Reception and Junior entry
When can your child start school?
- Children can start school (Reception) in the September after their fourth birthday.
- Advice and guidance on delaying or deferring your child’s start at school is available with the information on the Compulsory School Age (CSA).
You need to apply for September 2023 if your child:
- was born between 1 September 2018 and 31 August 2019 (for a place in Reception).
- If your child will be in Year 2 at an infant or primary school in September 2022 (for a place in a junior school).
You must apply for their Reception or Junior place by 5pm on 15 January 2023. Applications made after this date will be classified as late and not considered until the first allocation of school places has finished on 17 April 2023. Many schools are likely to have filled all their available places by then.
There is an extended deadline of 1 February 2023 if your address changes before then.
Our Starting School in Reception or Moving to a Junior School video (YouTube) has lots of useful information and guidance on submitting your application.
If you missed any of our recent webinars for parents and carers applying for a primary school place, you can watch the recordings on our admissions YouTube channel.
How to apply for a primary school place
The information below has everything you need to know about the application process and guidance on what you should do before making your application.
You can only use this system if your child lives within Warwickshire. If you do not live in Warwickshire, you must apply through your home authority (who you pay your council tax to).
November
January
The deadline for applications is 11.59pm on 15 January 2023.
If you apply by this date, you will receive your child’s school offer on National Offer Day (17 April 2023).
- Last year there were over 700 late applicants. If you apply late, you are much less likely to be offered a place at one of your preferred schools.
- The late application policy, detailed in the admission arrangements, will apply to those applications made after the closing date.
February
The extended deadline for changes in address is 11.59pm on 1 February 2023.
If your address changes after the 15 January deadline, you have until 1 February to either amend your original application or submit a new one. In both cases, you’ll need to contact the admissions team to do this, as the parent portal won’t be open during this time.
You’ll need to be living in the new property by 1 February and send us either a full copy of a signed tenancy agreement or a copy of your purchase completion letter.
April
May
You need to respond to your offer by 2 May 2023. Your place is not confirmed until you have done this.
We advise you to always accept the offer you have been made, so that your child has a secured place for September 2023. Doing so will not affect any appeal you make, or your place on any waiting lists.
Accept a Reception or Junior school offer
Please follow the link to accept your offer through the Parent Portal. You will receive an email confirmation once the place is accepted.
Decline a Reception or Junior school offer
We understand you may be disappointed if your child has not been offered their first preference school. Please read our guidance below on waiting lists and appeals before declining your offer.
April - August
During this time we will be processing late applications and allocating any available places from waiting lists. You might also want to start thinking about your child's transition to their new school. More information and support can be found at warwickshire.gov.uk/transitions.
Waiting lists
We operate waiting lists for school places. If you have not been offered your first preference school, you will automatically be placed on the waiting list for your higher preference schools., For example, if you applied for three schools and were offered your third preference, you will automatically be on the waiting lists for both your first and second preferences.
Please note that a child’s position on a waiting list can move up and down, as late applicants are added to waiting lists and any vacancies are reoffered. Given this, we are unfortunately not able to provide any information on waiting list positions while we work on these. Please be assured that if we can allocate your child a place at a school listed as a higher preference on your application than the school currently offered, we will contact you.
Key waiting list dates:
- 9 May 2023 – first round of offers from the waiting lists commence (please note you may not hear on this date).
- 12 June 2023 - second round of offers from the waiting lists commence (please note you may not hear on this date).
June - July
Appeals are heard by independent appeal panels.
Lodging an appeal
You can appeal for any higher preference school for which you have been refused a place. The deadline to submit an appeal for a hearing to take place before the end of the summer term is 16 May 2023.
Even if you plan to appeal, we advise you to accept the offer you have been made, so that your child has a secured place for September 2023. Doing so will not affect any appeal you make, or your place on any waiting lists.