Local School Full

Guidance on Local School Full process

Parent/carer's should apply online to enrol their child at the local catchment school to their home address.  When the catchment school does not have a space at the requested stage the Customer and Business Service team will identify an alternative school: This is known as local school full.

Address checks will be carried out to check the home address matches the catchment school requested.  Any applications that do not match will be returned and you will be advised of the correct catchment school.  Submitting a request for the wrong school may delay the start date for your child starting school.  Please check the catchment school before submitting your form.  School catchments can be checked here

When the address matches the school's catchment area and the school can accommodate, you will receive confirmation and be advised to contact the catchment school to arrange a start date normally within 48 hours. 

If the confirmed catchment school cannot accommodate the request the local school full process will be followed.  The school will confirm the reasons for refusal with the catchment school as follows:

• Existing Waiting List  
• School is now full

You should not contact another school directly as the Customer and Business service team will apply the local school full process and will identify the next nearest school that has space at the requested stage for you. 

Customer and Business Service team will contact you by phone/email to advise you of the details of the newly identified school and you will be asked to contact the Head teacher of that school to arrange a start date and organise uniforms etc. at that point.  This will be followed up in writing to confirm the details and this correspondence will be copied to the local catchment school and the new identified school.

If the school offered is more than 1.2 miles for Primary schools and 2.2 for secondary schools you may be eligible to apply for free home school transport.  You can apply for transport online here.

Customer and Business Service Team will hold your child's details on a city catchment school waiting list until a space becomes available and will maintain this by receiving updates from the identified schools.   If more than one pupil is on the waiting list your child will be ranked by applying the placing request criteria.  The first space that becomes available will be offered to the top ranking pupil. 

You will be asked on occasions if you wish your child to remain on the waiting list for the catchment school.  If you decide to leave your child at the newly identified school your child's placement will be changed to remain there as a placing request. By choosing to remain may mean your child will not continue to be entitled to transport.