the Summer Term (April) of the academic year for which the original application was made.
In the case of children born prematurely or during the late summer months, parents may request admission outside the normal age group and start reception a year later. Due to the lifelong impact for a child, we advise parents to consider making this decision carefully. Parents can discuss their wants with their preferred schools, and we recommend that one of the preferences is the catchment school to ensure the child has priority at a school. Letters from schools with their views must be send to the admission team at the council for consideration. You have up to a maximum of three schools for your application and decisions for those schools only and do not reach into other areas, such as other schools, other Local Authorities or SEN team/process.
Advice from the Department for Education can be found on the GOV.UK website.
As long as the child has not started in reception, parents may be able to continue with provision in early years settings. Further details are available in the primary admissions booklet 2025, a reminder that you must notify the admission team at the Council if you are not going to take up an offer.
If you have any queries, please let us know.