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Primary school admissions for September 2020

Thousands of Plymouth children will find out today which primary school they will be going to in September.

The School Admissions Team have been working hard during the coronavirus pandemic to make sure that the primary admissions process was completed on time so Plymouth families can get ready for their children to start school.

Emails confirming school places for September 2020 were sent today. Parents have two weeks to respond to the offer of the school place. For those that applied for their place online, the easiest way to respond is through their online account. If parents do not make a response, the allocated place could be withdrawn and offered to someone else.

Councillor Jon Taylor Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Transformation said: "We know what a stressful time it can be when you find out which school your child has been allocated, particularly with the added pressures on families at the moment as we cope with the coronavirus pandemic, so I’d like to reassure parents that our schools admissions team have been working really hard to make sure we are able to match the majority of children with their first preference.”

The latest figures show that 99.22 per cent of city children (2,675) were allocated one of their three preferences this year.

A total of 2,696 applications were submitted for primary school places this year. That compares with 2,772 last year, when the council was able to match 93.98 per cent of families with their first preference of primary school.

Service Director for Education, Participation and Skills Judith Harwood said:  “Unfortunately, it is not always possible to offer your child a place in your preferred school. Any parent who is unhappy about the school place their child has been allocated can call our school admissions team on 01752 307469 or email primary.admissions@plymouth.gov.uk who are working as usual during the coronavirus outbreak to support you.  

“If we were unable to allocate your first, second or third ranked preference and offered you an alternative which you either need further information about or would like to know about other alternative options please contact us; we work with individual families to support them in finding the right school for their child.”

Parents are also being reminded that for any school they ranked higher than the one allocated, their child will automatically be placed on a waiting list for that school and will be considered if a vacancy comes up between now and the start of the school year. If you do not wish to remain on a school’s waiting list you must tell the School Admissions team in writing.

Full details of admissions guidance and appeals information can be found by visiting www.plymouth.gov.uk/schooladmissions