You can read Suffolk County Council's statement on our website.
![Councillor Peter Gould](/image-library/peter-gould-ws-hr-1.xb6cb8b20.jpg?width=470&height=256&fit=crop&quality=75&format=webp)
You can read Suffolk County Council's statement on our website.
If you have not yet made an application or wish to make a further application for a primary (including infant and junior) school, please see step by step below.
Parents and carers can make an in-year application for their child to go to a new school:
Further information is within the step by step below.
Full details relating to information on this page can be found in the following:
Please be aware: You must consider how your child will travel to and from school before you apply for a school place. Your child might not be eligible for funded school travel to their catchment area school if this is not the nearest suitable school.
Find out if your child is eligible to start school during the 2024/2025 school year.
The closing date for on time applications for primary (including infant and junior) school places for the 2024/2025 school year has now passed.
If you have not yet made an application or wish to make changes to your application for a primary (including infant and junior) school, please see ‘Step 5: Apply for a school place’.
You can read more about this in the Admissions to Schools in Suffolk 2024/2025 guide found at the top of the page.
If your child was born between 1 April and 31 August you can choose not to send them to school until the September following their fifth birthday. There is a separate process to follow.
You can read more about this in the Admissions to Schools in Suffolk 2024/2025 guide found at the top of the page.
If your child is changing schools, you need to think about:
Please note: You can still apply for a place at a school even if the year group is full or oversubscribed. If the school is unable to offer your child a place, they should inform you of your legal right to appeal.
Please read the following guidance if you are thinking about transferring your child to another school in Suffolk, but are not moving house:
You can apply for a place for your child at any time to any school outside of the normal admissions round.
Applications will not normally be considered more than one term ahead of the date when you want your child to start at the school.
Some voluntary aided, free schools and academies may have different arrangements. You should contact them directly for more information.
We strongly recommend that you check which school is your child's nearest suitable school on our Nearest School Checker.
You can find out which are your child's three nearest Suffolk schools (based on the statutory walking distance including Public Rights of Way) by putting their postcode into our Nearest School Checker.
We update this each year to include new roads and developments.
A catchment area is the geographical area served by a school. The catchment area school may not be the nearest school to your child’s home address.
Some voluntary aided, free schools and academies do not operate catchment areas. Please check the school's admissions policy for details.
Use the school catchment area lists and maps to find out if your child's address has a catchment area school.
We will only provide SCC funded school travel to your child’s catchment area school when it is the nearest suitable school to their home that would have had a place available for them and they meet the distance criteria. Please see Step 4 for further information.
If you live near the border with Cambridgeshire, Essex or Norfolk you may wish to apply for schools in those local authorities. You can visit their websites for details about the schools in their areas.
If your child lives in Suffolk and you want to apply for a school in a neighbouring authority, you must still apply through Suffolk County Council.
If you live outside Suffolk you must apply to your home local authority if you are applying for a Suffolk school.
You should contact the relevant school or local authority where the school is located for advice on how to apply.
You can find information about schools in Suffolk and other counties from their website, prospectus and open days.
View the schools' details, admissions policies and Supplementary Information Forms or read the Directory of Schools in Suffolk found at the top of the page. This will help you to understand how places are offered for each school you are interested in, as they may be different from one another.
The list of schools and the Directory includes:
You can apply for up to three schools, putting them in order of preference.
Each of your preferences will be considered equally and separately.
Your preferences and the order you put them on your admissions application could affect your child’s eligibility for SCC funded school travel. Please see Step 4 for further information.
Listing second and third preferences will not affect your child’s chance of being offered their first preference. Your first preference will be offered above your second or third preferences where possible.
We cannot guarantee your child a place at any school.
Check with the Admissions Team or the school on the availability of places for your child’s year group. You need to be:
If there are more applications than there are places available, the relevant oversubscription criteria will be applied, and the applicants will be ranked. The applicant(s) with the highest criteria will be offered a place(s).
