National Offer Day: What to do if your child hasn't landed a place at their choice of secondary school
Year 6 pupils across the country will today find out which secondary school has offered them a place for September.
Parents were given until the end of October to make an application for their child and today (Monday, March 3), on 'National Offer Day', will have received a letter or email outlining their offers.
Many will have received the news they were hoping for and are now tasked with accepting the offer to secure their child's place at that school.
Instructions should be provided on how to do this and some schools may give a deadline for when the offer needs to be accepted by.
Last year, 94.6 per cent of applicants for a secondary school place received an offer from one of their top three choices according to figures issued by the Department for Education (DfE).
Those who didn't land a spot at the school they hoped however may be wondering what the next step is.
Here's what you can do if your child didn't get into the school they wanted.
Wait list
If your child didn't get into the school you wanted, you can ask to be added to its waiting list.
If another family doesn’t accept their offer, then your child might be able to take their place.
Appeal
Parents can choose to appeal the school's decision. The DfE advises those wishing to do this to first contact the school's admission authority, which can be found by visiting their local council's website.
The independent panel will then look at the case before deciding whether the school should admit the child.
The appeal may take place in person, by online video call or a combination of the two.
The decision is binding - if the parents' appeal is upheld, the pupil will be offered a place.
Further guidance for parents on the admission appeals process can be found by visiting the Government website.
Why might a child not have been offered a place at their preferred schools?
The DfE has cited a number of common reasons children may not have been offered a spot at one of their preferred schools.
It may be the school has received more applications than available places.
Priority is also given to those who most closely meet the admission arrangements published by the school.
If the local authority can't offer a place at one of the parents' preferred schools, it must offer an available spot at a different school.
If you do not receive an offer of a place at any school on 'National Offer Day', you should contact your local council.
