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Whether a child is starting school for the first time, or transferring to their next school, applications need to be made through North Somerset Council’s website: www.n-somerset.gov.uk/schooladmissions.
Applications open today (Tuesday 12 September 2023) for primary and secondary school places from September 2024.
For secondary school places, applications must be submitted before Tuesday 31 October 2023. This applies to all children moving from primary to secondary school in September 2024.
For primary school places, applications must be submitted before Monday 15 January 2024. This applies to all children starting school for the first time in September 2024 (those born between 1 September 2019 and 31 August 2020), as well as children moving from infant to junior school.
If parents and carers living in North Somerset wish to apply for a school outside the area, applications should still be made through North Somerset Council.
Shortly before the deadlines, reminders will be issued where possible to parents and carers of children on the council’s database who have not yet applied. The responsibility for getting applications in on time however lies with parents and carers.
Councillor Catherine Gibbons, North Somerset Council’s Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Children’s Services, Families and Lifelong Learning, said: “I urge parents and carers to attend open days of schools they’re interested in their child attending. It’s an important decision and these events can really help with decision making and selecting which three schools to include on the application. Information about when these take place can be found on school websites and their social media accounts.
“While it’s a choice to submit three preferences, I do advise parents and carers to select three and include their local school. In recent years, we’ve received some applications that have only included one preference for a non-local school. If demand is high for that single school and an offer can’t be made, it can mean that students are allocated a place at a school that can be some distance from their home, making the experience far more stressful that it needs to be.
“Once you have selected your three preferred schools, it’s essential you’re your applications are submitted before the deadline to avoid not being offered a school place on National Offer Day. Tuesday 31 October 2023 is the deadline for those transferring to secondary or upper schools next year and Monday 15 January 2024 for those starting school for the first time. I encourage all students, parents and carers to start looking now at what is involved, and which schools they would like to go to.”
All schools have been reminded of the application deadlines and asked to send information to parents and carers within their newsletters. As well as linking to an online application form, the council's website holds useful information about catchment areas, admissions policies and information on previous years’ admissions.
Last year’s school admissions figures show that 98.81 per cent of the 2,187 children who entered primary school in North Somerset were offered one of their top three choices. 95.02 per cent received their first choice. 99.01 per cent of the 2,528 children going to secondary school in North Somerset were offered one of their top three choices. 95.45 per cent received their first choice.