'Help! My child hasn't been offered a school place!'

When you're applying for school places, it's natural to worry that your child won't be accepted by any of your preferred schools. But a small number of parents find themselves in an even worse situation, and are not offered a place at all. 

Take a deep breath: while it can be upsetting that your child hasn’t been offered a school place, they will be – eventually.

By law, your local council has to find your child a school place by the time your child turns five. This won’t necessarily be in your immediate area – the council will offer you a place at the nearest school to your home address with places remaining, but this may be in a neighbouring location.

Local authorities must try to offer you a place before the start of the September term, but the wait could be longer if there aren’t places available.

2. You can keep your child’s name on more than one waiting list, and there is no limit as to the number of waiting lists you can join. It makes sense to join the waiting lists of all of the schools closest to you, as you are more likely to get in.

Be aware that you can move down as well as up on a waiting list. This is because the names of late applicants will be added to waiting lists in criteria order regardless of the date they applied.

3. You can apply to other schools you didn’t apply to first time around. Again, contact the primary school admissions department of your local council for information about how to do this.

4. If you live close to a neighbouring council, you can also check with them to see if there any available places you can apply for. Sometimes a school in a neighbouring borough may turn out to be closer than a school in the same borough. 

5. Check that the local authority hasn’t made a mistake with your application. You can ask them to explain exactly why your application was unsuccessful. Distance from school is most likely, so check how the distance was measured and make sure it is accurate. If it isn’t, you can appeal – but be aware that appeals are generally unsuccessful unless the council has made a genuine mistake.

6. If you applied to a church school or your child has exceptional medical or social circumstances, make sure the local council has considered all the supporting information you included with your application. If not, you can appeal.

7. Sit tight. After initial offers have been accepted or declined by families, local councils will then re-offer any school places that may have become vacant since the original offers were made. Some always become available due to families moving out of the area, or deciding to send their child to a private school, for example. 

Children without a primary school place may be offered something in the first round of re-offers, or subsequent rounds until all school places are filled – and all children have been offered a place.

8. If you're offered a place, accept it, even if it's not at a school that you want your child to go to. This is essential; if you turn down a place, you probably won't be offered an alternative as the council has fulfilled its obligation. You can stay on the waiting lists of other schools even if you've accepted a place elsewhere.