FAMILIES in Leicester who have children due to start secondary school next year are being reminded to apply online for a school place before the deadline of 31 October.
Applications can be made online at www.leicester.gov.uk/admissions – but parents must ensure they apply before the deadline, or their application will be classed as late. Late applications are only dealt with after places have been allocated to everyone who applied on time.
Children who are resident in the city, and are attending a city school in year 6, should have received a letter that contains key information about secondary schools, including catchment area schools. They need to apply for a secondary school place by no later than 31 October this year.
Cllr Elly Cutkelvin, assistant city mayor responsible for education, said: “It’s really important to apply for your child’s school place before the deadline. There is lots of information available on our website that fully explains the admissions process.
“We know that this can be an anxious time for families, so we try to make the applications process as straightforward as possible.
“You can list four preferences on the application form and we strongly advise all parents to choose four schools. Putting down only one school doesn’t increase your chances of getting in there – it just means that if that school is full, you will be allocated another school that you haven’t chosen.
“It is also important to include your catchment area school as one of your preferences as your child will usually get priority for a place here. This means your child can still attend a local school if you don’t get a place at one of your other choices.”
Applying online means parents can log back into their application and change things if you change your mind – you just have to make sure the application is finalised and submitted by the 31 October deadline.
Residents will need to apply to their home local authority for a school place, no matter which schools they want to choose. This means people who live in the city will need to apply to Leicester City Council. Those who live in Leicestershire will need to apply to Leicestershire County Council.
Regardless of where you live, you can apply for any school in the city, county or further afield.
Last year, the city council received 4725 on-time applications for a secondary school place, with 94.8% of families securing a place at one of their four preferred secondary schools. 84.4% of families secured a place at their first choice. Every applicant who applied on time was offered a school place.
For more information on how to apply, visit www.leicester.gov.uk/admissions
Children who were born between 1 September 2018 and 31 August 2019 can take up a full-time place to start at a primary or infant school from the autumn term 2023. The deadline for applying for these places is 15 January 2023.
Parents and carers of children who are due to transfer from an infant to a junior school next year will also need to apply by 15 January 2023.
More information is available at www.leicester.gov.uk/admissions
ENDS