January 15 deadline for Bishop’s Stortford and Sawbridgeworth families to apply for primary school places

Families have until January 15 to apply for primary school places when the new academic year begins in September 2024.

Education authority Herts County Council has launched its annual admissions process, which also includes those who need to move to a junior or middle school next year.

Parents are urged to use the online application process at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions. Online submissions can be amended at any time and last year 99% of families applied this way.

Cllr Caroline Clapper, HCC’s cabinet member for education, libraries and lifelong learning, said: “We want every child in the county to be able to achieve their full potential, and Hertfordshire’s schools provide an excellent education to thousands of pupils.

“We have a good track record of getting children a place at one of their preferred schools and we understand this is really important to parents and carers.”

Last year, nearly 98% of children in Hertfordshire were allocated one of their four ranked primary, junior or middle schools.

“Unfortunately, we’re not always able to completely satisfy parental preference, despite working very hard to achieve this,” said Cllr Clapper. “I would urge parents and carers to carefully consider the schools they rank, to make realistic preferences and to visit local schools before applying.”

A leaflet explaining how to apply is being distributed to Herts families from the start of November. They will be posted directly to families with children of reception age and distributed by schools to children in Year 2 in infant schools and Year 4 in first schools.

The closing date for under-11s applications is Monday January 15. See www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions for more information.

The on-time application process for admission to secondary, upper, studio schools and university technical colleges, to start in September 2024, has now closed. Parents and carers can make late applications for this process at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions; the last date to make an application to be considered for allocation day is January 30.

Parents are advised to check www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions for any updates to the published admission arrangements or timescales and for advice on where to find extra help about applying for places. Details about new schools and additional places will also be published on the website.