You only have until 15th January to apply for a primary school place in Sefton

It is an important decision for many families when considering which schools to name on their application for starting school for the first time and when moving on to secondary school.

Sefton Council have prepared a guide for parents/ carers to provide you with all the information required in order to apply for school places for your child when they are either starting school for the first time or applying to move up to secondary school.

It is very important that you take the time to read this booklet and refer to the checklist for parents/carers.

The booklet includes:

• How applications should be submitted

• The closing dates and deadlines for applications

• How the Local Authority processes both primary and secondary applications.

• What happens if your application is late

• What to do if you move house during the application time.

• How and when offers of places for both starting school and moving on to secondary school are made

Schools Information Booklet

To help you decide which schools you would like to apply for you should:

• Read the Guide for Parents Information Booklet

• Refer to the Schools Information Booklet to find the schools in your area and look at the admissions criteria for the schools you are considering

• Consider the numbers of successful applications in each criterion for previous years to help inform your choices and chances of a successful application

• Arrange to visit schools

• Look at other sources of information such as school prospectus, Ofsted reports

• Complete the supplementary information forms (which you should request from the school) if you want to be considered under the faith criterion for admission to a faith school you name on your application. You will see if this is required for your preferred schools from the schools Information Booklet.

• Look at whether you child would qualify for home to school transport for the schools you are considering - Section B of the Guide for Parents/Carers

Submit your application online by the closing dates of 31 October for Secondary Schools and 15 January 2017 for Primary Schools.

Find out more on Sefton Council website by clicking HERE