It’s primary school national offer day

2 mins read

Tuesday 16 April 2024

Tags: education, primary school, national offer day England and Wales

This news story is for parents in England and Wales only. In Northern Ireland, places will be offered on 25 April. In Scotland, no offers are made, as councils decide where children are placed.

Today, Tuesday 16 April, in England and Wales is primary school national offer day . Today, families will find out if children without an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan in England or a Statement of SEN or Individual Development Plan (IDP) in Wales have received their preferred primary school.

Unfortunately, some parents won’t get the place they want. Don’t panic: we’re here to help.

What if I’m not happy with the school offer?

In the first instant, we recommend that you accept the school place offered if you can, even if you aren’t happy with it. This means your child will at least have a guaranteed school place if other options fail.

Then, there are a number of things you can do:

  • Keep your child on the waiting list for any schools you originally applied for; sometimes there is quite a bit of movement before September.
  • Put in a new application for other schools not on your original list.
  • Appeal for any school where you applied and were turned down.

Appealing for a school place

You can find out more about appealing for a school place on government websites:

Visit our page on applying for a school place, where we go into more detail about your options if you’re not happy with the offer.

What happens if my child has an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan / Statement of SEN or Individual Development Plan (IDP)?

You can find out more about the process of naming a school if you live in England and your child has an EHC plan or if you live in Wales and your child has a Statement of SEN or IDP.

More education advice

Take a look at our education webpages to help you wherever you live in the UK.