Parents of children who have started in year 6 this September are being reminded to submit their secondary school applications before the application deadline on Tuesday 31 October 2023, to give them the best chance of being offered a preferred school.
Nottinghamshire County Council is strongly advising parents in Nottinghamshire to list four preferences when applying for their child’s secondary school place for next year.
Those applying should look at the school admission arrangements to understand how their application would be considered for their preferred schools – making sure to include schools where their child would have higher priority within the criteria.
It is important for parents to remember that there is no guarantee of a place at a school even if they live in the catchment area or attend a linked primary school, which is why understanding each school’s admission criteria and using all four preferences on an application is key.
If there are no places available at the parents’ preferred school, an alternative offer may be made but this is not automatically at the catchment or nearest school. Places can only be offered at the next closest school with places available after all the on-time preferences have been processed. This means their child could be offered a place at a school further away.