Secondary offer day - frequently asked questions
When emailing the Admission Team please include your child's full name and date of birth as well as your message.
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 between March and July. Please do not contact schools.
If you are later 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. Our School Admissions Team 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, your 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.
What does 'Refused by LA' mean?
Refused by LA is applied as a status where your child did not sit or pass the 11+
Why have you offered me 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.
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 want to know the last offered score for grammar school places
This information is not available from Southend-on-Sea City Council. Information will be published by the CSSE after 1 April.
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 your child does not have a plan, and you still did not get a place 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. This does not include the selective places at schools or at the grammar schools. If you have an offer but wish 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.
Who do I call for the waiting list positions?
Only the School Admissions Team have waiting lists for schools in Southend. If you need waiting list positions for schools outside of Southend you can contact the local authority for that school after 18 March. Waiting list updates will not be available daily. We ask that parents give at least a month between requesting an update on waiting list positions.The Admissions team manage the waiting lists for all the secondary schools in the City until the last week in August and will email you a formal offer if a place can be offered to your child.
How do waiting lists work?
Below are the general notes on waiting lists for Southend schools from our published Secondary Admissions Booklet 2024.
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.
Waiting Lists for The Eastwood Academy
Where the Academy receives more applications than there are places available, a waiting list will be created. A child's position on the waiting list is determined solely in accordance with the admissions criteria. Where there is more than one child in the highest ranked criterion, random allocation is applied. Random allocation is applied every time a place becomes available, unless there is only one child in the highest ranked criterion, in which case a place is offered to the child. Full details on the admissions criteria for The Eastwood Academy is provided in the Secondary Admissions Booklet 2024.
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. All appeals for secondary schools are submitted directly to the respective schools and information is available on the school websites. A directory of Southend schools can be found via Schools - Southend-on-Sea City Council
For Essex schools please visit Find a school - Essex County Council
You have until 15 April to submit for an on-time appeal. Late appeals are accepted and usually heard in late September/early October.
Must I get a letter from the primary school for my appeal?
No, you do not need a letter from your primary school for appeals. The parent's case is the most critical part of an appeal hearing.
If you are appealing for a grammar or selective place you can use school reports for evidence of academic ability.
I refuse to take up the school place
Where children do not take up a school place by the start of term in September schools have a duty to refer them as a 'Child Missing Education' for more information on this process please look at School Attendance Team 2023/24 | Southend Learning Network
I am moving into the area
If you are intending to move into Southend City, you will need to notify us as well as your current local authority that you are moving and provide sufficient proof of address. Once we are satisfied with the proof of address documents you have provided, we will contact your current local authority to take over the application.
It will only be possible to take over your once we have received your proof of address.
If you move address during the admissions process (September to Dec), you must notify School Admissions immediately.
Please refer to the Privacy Notice for information on how we collect, how we use and may share information about you.
More information and full details on the processing of applications and key admission criteria are published in the Secondary Admission Booklet 2024 - Secondary School Admissions Booklet 2024 (southend.gov.uk), including term dates (page 62) and further information sources (Page 68)
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.