When Lancashire primary school places are allocated - and what to do if your child does not get one you want

Lancashire County Council, Blackpool Council and Blackburn with Darwen Council will tell families which - if any - of their preferred options they have received.

All schools have admission criteria to decide which children get places, which are set either by the school or local authority. 

While all state-funded schools must give top priority to admitting children who are - or have been - in care, admission criteria can otherwise vary.

According to the Department for Education (DfE), schools may choose to give priority to children:  

***who live close to the school ;

***who have a brother or sister at the school already;

***who are from a particular religion (in the case of faith schools) ;

***who are eligible for the pupil premium;   

***whose parent has worked at the school for two years or more.

WHAT HAPPENS IF MY CHILD DOESN'T GET A PREFERRED SCHOOL?

If you are not offered your first-choice school, you can appeal against the decision. However, even in that scenario, the DfE recommends accepting the offer your child did receive so that they have a school place if the appeal is unsuccessful. Accepting another offer will not affect your appeal or limit other options available to you.  

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Parents or carers who want to appeal a decision should first contact the school’s admission authority, which is responsible for organising the appeal panel.  Parents and carers can find their school’s admission authority by visiting their local council website.

The appeal panel is independent and will look at the case presented by both the admission authority and the parent before coming to a decision.  

The decision of the appeal panel is binding – if the appeal is upheld, the admission authority must offer the child a place at the school. 

Source: Department for Education