Application window for primary school places now open

04/11/2024

Parents will find out which school their child will be attending next April

The application window for new primary school places in Oxfordshire next September has opened.

Parents and carers of children born between September 1, 2020 and August 31, 2021 can now submit details of their first four preferences for the schools they would like their child to attend.

The application window for children in the West Northamptonshire area was already open.

The deadline for submissions in both areas is January 15.

Councillor John Howson, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Young People’s Services, said: “Please use the opportunity to name four schools. This will not make it less likely that your first preference will be offered. However, it does reduce the risk of all preferences being unsuccessful – if four schools are named – and your child being allocated a place at a school not shown on their list.

“It is important to apply on time because any applications that miss the deadline won’t be processed until later in the year and are far less likely to secure places at preferred schools than applications received by 15 January 2025.”     

Parents and carers are also being encouraged to think about how their child will travel to school when deciding which schools they would like to list as a preference.

Oxfordshire County Council provides free home-to-school transport where the child attends their nearest available school (this isn’t always their catchment school), and the school is more than two miles from their home address for five to seven-year-olds, or three miles for children from age eight to sixteen.

A number of factors are included in the decision as to which school is selected from the preferences submitted.   Many schools have catchment areas and selecting the school serving where your child lives will afford the choice some priority.   A school’s published admission rules are also used to decide priority along with consideration as to whether a child has a brother or sister at the school, or whether they have special educational needs.

The results for all application will be announced on National Offer Day – April 16, 2025.


Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam

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