Starting school places

1 Overview

This information only applies if you want to apply for your child to start in Reception at primary or infant school in September 2025.

If your child has an EHCP, you cannot apply using this form. You should already have received information from the Special Educational Needs Assessment Team (SENAT) in Chichester. Please contact them if you have any questions.

If you live outside West Sussex, you cannot use this site to apply. You must apply via your own council. This will be shown on your Council Tax documents. Please contact them for further advice.

Any applications from outside West Sussex will not be processed.

If your child needs a school place in a different year group or at another point in the year, you need to apply to move schools.

2 Find your catchment area school and other local schools

Before applying for your child's starting school place:

3 Before you apply

You must read the information for parents booklet, the appendix and the additional guidance pages before applying.

It is the responsibility of parents or carers to apply for a school place. You do not need to have a letter from the county council.

Follow our checklist to ensure you have completed all the necessary steps before applying.

Application for a school place checklist (PDF, 90KB)

Places for all Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classes have a limit of 30 pupils per teacher. If the 30^th child given a place is a twin (or a child from a multiple birth) the other siblings may also be given a place, as permitted exceptions.

4 Preferences

You can apply for up to three different schools. Rank the schools in order of preference - the first school listed should be the one you would most like your child to go to.
We advise that you use all three preferences and enter your catchment school as one of your preferences.
Please be realistic with your preferences. If you choose an oversubscribed school, the further away you live the less likely you are to be offered a place.
If you select a school as a preference that is not your nearest/catchment school, this may impact on your eligibility for transport. Please see the school transport pages for further information.
Do not include a school that you do not want as a preference as you may be offered this school.
If you apply after the closing date you are far less likely to get a place at one of your preferred schools.
After the application deadline you cannot change your preferences unless there is a genuine unforeseeable reason for doing so, for example, if a sibling changes school.

5 Apply for a place

You can apply for a starting school place from 9.00am on Monday 7 October 2024 until 11.59pm on Wednesday 15 January 2025.

If your child has an EHCP you cannot apply using this form. You should already have received information from the Special Educational Needs Assessment Team (SENAT) in Chichester. Please contact them if you have any questions.

Any applications where 'Yes' is ticked for this question will not be processed.

Making an online application

To make an application online you will need:

an email address

All applications require a new account to be set-up on the Parent Portal unless you have already set up an account, in which case you will need to log in.

Apply online for a school place (external link)

You can save your application and return to it to make amendments, before submitting it. You must ensure that you submit the completed application before the deadline of 15 January 2025.

Return to your submitted application (external link)

If you need to edit your child’s details or make any other changes to your application after you have submitted it, it must be re-submitted again before the deadline of 15 January 2025.

Applying using a paper form

If you are not able to apply online:

complete the application form (Word, 104KB)
return the completed form to the relevant Pupil Admissions Team

6 Offer dates

You will be notified of the outcome of your application by email or letter, depending on how you applied. No information will be provided over the phone.

Applications received before 11.59 pm on 15 January 2025

If you applied online we will email you the outcome of your application on Wednesday 16 April 2025. Emails will be sent throughout the day so we can't give you an exact time.
If you applied by paper form you will be emailed the result later this day if an email address was provided with the application. The admissions office will contact you to request an email address if one is not specified on the form.
If you do not have an email address you will receive a letter by second class post.

Applications received after 11.59pm on 15 January 2025

If we received your application out of time (between 16 January and 12 February 2025) we will consider your preferences after reviewing all the applications we received on time.
If you applied online we will email you the outcome of your application on Wednesday 16 April 2025, as long as you provided an email address in your application. Emails will be sent throughout the day so we can't give you an exact time.
If you applied by paper form you will be emailed the result later this day if an email address was provided with the application. The admissions office will contact you to request an email address if one is not specified on the form.
If you do not have an email address, you will receive a letter by second class post.
Applications received on or after Thursday 13 February 2025 are late and outside the normal admissions round. They will not be processed until after 14 May 2025. You will be contacted after this date.

7 Applying after the closing date

Applications will close on 15 January 2025.

Information about applying after that date will be available here.