Primary school admissions

How do I accept the school offered?

Your first offer 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 admissions@southend.gov.uk We will record that you wish to decline the place, however we can only take that place away once you have confirmed the alternative arrangements in place for your child's education. Until we are certain of alternative plans, you child will retain the offer made.

Why am I not guaranteed a place at my local catchment school?

No, there are no guarantees for any places. However, we do advise that you put your local catchment school as one of your preferences. Check your catchment school on school catchment directory.

Why have I been offered a school I did not apply for?

Where all the schools you applied for reached their admissions limit before they could offer your child, your child has been added to the waiting list and we have made you an offer to the next nearest school to your home address. This is called an alternative school offer.

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 wish 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 wish to be on the waiting list for a school lower on your list you can email the admissions team to 'switch' your preferences around so that you are on the waiting list.

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. The Admissions team will contact you if a place can be offered to your child.

How do waiting lists work?

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 the council's 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.

My child is born in the late summer months and I now wish 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 wish 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 wishes 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 receptoin, parents may be able to continue with provision in early years settings. Further details are available in the primary admissions booklet 2024 , 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.