View the schools' details, admissions policies and Supplementary Information Forms or read the Directory of Schools in Suffolk found at the top of the page for the oversubscription criteria and a copy of the SIF, if relevant.
Read advice and tips for parents choosing a school for a child with SEND.
Please be aware: You must consider how your child will travel to and from school before you apply for a school place.
The following information is very important:
Full details about SCC funded school travel, including the School Travel Policy, additional arrangements for low income families and those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), can be found at Suffolk on Board.
The closing date for on time applications for primary (including infant and junior) school places for the 2024/2025 school year has now passed.
Online applications: You cannot make an online application after the closing date of 15 January 2024. If you applied online, you are able to view your online application below.
Paper applications: If you have not yet made an application or wish to make changes to your application for a primary (including infant and junior) school, please download and complete either version of the CAF1 application form* below.
Please send any applications, evidence or supporting information by email to the Admissions Team. If you don’t have access to a scanner, you can take photos of your application form, evidence or supporting information and attach these to your email.
If you are unable to send us your application or supporting evidence by email, we strongly suggest you get proof of posting. We are not responsible for forms lost in the post and we do not acknowledge receipt of paper applications.
*If you don't have a printer please contact us on 0345 600 0981 (local rate) and we will send you a paper application form in the post.
You may need to complete a Supplementary Information Form (SIF), further information is below.
Read the Admissions to Schools in Suffolk 2024/2025 guide found at the top of the page for more information.
Parents and carers can make an in-year application for their child to go to a new school:
If you live in Suffolk or in another county and you wish to make an in-year application to a Suffolk school, it depends on which school/s you want to apply for:
Click on the school’s name in our list of schools' details, admissions policies and Supplementary Information Forms to find out the type of your preferred school and the oversubscription criteria. You can also find this information in the Directory of Schools in Suffolk found at the top of this page.
If you wish to make an in-year application to a Suffolk community and/or voluntary controlled school, download and complete either version of the in-year application form (CAF2)* below.
Please send any applications, evidence or supporting information by email to the Admissions Team. If you don’t have access to a scanner, you can take photos of your application form, evidence or supporting information and attach these to your email.
If you are unable to send us your application or supporting evidence by email, you may wish to get proof of posting when you send your application. We are not responsible for forms lost in the post and we do not acknowledge receipt of paper applications.
*If you don't have a printer please contact us on 0345 600 0981 (local rate) and we will send you a paper application form in the post.
Please note: You can still apply for a place at a school even if the year group is full or oversubscribed. If the school is unable to offer your child a place, they should inform you of your legal right to appeal.
If you wish to make an in-year application to a Suffolk voluntary aided, free school or academy, you should:
*If you don't have a printer please contact us on 0345 600 0981 (local rate) and we will send you a paper application form or a SIF in the post.
If you live in Suffolk and wish to make an in-year application to a school outside Suffolk, please contact the relevant local authority to find out how to apply.
You may need to complete a SIF if one of your preferences is for the following type of school:
A SIF provides extra information for the admissions authority. This helps them apply their oversubscription criteria to rank your application.
Check the oversubscription criteria for the schools you wish to apply for. Find the oversubscription criteria and the SIFs in the list of schools' details, admissions policies and Supplementary Information Forms.
You need to send your SIF to the school.
Online applications: If you made an online application, you can still view your application.
Paper applications: We will process your application and you will be notified of the outcome as soon as we can, but it may take several weeks.
Please note we cannot provide timescales on when you will be notified of the outcome.
We are doing our best to notify schools and parents of the outcome of these applications before the end of the summer term 2024.
We are unable to provide updates on the progress of an existing application.
If you have not been offered a place at your preferred school(s), you will be given information about what to do next. This will include details of how to make an appeal.
You can read more about this in the Admissions to Schools in Suffolk 2024/2025 guide found at the top of the page.
