Parents and carers across Leicestershire are reminded that the closing date to apply for their child’s first primary school place is this Sunday (January 15).
Applications for the autumn 2023 intake need to be made by this date.
A range of information is available at on the School Admissions page to help families start applying.
Families are encouraged to:
- Put down three schools, including your catchment school. This will help ensure you have the best chance possible of securing a school of your choice, or the school nearest to you
- If you’ve already submitted your application but have not put down three schools, you can try and do this via the parent portal. If you find you can't, then the application has already been passed to the school admissions team. In this case, you can make an amendment via the admissions amendment request form
- If you’re not sure if a school is your catchment school, check this with them directly. Most have information on their websites
Making a first-time primary school application is a big milestone, and there can be lots to consider.
We want people to be aware that just putting just one school down on your application does not increase your chances of securing a place there.
It is really important to maximise your opportunities and put down three choices of schools. We’d also strongly encourage you to put your catchment school in your selection. This will help ensure you have the best chance possible of securing a school of your choice, or the school nearest to you.
We work incredibly hard to allocate school places, but demand can be high and we need families to select all their preferences so as to give themselves the best chances possible of securing a place at their preferred schools.
Person:Councillor Deborah Taylor, county council cabinet member for children and families
Choosing a catchment school is important because if the council cannot offer a place at one of the schools listed, parents and carers can then be offered a place at the child’s nearest school which still has available places.
This may not be local if you’ve not listed your catchment school as one of your choices, as places there may have already been filled by others who listed it in their applications.
There is no automatic entry for school in Leicestershire, so it is vital that applications are submitted before the closing date of Sunday, January 15.
School place offer day for the autumn first-time primary intake 2023 is April 17.