Where can
parents find information about how to apply?
All of the information parents/carers need to help them make their decision is available on the SCC website at www.suffolk.gov.uk/admissions including information about the School Travel Policy and some School Travel Scenarios.
Parents/carers should apply for a school place online at www.suffolk.gov.uk/admissions.
Only those who are unable to apply online should complete and return to us a paper CAF1 application form which is available to download from www.suffolk.gov.uk/admissions or by contacting us on 0345 600 0981.
Pupils will not be allocated a school place automatically.
All parents/carers must make an application for a full-time school place even if their child is already attending a nursery class in an infant or primary school, a pre-school or a family hub next to a school site.
It is important that parents/carers consider how their child will travel to and from school before they apply for a school place. The following information is very important:
- We will
provide Suffolk County Council (SCC) funded school travel to the Nearest
Suitable School that would have had a place available for a child when
they are: a) aged under 8 and live more than two miles from the school; or
b) aged 8 or older and live more than three miles from the school. This
would be whether or not an application was made for a place at that
school. The distance in a) and b) above is called the statutory walking
distance.
- We will only
provide SCC funded school travel to the child’s catchment area school when
it is the nearest suitable school to their home that would have had a place
available for them and they meet the distance criteria.
- It is
important that parents/carers check which school is their child’s nearest
suitable school on our Nearest School Checker for the 2025/2026
school year. They can find out which are the three nearest Suffolk
schools (based on the statutory walking distance including Public Rights
of Way) by putting their child’s postcode into the Checker which can be
found at nearestschool.suffolk.gov.uk. We update this each year
to include new roads and developments.
- Parents/carers
School Preferences and the order in which they put them on their
admissions application could affect their child’s eligibility for SCC
funded school travel. Our School Travel Scenarios can help
parents/carers work out when their child might be eligible for SCC funded
school travel to their school when the age and distance criteria are met.
These can be found in Step 4 of the ‘Applying for a primary school place’
page online at www.suffolk.gov.uk/admissions.
- Full details
about SCC funded school travel, including the School Travel
Policy, additional arrangements for low income families and those with
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), can be found at www.suffolkonboard.com/schooltravel.
The Admissions Oversubscription Criteria for Community and Voluntary Controlled schools gives priority to siblings. This means that it is very important that parents/carers include details on the application form of any other child in the school or a child who has already been offered a place at the school. Failure to provide this information may affect the offer of a school place.
The Admissions Oversubscription Criteria for Voluntary Aided, Free Schools and Academies may be different from Community and Voluntary Controlled schools.
Any applications made after the closing date may not be dealt with until after places have been offered to those who applied on time. This means that all available places at a parent/carer’s preferred school(s) may have been filled and it could be some time before the outcome of the application is known.