For community and voluntary controlled schools, the Admissions Team aims to notify you of the outcome of your application in writing within 10 school days of receiving it. However, we will notify you in writing of the outcome within 15 school days.
If you have provided an email address on your application form, we will notify you of the outcome by email. If you haven’t provided an email address, we will send you a letter in the post.
If you have not received an email or letter after 15 school days of sending your application, please contact us by emailing admissions@suffolk.gov.uk or by calling us on 0345 600 0981.
The Admissions Team cannot give you the outcome of your application over the phone.
For voluntary aided, free schools and academies, the school should aim to notify you of the outcome of your application in writing within 10 school days of receiving it. However, they must notify you in writing of the outcome within 15 school days.
Contact information for all schools is available from our online Infolink directory of schools in Suffolk
You can read more about this in the Admissions to Schools in Suffolk 2024/2025 guide found at the top of the page.
We will assume you have accepted the school place offered to your child if we have not heard from you.
This will not affect your chances of getting a place at a higher preference school either:
If your child has been offered a school in another county, you may be required to formally accept the place. Please contact the school directly for details.
If we are unable to offer your child a place at any of your preferred school(s), we will automatically add their name to the waiting list for that school(s).
Names are placed on the waiting list in priority order. This is set out in the school’s admissions oversubscription criteria.
The order of the waiting list can change when:
This means a child’s place on the waiting list can go up or down, for example, due to withdrawals or late applications.
The waiting lists will close on 31 December 2024 for:
You can find out when the waiting lists close for voluntary aided, free schools and academies who do not follow the same policy as Suffolk County Council from the schools directly.
You can contact the Admissions Team on 0345 600 0981 (local rate) or email the Admissions Team to find out your child’s position on the waiting list. Please remember that the information we provide is only accurate at the time you contact us.
You have the right of appeal if your child has been refused a place at any of your preferred school(s).
Find out about the appeals process and download an appeal form.
Appeals received on or before 15 May will be heard by 17 July 2024.
If they are received after these dates they may be heard later. In some cases, appeals may not be heard until after the beginning of the new school year.
You must submit a paper application (CAF1) if you wish to apply for a different school(s) after receiving an offer of a school place. Please see Step 5 'Apply for a school place' for further information.
However, the new application will supercede your previous application.
This means that you must include any schools from your first application above your new preferences on your second or subsequent application if you would like them to remain as a live preference and you still want:
If your application is unsuccessful then you will have a legal right to appeal the decision. The details of how to appeal should be included in the decision letter.
You may also wish to make another application for a different school.
If your child does not have a local school place, we will offer a place at an alternative community or voluntary controlled school, or notify you of an alternative school in your area.
If a school is unable to offer your child a place, please email the Admissions Team or contact us on 0345 600 0981 to find out the nearest suitable school with a place available. We will only provide SCC funded school travel for your child to the nearest school with a place available when they meet the statutory walking distance.
We do not hold waiting lists for in-year applications to community and voluntary controlled schools.
Some voluntary aided, free schools and academies do hold waiting lists throughout the year for all year groups. This information is available from the schools directly.
If your application is refused, we will not process another application for the same school in the same school year, unless there has been a significant change in circumstances of the parent/carer, child or school. This might be a house move or a place becoming available at a school.
If circumstances have not changed you can make another application for the following school year. However, this will not normally be considered more than one term ahead of the date when you want your child to start at the school.
Some voluntary aided, free schools and academies may have different arrangements. You should contact them directly for more information.
Suffolk County Council’s Determined Admission Arrangements for 2024/2025 school year include:
The Suffolk County Council Co-ordinated Admissions Scheme for schools in Suffolk for the 2024/2025 school year explains how Suffolk County Council co-ordinates admission arrangements for the normal year of intake for all mainstream schools in Suffolk and with other neighbouring authorities.
You can search the list of schools' details, admissions policies and Supplementary Information Forms for the 2024/2025 school year.
Find out about Suffolk's Fair Access Protocol.
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