Schools, education and childcare Primary schools: Council's admission rules

Determined Admission Arrangements

For Community and Voluntary Controlled Primary Schools 2026/2027

Contents

• Introduction
• Application Procedures
• Published Admissions Numbers
• Oversubscription Criteria
• Waiting Lists
• Late applications

Introduction

As the Admissions Authority for the community and voluntary controlled schools in Manchester, the LA is required to draft, consult on and determine their admission arrangements.  Where there are more applicants than places available the LA will apply the admission arrangements in order to decide which applicants will be offered places.

Admission arrangements for voluntary aided schools, foundation schools, free schools and academies are set by their Governing Body, who are, the Admission Authority for their establishment.  They are responsible for drafting, consulting on and determining their admission arrangements.  Copies of admissions arrangements for these types of schools/academies in Manchester can be found on the school/academy website and the LA’s website.  They are also available on request from the relevant school/academy and the LA.

Application Procedures

All parent/carers are required to apply to their home LA regardless of where the school/academy they are applying is situated.  Manchester residents will apply to Manchester LA.  The LA will liaise with other Admissions Authorities in Manchester and other LAs where required.  Manchester LA will inform parent/carers in writing of the outcome of their application.

Application forms are available from www.manchester.gov.uk/admissions and can be requested by phone on 0161 245 7166.  They should be returned to:

School Admissions Service
Manchester City Council
P.O. Box 532
Town Hall
Manchester
M60 2LA

Or  emailed to - school.admissions@manchester.gov.uk

These admission arrangements apply to applicants seeking a place in Reception for the schools listed in appendix 1.  Applications for admission to the nursery of a Manchester school/academy will be dealt with by the school/academy, not by the LA.  Applicants should apply direct to the school for a nursery place.

The LA is obliged to include in these arrangements the following provisions that apply to parent/carers making applications for a place in Reception only:

a) The arrangements do not apply to those being admitted for nursery provision including nursery provision delivered in a co-located children’s centre;

b) Parent/carers of children who are admitted for nursery provision must apply for a place at the school/academy if they want their child to transfer to the reception class;

c) Attendance at the nursery or co-located children’s centre does not guarantee admission to the school/academy;

d) Parent/carers can request that the date their child is admitted to the school/academy is deferred until later in the school year or until the child reaches compulsory school age in that school year.  Where entry is deferred, admission authorities must hold the place for that child and not offer it to another child.  The parent would not however be able to defer entry beyond the beginning of the term after the child’s fifth birthday;

e) Parents of a summer born child may request that they are admitted out of their normal age group – to reception rather than year 1.

f) Parents can request that their child attends part-time until the child reaches compulsory school age. 

Further details of the application procedures can be found in the Co-ordinated Admissions Scheme 2026/27.

Published Admission Numbers (PAN)

A Published Admission Number (PAN) is the number of places a school/academy has in the year of entry.  Places will normally only be offered up to the published admission number.  A child cannot be refused admission to the normal year of entry on the grounds of prejudice to the provision of efficient education and efficient use of resources unless the published admission number has been reached.

Outside of the year of entry it is expected that the PAN will continue to be applied. However, if circumstances at the school/academy have changed since the year of entry, a place may be refused even if the admission number has not been reached.

The published admissions numbers (PAN) for entry in the 2026/27 academic year are shown in appendix 1.

Oversubscription Criteria

The oversubscription criteria will be applied to all applicants where there are more applicants than places available.  All applicants will be placed in a priority order determined by the oversubscription criteria.  Places will be offered to the applicants with the highest priority until all places at the school have been offered, after all children whose Education, Health and Care plan names the school. There are different oversubscription criteria for entry into:

• reception in September (Primary Admissions Round),
• reception up to year 6 during the academic year (In Year Admissions).

Primary Admissions Round – Oversubscription Criteria

Category 1 - children who are looked after by a local authority and children who were previously looked after by a local authority. Children who were looked after or in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.
Previously looked after children are children who were looked after but ceased to be so because they were adopted (or became subject to a child arrangement order or special guardianship order). A child is regarded as having been in state care in a place outside of England if they were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation or another professional provider of care;

• Category 2 - children with exceptional medical/social needs;
• Category 3 – children with a sibling at the school;
• Category 4 - all other children

Within each category, applicants will be prioritised according to the distance between the child’s permanent address and the school.  Distance will be measured in a straight line from the centre point of the child’s permanent home address to the centre point of the school as defined by Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG), and using the Local Authority’s computerised measuring system, with those living closer to the school receiving higher priority.

Proximity to school is used as a tie-breaker, those living closest being given priority. On the rare occasion where the offer of places to applicants with equal-distant addresses would lead to oversubscription, the decision of who will be offered the place will be made by a random selection drawn by a senior officer outside of the education service.

Category 2 –  children with exceptional medical/social needs

• A panel of Local Authority officers will consider Category 2 applications on behalf of the Director of Children’s Services.

• If a parent has chosen a particular school because the child has exceptional social or medical circumstances or the parent is disabled, this should be indicated with the reasons for choosing the school.  Parents must also provide a letter from a medical professional or social worker as supporting evidence.  The LA will then send a category 2 application form allowing the parent to state in full the exceptional social/medical reasons why the child should attend this school.

• If supporting evidence is not supplied with a category 2 application the application will be refused.

