Primary school admissions

Reception school admissions: starting reception in 2018/19

National Offer Day - Monday 16 April 2018

All parents that applied for a Recpetion school place before January 2018 will be sent a letter with the outcome of their application on 16 April. Parents will also be able to view the outcome of their application on the evening of 16 April by visiting eadmissions portal. Parents will receive an email to inform them when the information is available to view on the website.

Closing date for making applications: 15 January 2018

If you are yet to submit an online application, you can still do so but your application will be considered late and a decision will not be made until applications submitted on time have been considered.

Pupils usually start primary school in the year of their fifth birthday. If your child was born between 1 September 2013 and 31 August 2014 this will be from September 2018. You must apply via the eadmissions portal.

Before you apply

The Starting School in Tower Hamlets brochure is available online and contains all the information you need on applying for your child's reception place. You can also get a copy from nurseries and primary schools in Tower Hamlets or by contacting the Pupil Services team on 020 7364 5006. For more information on catchment areas and the tie-break criterion please see our 'Equal Chance' page.

How to apply

You must apply online, please visit the eadmissions portal. You can apply online from 1 September 2017 and until 15 January 2018. Applying online for your child's reception place is a simple process and you can easily make changes to your application up until the closing date.

Additional Information

Deferring school entry

All children are expected to start school in the reception year in September, if they will be five in that school year. Deferring school entry means that a child begins school later than September, but still joins their own age-peer group. Please refer to the guidance on Deferring School Entry for more information and apply using the Deferring School Entry Form. Alternatively please contact Pupil Services on 020 7364 5006 and a form can be sent to you.

Appeals

If your child is not offered a place at a school of your preference you can appeal against that decision. The appeal panel is independent of the council and schools in the borough.

Infant class size legislation applies to appeals for children starting reception. This means that a class must not contain more than 30 pupils with a single school teacher. Parents should note that there are only very limited circumstances where reception appeals are successful.

If you wish to appeal you can download an admission appeals form or call Pupil Services. Please include any evidence or supporting material with your appeal form and you must give the grounds for your appeal at the time the appeal is lodged. You may appeal for more than one school.

For your appeal to be heard in June 2018, you will need to submit your appeal form by 18 May 2018. Appeals received after this date will result in a delay to your appeal being heard. Please read the appeal timetable 2018 for more information.

Need a school place today?

If your child is of nursery, primary or secondary school age now and does not have a school place, please contact Pupil Services on 020 7364 5006 or visit our in-year admissions page.