After offer day: replies, waiting lists and appeals

Offer days

Year 7 offers come on 1 March and Reception offers on 16 April, or the next working day when that is a weekend or a bank holiday (School Admissions Code 2021, 2.12). The next ones: Year 7 on Monday 1 March 2027 and Reception on Friday 16 April 2027. Your home council (the one you live in) sends the offer, even for a school in another area.

The national dates after offer day, for each intake still ahead. A council's own dates are on its page below.

Reception, September 2026 entry

Reception, September 2027 entry

Year 7, September 2026 entry

Year 7, September 2027 entry

Accept or decline by the reply date

Your offer gives a date to reply by. There is no national reply date: each council sets its own, and it is on the offer. If you do not reply in time, the place can be withdrawn and given to someone else (gov.uk: School admissions).

Accepting the place you were offered does not stop you joining waiting lists for schools you ranked higher (gov.uk: School admissions), and you can still appeal for a school that refused you (gov.uk: School admissions). If you decline, the place goes to another child. Decline only if you have another school place arranged.

Waiting lists

• Your place on a list can go down as well as up. A child who joins later, or moves closer, can go above yours.
• Each list is kept until at least 31 December of the first school year (31 December 2027 for September 2027 entry) (School Admissions Code 2021, 2.15). Some councils keep theirs longer; their own dates are on the council pages below.
• Children in care, children who were in care, and children placed under the council's Fair Access Protocol go ahead of everyone on the list (School Admissions Code 2021, 2.15).
• Some councils add you to the lists for schools you ranked above the one offered; others ask you to opt in. Your offer says which.
• If a place comes up, you get a formal offer. You can take it even if your child has already started at another school (gov.uk: School admissions).
• An appeal panel does not take account of where your child is on a waiting list (School Admission Appeals Code 2022, 3.21).

Appeals

You can appeal for each school that refused your child. Each refusal is a separate appeal, and you can appeal once for each (gov.uk: School admissions). The refusal must give the reason, your right to appeal, the deadline and who to send it to (School Admission Appeals Code 2022, 2.5).

Who hears it. The school's admission authority arranges the appeal: the council for community and voluntary controlled schools, and the governing body or academy trust for foundation, voluntary aided schools and academies (School Admission Appeals Code 2022, paragraph 5). The panel is independent, with a chair and at least two others (School Admission Appeals Code 2022, 1.5).

How a panel decides (School Admission Appeals Code 2022, 3.1 to 3.9). First it checks whether the admission arrangements were lawful and applied correctly to your child, and whether admitting more children would harm the education of the children already there or the use of the school's resources. Then, unless that settles it, it weighs the school's case against your reasons for wanting that school. The panel's decision binds the school (School Admission Appeals Code 2022, 2.25).

A second appeal for the same school in the same year is heard only if the authority accepted a new application because something important changed (School Admission Appeals Code 2022, 5.1). If you think an appeal was run unfairly, complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (council and other maintained schools) or to DfE (academies) (School Admission Appeals Code 2022, 5.4). They look at how it was run, not at the decision itself.

Appeals about the school named in an education, health and care (EHC) plan go to the SEND tribunal, not to an admission appeal panel (School Admission Appeals Code 2022, 3.20).

We do not judge anyone's appeal. Only the panel decides. The figures on each council's page say what happened at each school last year; they do not say what will happen to your child.

Infant class size appeals

Classes in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 can have no more than 30 children per teacher (School Admissions Code 2021, 2.16). If a school refused your child because one more would take a class over 30, the panel can uphold the appeal only if (School Admission Appeals Code 2022, 4.6):

• admitting your child would not in fact take a class over 30; or
• the admission arrangements were unlawful or not applied correctly, and your child would otherwise have been offered a place; or
• the decision to refuse was one no reasonable admission authority would have made. The bar for this is high (School Admission Appeals Code 2022, 4.10).

The admission authority must tell you about these limits before you decide to appeal (School Admission Appeals Code 2022, 4.12).

Late applications

An application is late if it is made after the closing date but before the school year starts, and is not decided by offer day (School Admission Appeals Code 2022, footnote 9). Councils look at late applications after every on-time one, unless the council's own scheme accepts a good reason for lateness, such as a move. Some councils take late applications up to a cut-off before offer day; the council pages show the cut-off where we hold it. A late application has the same right of appeal (School Admission Appeals Code 2022, 2.3).

If you were offered none of the schools you named

Your home council must offer a place at another school, usually the nearest one with places left (gov.uk: School admissions). Accept it, so your child has a school, and then:

• ask to go on the waiting lists for the schools you named;
• appeal for any of them you want to;
• ask the council which schools still have places. It must tell you on request (School Admissions Code 2021, 2.27).

