Primary education information for parents Applying for community schools

Published: 2 September 2024

Each community school and some Church of England Schools have a defined catchment area or zone. If your child lives in a community school’s zone and you want them to go to that school, it is likely that a place will be offered there as long as you submit your application before 15 January 2024 and name your zoned school as one of your preferences. Parents are advised to always include their zoned school as one of their preferences in case they are unsuccessful with their application for an out of zone school.

However, a place in your catchment school cannot be absolutely guaranteed. For example a school with an admission number for Foundation 2 of 30 may have more than 30 applications from parents living within the catchment area. Places would only be able to be offered up to the admission number and not beyond.

Applications submitted by 15 January 2024 will be considered first and places allocated up to the admission number of the school and in accordance with the following criteria:

  • Looked After Children and previously Looked After Children as defined by the School Admissions Code 2021.
  • Parents of the children who live ‘in zone’ and already have older brothers or sisters (including half or step siblings living in the same household) at the school when they are due to start school. If there are more children with older brothers or sisters at the school than there are places available, we will give priority to children with the youngest brothers or sisters at the school. We will also treat a brother or sister at a corresponding junior school as a sibling. Where there is more than one applicant with a sibling in the same year group, priority will be given to those children who live nearest to the school.
  • Parents of the children who live ‘in zone’ and who live nearest to the school.

If children live outside the school’s catchment area and if places are still available, places will be allocated in accordance with the following criteria:

  • To children who already have older brothers or sisters (including half or step siblings living in the same household) at the school when they are due to start school. If there are more children with older brothers or sisters at the school than there are places available, we will give priority to children with the youngest brothers or sisters at the school. We will also treat a brother or sister at a corresponding junior school as a sibling. Where there is more than one applicant with a sibling in the same year group, priority will be given to those children who live nearest to the school.
  • To pupils who live nearest to the school. The Authority measures distances from the child’s home to the nearest school pedestrian gate using a computerised mapping system using the shortest road route, unless it is possible to use a footpath which the Authority considers to be a safe walking route. As a general guide we will treat routes with no pavements and no street lighting as unsafe for children.

If your child has a place in a nursery class in a community school, this does not mean that they will automatically get a place in the Foundation 2 class.

A Looked After child is a child who is a) in the care of a Local Authority, or b) being provided with accommodation by a Local Authority in the exercise of their Social Services functions under section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989.

A previously Looked After child is one who immediately moved on from that status after becoming subject to an adoption, child arrangements or special guardianship order. This also includes those children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted (A child is regarded as having been in state care outside of England if they were in the care of or were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation, or any other provider of care whose sole or main purpose is to benefit society.)