How places are offered
All schools have a Published Admission Number (PAN), this is the number of pupils they can admit into the school.
If there are more applications than places, we apply the school’s oversubscription criteria to decide who is offered a place.
You should check the criteria for each school before submitting your preferences. These criteria explain how priority is given and helps you understand how places are allocated.
Offer of School Places
We offer Secondary school places on 2 March 2026 (1st working day after 1 March, National offer day) and Primary school places on 16 April 2026. If you applied through the Citizen Portal and requested an email notification, you will receive an email. You can also log back into the portal to check your offer.
If you applied late or requested an offer letter, you will receive an offer letter to your home address.
Reallocation (Waiting List)
If your child did not get a place at the school you wanted, you can request reallocation. This means going on a waiting list for any places that come available after Offer Day.
If you ask for a higher preference school than has been allocated, the place offered can be kept.
The school place will be given up if you ask for a lower preference than has been offered; or a school which was not on your original application.
If your child didn’t get any of your preferred schools, they’ll be offered a place at the closest school with places. In this case, you can request reallocation to all your preferred schools or a school that was not originally listed.
The deadline for the initial round of requests is 16 March 2026 for Secondary and 30 April 2026 for Primary. Parents will be notified of the outcome by 30 March 2026 for Secondary and 14 May 2026 for Primary.
The waiting lists are maintained in order of the schools’ oversubscription criteria until the end of the Autumn term (December 2026).
Appeals
If your child is not offered a place at the school you wanted, you can appeal the decision to an independent panel.
Find out more about Appeals