Whitecote Primary School Admissions Policy

We are a local authority maintained school and the admission authority is Leeds City Council, who set our admission policy every year.  You can read our school’s admission policy at Our school admissions policies (leeds.gov.uk), or on our website under Key Information > Policies.

How to apply for a September 2024 place

If you are applying for a Reception place for September 2024, all applications are made in advance. Offers are made by the Local Authority on national offer day.

You must apply to the local authority who empties your bins. If this is Leeds, go to www.leeds.gov.uk/apply. The website is a composite prospectus for all Leeds schools, and this includes:  

• all the steps you need to go through to make an application
• the key dates
• a search tool to see if your home address gives any higher priority for admission to any school(s)
• an explanation about how places are offered if there are more applications than spaces (oversubscribed)
• the online application portal - apply online and you will be sent your offer by email
• a summary of each school’s individual admission policy criteria
• data about who got a place in the last 3 years - this will help you work out if there is a reasonable chance of your child qualifying for a place
• Information about applying under a specific admission criteria (such as your child being previously looked after). It is important to ensure you submit all supporting evidence by the deadline to show you meet any such criteria

You can also watch the Leeds City Council school admissions video for more information. 

The council’s social media pages will also tell you about Q&A sessions where you can ask questions.

You can also see information about our school, including previous admission data, on our school page on the Leeds City Council’s website

Application timetable - The below timetable applies to applications made to Leeds City Council. If you apply to another local authority, they may have different dates

	Children born between 1 September 2018 and 31 August 2019 are due to start Reception in September 2023
1 November 2022	Applications open. You can apply online at www.leeds.gov.uk/apply
15 January 2023	National deadline for applying for Reception 2023
12 February 2023	Deadline for making changes that will be considered as being on-time for our school.
28 February 2023	Final date Leeds City Council uses for adding late applications or receiving change of address evidence.   Any new applications received after this date will not be offered a school place until the first round of reallocations in May
17 April 2023	National offer day (first working day after 16 April)
1 May 2023	First cut off for waiting list requests and deadline for accepting offers
15 May 2023	Any reception appeal submitted by this date will be heard before the summer holidays start   Leeds City Council arranges our appeals.
May to end of August 2023	Any available places automatically allocated from waiting lists by the local authority   Lower preference school offers are also withdrawn automatically (even if accepted)
June to July 2023	Appeals heard by independent appeal panels
September 2023	Start primary school

In-year applications

If you are moving into Leeds or want to change schools in Leeds, you need to make a school transfer – often called an in-year application.

This includes

• applications for a place in Reception after the start of term in September
• and applications for a place in all other year groups (year 1-6)

 

Moving schools can be a difficult experience for a child. You should always speak to your child's current school before trying to move to see what support they can offer you.

How to apply for an in-year place

Leeds City Council has delegated the decision making for in-year applications to our Governing Body.  

You can apply for a place online using the Leeds in-year application form at Before you move schools (leeds.gov.uk)  You can apply for places at our school and any other Leeds schools who are part of the centralised Leeds in-year application scheme at the same time.

If you have moved house, please upload evidence of the house move with the online application. You can find out what you need to provide on the above website.

We have to offer places by applying our admission policy criteria to your child’s application and we will contact you with our decision about offering you a place.  We will tell you our decision no later than 15 school days from when you apply.

If we cannot offer you a place, we will:

• write to you to explain the reasons

• explain how you can appeal and   
• add your child to our waiting list in case a place becomes free.

Our waiting lists are kept until end of each school year. You will need to make a new application if you want to be on the waiting list for the following school year.

Appeals

If we cannot offer you a place, you will have the right of appeal. The appeal panel is independent of the school and council and their decision is legally binding.

Before you appeal you:

• should accept any place that you have been offered in case your appeal is not successful
• should think about why you are appealing and check if it is likely to be successful
• could read the advice for appealing school places on GOV.UK 
• could get independent advice on making an appeal from a charity

Leeds City Council arranges our appeals, and you can find the appeal form at School appeals (leeds.gov.uk)    

If you are appealing for a Reception place for September 2023, you need to submit your appeal by the deadline to ensure the appeal will be heard before the summer holidays.

Appeals for Reception, Year 1, and Year 2 – these classes are limited to 30 pupils per teacher by law. This means that appeals for these places are less likely to be successful.

If our school refuses your child a place because of this limit and you want to appeal, you will need to make an infant class size appeal. You can see if your reasons are likely to be successful by reading the Department for Education's information about infant class size appeals.

Other appeals - You can appeal because you want your child to attend a particular school. These are successful if the panel agree that the reasons for your appeal outweigh the school's decision not to admit any more children.

Wanting your child to go to a school because you think it is the best one in the area is not likely to convince the panel that your child should get a place

• Leeds City Council Links to school admissions page.

If your child was previously adopted or looked after, please contact the school because they may be entitled to extra support.