Primary school admissions: the timeline and how to apply
When to apply for a Reception place for September 2027: applications close 15 January 2027 and offers arrive 16 April 2027. Plus junior transfer and appeals.
For a Reception place starting in September 2027, apply to your local council by Friday 15 January 2027. Offers are sent on Friday 16 April 2027. This covers children born between 1 September 2022 and 31 August 2023, who are 3 or have just turned 4 when you apply. The dates are set nationally and apply to every council in England, as GOV.UK explains.
This guide sets out the primary timeline step by step, how Reception places are decided, what to do on offer day, and the points that only apply to primary, such as school nurseries, summer-born starts and the move from infant to junior school.
When to apply for primary school: September 2027 dates
You apply in the school year before your child starts Reception. The deadline and offer day are the same everywhere. Opening dates vary: Hounslow opened on 1 September 2026, for example, while Leeds opens on 1 November 2026.
| Stage | September 2027 entry |
|---|---|
| Who applies | Children born 1 September 2022 to 31 August 2023 |
| Applications open | Autumn 2026, depending on your council |
| Deadline | Friday 15 January 2027 |
| National offer day | Friday 16 April 2027 |
| Reception starts | September 2027 |
Offer day moves to the next working day in years when 16 April falls on a weekend or bank holiday. It does not in 2027. Not sure which year group your child belongs to? Our school year calculator works it out from a date of birth.
Applying early does not give you priority over other on-time applicants, but it leaves time to visit schools, go to open days and complete any extra forms.
How to apply
The process is the same as for any state school place, so this is the short version. For the full detail on preferences and oversubscription, see our guide to school admissions in England.
- Apply to your home council, meaning the council where your child lives. Do this even if the school is in another area, or is an academy or faith school. Most councils use an online form, and you can ask for a paper one.
- List your preferred schools in your real order of preference. Every council must let you name at least three, and in London you can name six.
- Complete any supplementary information form a school asks for, as well as your council application. Faith schools often need one.
- Apply by 15 January and keep your confirmation.
Using all your preferences can only help. The School Admissions Code bans schools from giving extra priority to families who ranked them first. Each school ranks your child on its own criteria, and you are offered the highest preference you qualify for. A sensible lower preference is a safety net that cannot cost you a higher choice.
School nurseries and independent schools
A place in a school's nursery class does not turn into a Reception place automatically. The Admissions Code requires a separate application for the move from nursery to primary school, so apply by 15 January even if your child already attends the school's nursery.
Independent (private) schools are not part of the council process. As GOV.UK advises, contact the school directly. Each independent school sets its own registration dates and deadlines, so check them with every school you are considering.
How Reception places are decided
If a primary school has more applicants than places, it uses its published oversubscription criteria. Children with an education, health and care plan that names the school must be admitted. Looked-after and previously looked-after children come top of the criteria. After that, schools commonly rank by siblings at the school, distance, catchment or priority area, faith or a feeder link, in an order each admission authority sets.
At many schools, distance or catchment decides the last few places, so be realistic about how close you live. Our guide to school catchment areas explains how the cut-off changes each year and how to read a school's last distance offered.
If you miss the deadline
Submit a late application as soon as you can. Councils usually consider late applications only after all on-time ones, so popular schools may already be full. Each council publishes its own late application rules, so check yours before you apply.
After offer day
On 16 April 2027 you will receive one offer, for the highest preference your child qualified for. If none of your preferences can offer a place, the council offers a place at another school. Then you have three things to consider.
- Accept the place by the date in your offer letter. The council has to give you a further chance to respond before withdrawing an offer, but do not rely on that.
- Join waiting lists for schools you ranked higher. Lists are ranked by each school's criteria, not by how long you have waited, and schools must keep them until at least 31 December. Our guide to how school waiting lists work explains what to expect.
- Appeal if you are refused a place you wanted. You must be given at least 20 school days to appeal, and you can appeal and stay on a waiting list at the same time. Our guide on how to appeal a school place covers the process.
Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classes are limited by law to 30 pupils per teacher. That makes infant class size appeals hard to win. A panel can uphold one only if an extra child would not break the limit, the admission arrangements were unlawful or wrongly applied and your child would otherwise have got a place, or the refusal was one no reasonable admission authority would make. For a checklist of first steps, see what to do after primary offer day.
Starting age, deferral and summer-born children
Most children start Reception full-time in the September after their fourth birthday. Your child is entitled to that full-time place, but you do not have to use it straight away. You can:
- start part-time, until your child reaches compulsory school age
- delay the start until later in the Reception year, but no later than compulsory school age and no later than the start of the summer term
Your child reaches compulsory school age on 31 December, 31 March or 31 August after their fifth birthday, whichever comes first.
Summer-born children, born between 1 April and 31 August, do not have to start school until the September after they turn 5. For the 2027 intake, that means children born between 1 April and 31 August 2023. If you wait a year, your child would normally join Year 1. You can ask the admission authority to admit them to Reception instead, and it decides each case on its merits. It is best to make this request when you apply, before the 15 January deadline. Councils such as Merton then ask you to apply again the following year, and a place offered in the first year does not guarantee a place at that school the next year. Our guide to when your child starts school walks through the options.
Moving up: infant to junior transfer
Children move up from Reception to Year 1 with no new application. Most primary schools run from Reception to Year 6, so there is no application at Year 3 either. Some areas split primary into a separate infant school, ending at Year 2, and a junior school for Years 3 to 6.
If your child is at an infant school, you must apply for a Year 3 junior place. The Admissions Code requires a separate application for this move. The deadline is the same, 15 January 2027. For September 2027, this covers children born between 1 September 2019 and 31 August 2020. Councils such as Ealing set out the junior transfer process alongside Reception applications.
A linked junior school often gives priority to children from its partner infant school, but priority is not a guarantee. Check the junior school's admission arrangements before you assume your child will move across.
How FindMySchool helps
A strong Reception application comes down to a realistic, well-ordered list of preferences, and FindMySchool helps you build one. We cover more than 25,000 school profiles, with FMS Inspection scores and catchment distance data where available, so you can see which primary schools are within reach before you apply.
- Use the school search or browse primary schools near you to see which schools are close by.
- Check each school's last distance offered alongside our catchment guide.
- If you want a personalised starting point, School Match suggests primary schools based on your priorities and location. You need a free account to see your results, and your top match on your first search is free.
- Read how to choose the right primary school for what to look for on visits and open days.
Before 15 January 2027, do three things: rank the schools you genuinely prefer, include at least one where the criteria and recent distance data make a place look realistic, and send any supplementary forms. That gives your child the best chance of a primary place you are happy with.
Frequently asked questions
Apply to your local council in the autumn of 2026. The deadline for all councils in England is Friday 15 January 2027, and offers are sent on Friday 16 April 2027. This applies if your child was born between 1 September 2022 and 31 August 2023.