National Offer Day 2024: When do you find out primary school places in Leeds and how to appeal decision

If your child is gearing up to start primary school in September, you might be awaiting the crucial decision of where they will be going to start the first step of their education.

After submitting the daunting application in September, parents and guardians will find out if their child has been allocated a place at their preferred school this week.

But what if your child isn’t allocated the school place they want? Well here’s everything you need to know about accepting and appealing your child’s school place.

When is primary school offer day and what time are school places released?

Parents will find out which primary school has offered their child a place for September 2024 on Tuesday, April 16.

To check which school place you've been offered, parents can log onto Leeds City Council’s online application portal. You will need your email address and password.

How likely am I to get my first-choice primary school?

In 2023, 92.5% of families received an offer from their first choice of primary school and  98.3% received an offer from one of their top three choices.

At the same time, over one million additional school places have been created between May 2010 and May 2023, with many more in the pipeline.

What happens after I receive an offer of a school place?

A parent or guardian must accept the offer with the school directly. You can find their contact details on via City Council’s school details tool.

You must accept the offer by the deadline given in the offer email or letter. Otherwise, it may be withdrawn and the place given to someone else.

You should also accept your offer even if your child is on waiting lists or you decide to appeal (this will not affect either process).

How can I appeal the decision?

If your child has not been allocated a place at their preferred primary school in Leeds, or you are unhappy with the selection of schools offered to your child, you have the right to officially appeal the decision to an independent panel.

You can appeal the decision via the Leeds City Council website. Appeals happen in two parts. First you appeal in writing and then you attend an appeal hearing. On the form you need to clearly set out the reasons why your child should have a place at your preferred school in your appeal form.

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

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How are primary school places decided? 

All schools have admission criteria to decide which children get places. This criteria is set by the school or local council. 

While all state-funded schools must give top priority to admitting children who are in care or have been in care, admission criteria is  different for each school. They may choose to give priority to children:

• who live close to the school 
• who have a brother or sister at the school already 
• from a particular religion (for faith schools) 
• who are eligible for the pupil premium  
• whose parent has worked at the school for two years or more

Why might a parent appeal a school’s decision?

• Religion or difficult family circumstances
• A special need or health issue
• A particular aptitude in the school’s specialism
• Transport issues
• Emotional reasons such as historic bullying