How we decide which school is right for your child

How places are allocated

School places are allocated in accordance with the Children and Families Act 2014, which requires us to consider your child's special educational needs, your parental request for a school, and the formal view of the school requested before making a decision.  

The right school will depend on: 

• its suitability for your child’s age, ability and special educational need 

• whether it has the resources and ability to teach your child alongside others in the school 

• the overall cost of your child attending your preferred school, and whether this would cost significantly more than it would do for your child to attend another appropriate school.

An oversubscribed school

If a school is oversubscribed, places will be allocated in order of the below criteria: 

1. suitability: age, ability, aptitude or special educational need 

2. children who are Looked After and children who have been previously Looked After 

3. siblings already attending (if criteria 1 is also satisfied) 

4. faith (evidenced based on admissions requirements of the school, if criteria 1 is also satisfied) 

5. distance order to home address (if criteria 1 is also satisfied) 

Your child’s home address 

Your child’s home address is their permanent place of residence, where they live with their main carer: 

• if a child’s parents live at separate addresses, the home address is where the child spends most of their time 
• if a child’s parents have equal shared custody, the parents decide which address to use 

If you move to a new address during the phase transfer process, tell your SEND case officer as soon as possible, and give proof of your new address. 

If a child is allocated a school place and the address given is found to be different to their normal home address, the school place may be withdrawn.