Your council

Each council's page has the dates we hold for it after offer day, its admissions page, and what happened at each of its schools last year. "Own dates" marks a council whose own after-offer dates we hold.

• Barking and Dagenhamown dates
• Barnet
• Barnsleyown dates
• Bath and North East Somersetown dates
• Bedfordown dates
• Bexleyown dates
• Birminghamown dates
• Blackburn with Darwenown dates
• Blackpoolown dates
• Boltonown dates
• Bournemouth, Christchurch and Pooleown dates
• Bracknell Forestown dates
• Bradfordown dates
• Brentown dates
• Brighton and Hoveown dates
• Bristol, City ofown dates
• Bromleyown dates
• Buckinghamshireown dates
• Buryown dates
• Calderdaleown dates
• Cambridgeshireown dates
• Camden
• Central Bedfordshireown dates
• Cheshire Eastown dates
• Cheshire West and Chesterown dates
• City of Londonown dates
• Cornwallown dates
• County Durhamown dates
• Coventryown dates
• Croydonown dates
• Cumberland
• Darlingtonown dates
• Derbyown dates
• Derbyshireown dates
• Devonown dates
• Doncasterown dates
• Dorsetown dates
• Dudleyown dates
• Ealingown dates
• East Riding of Yorkshireown dates
• East Sussexown dates
• Enfield
• Essexown dates
• Gateshead
• Gloucestershireown dates
• Greenwichown dates
• Hackneyown dates
• Haltonown dates
• Hammersmith and Fulham
• Hampshireown dates
• Haringey
• Harrowown dates
• Hartlepoolown dates
• Haveringown dates
• Herefordshire, County ofown dates
• Hertfordshireown dates
• Hillingdonown dates
• Hounslowown dates
• Isle of Wight
• Isles of Scilly
• Islingtonown dates
• Kensington and Chelseaown dates
• Kent
• Kingston upon Hull, City ofown dates
• Kingston upon Thamesown dates
• Kirkleesown dates
• Knowsleyown dates
• Lambethown dates
• Lancashireown dates
• Leedsown dates
• Leicesterown dates
• Leicestershire
• Lewishamown dates
• Lincolnshireown dates
• Liverpoolown dates
• Lutonown dates
• Manchester
• Medwayown dates
• Mertonown dates
• Middlesbrough
• Milton Keynesown dates
• Newcastle upon Tyneown dates
• Newhamown dates
• Norfolk
• North East Lincolnshireown dates
• North Lincolnshire
• North Northamptonshireown dates
• North Somersetown dates
• North Tynesideown dates
• North Yorkshireown dates
• Northumberlandown dates
• Nottinghamown dates
• Nottinghamshireown dates
• Oldhamown dates
• Oxfordshireown dates
• Peterboroughown dates
• Plymouthown dates
• Portsmouthown dates
• Readingown dates
• Redbridgeown dates
• Redcar and Clevelandown dates
• Richmond upon Thamesown dates
• Rochdaleown dates
• Rotherhamown dates
• Rutlandown dates
• Salfordown dates
• Sandwellown dates
• Sefton
• Sheffieldown dates
• Shropshireown dates
• Sloughown dates
• Solihullown dates
• Somersetown dates
• South Gloucestershireown dates
• South Tyneside
• Southampton
• Southend-on-Seaown dates
• Southwarkown dates
• St. Helensown dates
• Staffordshireown dates
• Stockportown dates
• Stockton-on-Tees
• Stoke-on-Trentown dates
• Suffolkown dates
• Sunderland
• Surrey
• Suttonown dates
• Swindonown dates
• Tamesideown dates
• Telford and Wrekinown dates
• Thurrockown dates
• Torbayown dates
• Tower Hamletsown dates
• Trafford
• Wakefieldown dates
• Walsallown dates
• Waltham Forestown dates
• Wandsworthown dates
• Warringtonown dates
• Warwickshireown dates
• West Berkshireown dates
• West Northamptonshireown dates
• West Sussexown dates
• Westminsterown dates
• Westmorland and Furnessown dates
• Wiganown dates
• Wiltshireown dates
• Windsor and Maidenheadown dates
• Wirralown dates
• Wokinghamown dates
• Wolverhamptonown dates
• Worcestershireown dates
• Yorkown dates

Sources

The rules on this page are from these, checked on gov.uk on 19 October 2026. Where a paragraph number is given, it is the paragraph of that code.

• School Admissions Code 2021: in force since 1 September 2021; the current version.
• School Admission Appeals Code 2022: for appeals lodged from 1 October 2022; the current version.
• gov.uk: School admissions: the government's guide for parents, updated 8 January 2025.
• Fair Access Protocols: guidance (DfE, August 2021): published with the School Admissions Code; the current version.