• To submit a category 2 request for consideration, applicants are required to do so by completing a separate form. Requests can be made to school.admissions@manchester.gov.uk

Category 3 – Sibling

• A sibling is defined as a brother or sister attending the applied for school when the applicant will take up the place and living at the same address. This includes adopted siblings, stepsiblings and foster children as well as full and half siblings;
• Siblings who are in a nursery class of the primary school will not give the applicant a sibling priority.

In Year Admissions – Oversubscription Criteria

All children whose Education, Health and Care plan names the school must be admitted.

• Category 1 - children who are looked after by a local authority and children who were previously looked after by a local authority. Children who were looked after or in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.
• Previously looked after children are children who were looked after, but ceased to be so because they were adopted (or became subject to a child arrangement order or special guardianship order). A child is regarded as having been in state care in a place outside of England if they were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation or another professional provider of care;
• Category 2 - children with exceptional medical/social needs;
• Category 3 - children with a sibling at the school
• Category 4 – children who have moved into Manchester and are without an offer of a school place;
• Category 5 – all other children

Within each category, applicants will be prioritised according to the distance between the child’s permanent address and the school.  Distance will be measured in a straight line from the centre point of the child’s permanent home address to the centre point of the school as defined by Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG), and using the Local Authority’s computerised measuring system, with those living closer to the school receiving higher priority.

Proximity to school is used as a tie-breaker, those living closest being given priority. On the rare occasion where the offer of places to applicants with equal-distant addresses would lead to oversubscription, the decision of who will be offered the place will be made by a random selection drawn by a senior officer outside of the education service.

Notes:

Category 2 - Exceptional medical/social needs

• A panel of Local Authority officers will consider Category 2 applications on behalf of the Director of Children’s Services.

• If a parent has chosen a particular school because the child has exceptional social or medical circumstances or the parent is disabled, this should be indicated with the reasons for choosing the school.  Parents must also provide a letter from a medical professional or social worker as supporting evidence.  The LA will then send a category 2 application form allowing the parent to state in full the exceptional social/medical reasons why the child should attend this school.
• If supporting evidence is not supplied with a category 2 application the application will be refused.

• Notes: To submit a category 2 request for consideration, applicants are required to do so by completing a separate form. Requests can be made to school.admissions@manchester.gov.uk

Category 3 – Sibling

• A sibling is defined as a brother or sister attending the applied for school when the applicant will take up the place and living at the same address. This includes adopted siblings, stepsiblings and foster children as well as full and half siblings;
• Sibling criteria, as specified above may be applied whether the sibling is older or younger than the applicant with the exception of siblings who are in a nursery class of a primary school.

Category 4 – New to Manchester

• A child is considered new to Manchester when they:

1. Move into the city from abroad and make an application within the same academic year;
2. Move into the city from another LA and make an application within the same academic year and it is unreasonable to expect them to attend their previous school.

• A child who is new to Manchester will be prioritised for their preferred schools.  These applicants have not had the opportunity to apply during the normal admission round when they may have had a reasonable chance of being offered a preferred school. 
• All preferences will be considered equally and if more than one preference can be offered the highest ranked preference will be offered.  If no preference can be offered an alternative offer of the closest Manchester school or academy with vacancies will be made.  Once a preference or an alternative offer is made, the applicant will no longer be considered in this category.

Waiting Lists

Waiting lists will be held in criteria order according to the oversubscription criteria. Waiting lists will not be operated on a “first come, first served” basis.  The amount of time an applicant is on a waiting list will not affect their position on it. 

For the Primary Admissions Round a waiting list will be held up to the 31 December.  At this point applicants will be required to re-apply for the school should they wish to stay on the waiting list.

For In Year applications, waiting lists will be held for the remainder of the academic year in which the application was made.  At the end of the academic year (July 27) all applicants will be removed from all waiting lists.  The only exception to this will be if the applicant has not been offered a place at any school.  In this circumstance the applicant will be kept on the waiting list for the next term.  Details of the waiting list process will be on the application forms and on the offer letters sent to applicants.

Parents/carers may seek a place for their child outside of their normal age group. Where a request is received to admit a child outside their normal age group, the local authority will co-ordinate the request with the school(s) requested and the decisions made.

Late Applications

The following excerpt from the Admissions Scheme 2026/2027 describes how late applications will be dealt with.

9.0 Primary Admission Round - Late Applications

9.1  The closing date for applications will be 15 January 2026.  Any SAFs received after the closing date will be processed as late applications. This means an offer of a school/academy place will be made after all on time applicants have been processed.  Late applications for Manchester school/academies may result in parents/carers not being offered a place at their preferred school/academy.

9.2  The LA will only process applications received after the deadline date as on time applications if there is a good reason for late submission.  Such applications are valid late applications.  A valid late application will include situations where children move into Manchester after the closing date.  Late applications with reasons for late submission will only be considered up to the 23 January 2026.  This is the date when application information is exchanged with other LA’s.

9.3  There possible late applicants will be sent an offer letter on 16 April 2026.

9.4  Applications received after the 16 April 2026 will be notified of the outcome of their application as soon as possible.

9.5  SAFs for OAA schools and academies, received after the closing date will be passed to the school/academy with a note that it has been received late. It will be for that Admission Authority to decide how it wishes to process the application.
 

Appendix 1

Planned Admissions Numbers for 2026/27 entry                                                                                         

Primary Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools