Applications for primary school places in Cambridgeshire can now be submitted in September after Cambridgeshire County Council extended the window to give parents more time to apply.
The change from the usual November start date means that both primary and secondary school applications will be accepted from the same date: 12th September.
The application period for primary schools will close on 15th January, with the secondary school window closing on 31st October.
Parents are reminded to use all three of their preferences when applying for their child’s school and to include their catchment school, which will give them the best chance of securing a place at a school close to their home.
This year, there was an increase in the total number of applications for primary school places with 6,890 applications for reception places at Cambridgeshire schools for September 2019- up from 6,763 last year.
However, the percentage of children offered a place at their parents’ first preference school went down from 95% last year to 92.5% this year because applicants were only naming one school.
Jonathan Lewis, Service Director for Education, said: “I can’t stress enough the importance that parents list all three preferences when applying for a primary school place as this will give them the best opportunity of securing their first preference.
“The extended window for applications will give parents more time to apply and decide which schools they would like their children to attend. It also brings the primary sector into line with the secondary.”
