Nursery/Reception/Junior school places - additional information
Additional information for applying to places in Nursery, Reception, Junior school
What types of schools are there?
We co-ordinate the arrangements for applying for community schools, voluntary-controlled schools and voluntary-aided schools in Solihull.
Community schools
These are schools set up, maintained and controlled by us. Most schools in Solihull are community schools. We are responsible for offering all places to these schools.
Voluntary-controlled schools
Voluntary-controlled schools are almost always church schools, and the land and buildings are often owned by a charity. We are responsible for the admission arrangements and offering places at these schools.
Voluntary-aided schools
Voluntary-aided schools are maintained and controlled by their governing bodies. Some are owned by a voluntary organisation which is usually a church. The governing body of the school has most of its governors appointed from the church or organisation that owns the school. They look after the interests of the church or organisation (for example, by maintaining any religious association that the school has). Voluntary-aided schools are responsible for their own admission arrangements and the decisions are made by the governing body. Some voluntary-aided schools use their parish boundary to decide who to offer places to. We offer places on behalf of the governing body.
Independent schools
These schools normally charge fees. They do not take part in the co-ordinated scheme. All applications for these schools must be made direct to the school concerned. That school will tell you about the process and timetable. The independent schools in Solihull are:
How many preferences can I make?
You can apply for three schools in Solihull. You will be asked to rank the schools in order of preference (putting your favourite school first). All preferences will be treated equally, as though they were separate applications, and considered against the admission criteria for each particular school. If your child could be offered a place at more than one school, you will be offered a place at the school you ranked the highest.
All community schools and voluntary-controlled schools and some voluntary-aided schools have a local area. However, you do not have to limit your preferences to the school serving your area.
We must receive all applications by the closing date. All applications that arrive on time will be considered equally against the relevant school's published admission criteria.
How are places offered?
We will offer places for all schools, including those at voluntary-aided schools, on behalf of the governing body. You will have two weeks to decide whether or not to accept the place offered.