Secondary school admissions: When do you find out secondary school places?

National Offer Day is March 1 when pupils learn if they have been accepted into their top secondary school choice
Thousands of children will not get into their first choice school; however, the parents have the right to appeal agains the local authority’s decision
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Nuray Bulbul26 February 2024

Children in England and Wales are being offered their secondary school places by their local councils.

Parents can appeal against the decision if they are dissatisfied and, according to education experts, thousands of children nationwide will not get into the school of their choice.

What options do parents have if they don't like what they are offered?

When do you find out places?

National offer day is Friday, March 1 for pupils entering Year 7 in England and Wales in September 2024. On May 20, emails regarding post-primary school places will be sent out in Northern Ireland. No offers are made in Scotland since local councils choose the placement of children.

Parents who applied online in England and Wales will get an email on March 1 with instructions on how to accept the place and the deadline to do so. A letter will be sent to those who did not apply online. The offer might be revoked and the place offered to someone else if they don't accept by the deadline.

What happens if you don't get your first choice?

In England, if your child is not offered a place at your preferred school, you will usually be offered one of the other schools listed on your application. Your child might get a place somewhere else if there are no openings at any of the schools you’ve selected.

Your child's name can be added to the waiting list for your top choices of schools, which must be open for at least the first term of the academic year. Even if your child has already started at another school, you can accept if you are given a place at a school after being put on its waiting list.

Any child in Wales who does not receive a spot at the school for which parents have applied will be placed on a waiting list.

In Northern Ireland, you will be asked to select a new preference from a list of schools that still have openings if your child is not awarded a place at any of the schools you had in mind.

In Scotland, the local council chooses which school your child will attend within the catchment area. If there is room, the council must grant your request to attend a different school outside your local catchment area but this is not a given.

What to do if you are not happy

No matter where you live in the UK, you can appeal against the decision. If your child is not given a place at your preferred school, you have 20 working days to file an appeal, and the matter must be considered within 40 days.

A hearing will take place at which the council or school explains why the application was denied and the parents argue why their child should be accepted. An independent panel makes the ultimate decision.

The letter you received with the bad news should also include instructions on how to appeal; occasionally, an appeal form is provided.

If you’re not happy with the allocated school and have appealed, these are usually dealt with by June.

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