Warnings

• Accepting a place at a school that is not your catchment school does not guarantee a place at the same school for other children in the family.

• Attending a school described as ‘linked’ to a school you wish to apply to does not guarantee a place at that school.

• Attending a nursery attached to an infant or primary school does not give priority for admission to the school.

• Catchment is determined by home address.

• Make sure your application is submitted on time and to the right place. Every year children miss out on a place at their parents’ preferred school, including where this is the catchment school, because applications are submitted late. This may mean that they are allocated a place at a school some distance from home.

• Use your preferences wisely: investigate schools, especially your catchment area school. Find out how many applications the school had last year compared to places available, and the final criterion used to allocate places. This may give you some idea of the likelihood of your preference being met.

• Do not use an address which is not the child’s permanent address on the application deadline. Every year offers of places are withdrawn because of fraudulent applications.