Applications for September 2024 start
Children born between 1 September 2019 and 31 August 2020 are due to start reception class at primary school in September 2024.
Children born between 1 September 2016 and 31 August 2017 who currently attend an infant school are due to start year three at junior school in September 2024.
Applications open on 1 September and will close on Monday 15 January 2024.
You must apply through the local authority where you pay council tax even if you intend to name a school located in another area.
We require a separate application for each child if you are applying for children of a multiple birth.
Tell us in your application if your child has a brother or sister (sibling) who will still be attending your preferred school(s) in September 2024 so we can apply the appropriate priority. Make sure you are familiar with the sibling link between infant and junior schools.
If your child was born in the summer (1 April to 31 August) and you are considering delaying their entry into Reception until the term after their fifth birthday, please read the information about how to make this request in the brochure linked at the bottom of the page.
Naming preferred schools
You can name up to six schools in your application including academy or free schools and schools in other council areas.
The regulations allow for you to express a preference for a school, but this is not the same as being able to choose which school your child attends. Achieving for Children and the schools are committed to meeting parental preference where places are available, but you must be realistic when deciding your preferences.
You may not receive an offer at any of your preferred schools if your child is unlikely to qualify for a place. This could happen if you live too far away from the schools or if you name a church school but do not have priority under the faith criterion.
Certain schools need additional information to apply their admissions criteria and may require you to also complete a Supplementary Information Form. For example, schools that prioritise applications by faith. If you are applying for this type of school, please check the school's website for further information and to download a Supplementary Information Form. The form must be returned directly to the school.
You can find information about how places were allocated at community school for the last three years in the relevant application section below. Data about the September 2023 allocation will be available in October 2023. To find out how places were allocated for other schools, please visit individual school websites.
You are advised to name your nearest school that admits children under the home-to-school distance criterion (rule) as one of your six preferences. By using all your six preferences you will maximise your chances of being offered a preferred school.
It is important that you name the schools in the order that you most prefer them. This is because your child could qualify for a place at more than one school. If this happens, your home council will look at your order of preference and you will be offered the highest preferred school that your child has qualified for.
If you name schools in other council areas we will pass details of your application to the relevant council. They will tell us whether a school place can be offered.
Admission criteria
If there are more applications received than there are places available, a school will use its published oversubscription criteria (rules) to work out which children have priority and can be offered places. The criteria for each borough’s primary, infant and junior schools is summarised in the relevant school information brochure, and is published in full on the individual schools’ websites. It is your responsibility to familiarise yourself with how your preferred schools prioritise applications.
Each school that you name as a preference will consider your child's application against its admissions criteria only. Schools are not told your order of preference as this is confidential.
For example, an application from a parent who has listed the school as a fourth preference is treated in the same way as an application where the school is listed as a first preference. The preference order is only considered when your child has a potential offer for more than one school, and this is when the highest possible preference offer will be made.
Assessment of the home address for admission purposes
Achieving for Children is committed to following strict address verification procedures to ensure that only entitled pupils are offered places.
All applications are subject to the same robust address checking process. We will withdraw an offer if it was made as a result of fraudulent or intentionally misleading information, even if your child has started school.
It is your responsibility to read the child’s home address policy which is published in full in the admissions brochure. This includes information about applying for a child who lives between two properties under a joint care arrangement.
Your application must be made from a single address, and only a single application can be made for a child. The address you provide on your application must be where you are physically living with your child at the time the application is submitted. It is expected that you and your child will continue to live at the address used on your application until they start at their allocated school.
Moving home during the application process
If you move house at any time after the deadline date and before your child starts school, you must inform the School Admissions team. Your child’s application will be reassessed to determine whether any offer that has been made can remain in place based on the new information.
If you fail to inform us of a change to your child’s address, this may be treated as an attempt to obtain a school place on the basis of intentionally misleading information. Your application, and any offer we have made, will be withdrawn
If you move into the borough after the closing date please contact School Admissions for further information and advice.
We will only accept house moves as on-time for the initial allocation, if we are satisfied that you and your child are habitually resident in the property by Wednesday 7 February 2024, and that your previous address can be reasonably disregarded for admissions purposes.
If you move into the borough after the allocation of places you can still complete an application and name up to six preferences. We will offer you a place at one of your preferred schools if this is possible. If all the places at your preferred schools have been allocated, your child’s name will be added to waiting lists in criteria order.
Waiting lists
Your child will automatically be added to the waiting list for a higher preferred school where an offer could not be made.
Waiting list positions are held in the priority order of the school’s oversubscription criteria, and must be re-ranked each time a new application is received. Your child’s position on the list may go down as well as up. Your child will not get any additional priority on the list if they are currently out of school.
Waiting lists for the academic year 2023/24 will end in the last week of June 2024. You must make an in-year transfer application no sooner than June 2024 for your child’s name to be added to the waiting list for the academic year 2024/25.
How to apply
If you live in Kingston, please refer to the ‘Starting school or moving up to junior school in September 2024 for Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames residents' section below.
If you live in Richmond, please refer to the ‘Starting school or moving up to junior school in September 2024 for London Borough of Richmond upon Thames residents' section below.
In these sections you will find the primary transfer brochure, information about the schools in the borough and how places were allocated at community schools in the last three years. Allocation information for other types of school will be on their website.
The primary brochure provides information on the application process and your responsibilities as the applicant. This includes the documents you must provide with your application if you wish to be considered for priority under a particular criterion. Please make sure you read this before making your application to avoid any delays which may prevent your child being offered a preferred school.
Visit the eAdmissions website from 1 September to apply online for your child's primary (reception) or junior (year three) school place.
You must apply even if your child attends a nursery attached to your preferred primary school, or they attend the infant school linked to your preferred junior school.
It is important that you apply by the closing date of Monday 15 January 2024 otherwise your application will be treated as late and only be considered after all those received on time. After the initial allocation of places, late applications are treated in the same way as all other applications.
If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), you will not need to complete the application. Please contact your assessment coordinator to discuss your child’s school placement.
Primary and junior school application outcome for September 2024
You will be sent an email during the evening of Tuesday 16 April 2024 to tell you the outcome of your application. If you applied via eAdmissions you will also be able to view this information by logging on to the website.
If you applied online, use the eAdmissions website to tell us if you wish to accept or refuse the school place your child has been offered. If you applied via the Google form, then you must complete the response form linked in your email.
The deadline to do this is Tuesday 30 April 2024. Submitting your response online guarantees that the school knows your decision.
Applying for a place at any other time of the year (in-year application)
If you're not applying for a reception or year three place in September 2024, you should refer to Changing schools in-year.