Whilst councils cannot guarantee Service Families a place at their first choice
school, the Admissions Authorities of maintained and Academy schools have a
responsibility to arrange a school place before a Service Family moves to their
new home. The Service Family must provide an official letter declaring a
relocation date and a unit postal address or quartering area address.
For standard Year R, Year 3 and Year 7 admissions, for families applying
to start in September who are moving from elsewhere in England you must apply
to the council where you currently live. If you're living elsewhere in the UK or
overseas then the application will be to the council you are moving too.
There are deadline dates for all applications, both civilian and military. If the deadline
can't be met let the Admissions Team know you are a
Service Family as they may be able to treat the application as on-time.
For in-year applications or mid-year transfers, they can be made either to the council where
the preferred school is or directly to the school.
So there are two key pieces of legislation that are considered in relation to in-year admissions outside
the normal admissions round. An exception may be possible for a child from a
Service Family background but there is no guarantee. Firstly there's the legal
infant class size of 30 pupils. An Admissions Authority may admit a service
pupil over this infant class size without the need for an extra teacher.
Secondly, some local authorities include a category for children of UK service
personnel in their Fair Access protocol.
In your application consideration may be given to the circumstances of both the child and the school,
the child's position on the waiting list, whether there are other service children on the
list and whether there's a reasonable alternative school place available.
The School Admissions Team will do their utmost to
accommodate your wishes, however they may not be able to guarantee your
first-choice school. You'll be sent a letter with the decision about your
child's school. If you are refused a place at any school you
applied for, you can ask for your child's name to be added to the waiting list for that school.
You also have the right to make an appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel;
your letter will tell you how to do this and all local authorities are
required to publish information about the appeals process on their website.
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