A guide for parents and carers about starting school and transferring to junior school.
Starting school is an important and exciting time in your child’s life. It can be a time when both children and parents or carers need support, advice, and information about the school admissions process.
The information in the following pages will help you make an application for an infant, primary or junior school place and understand how the process works. This guide provides profiles of all the infant, primary and junior schools in Brighton & Hove, as well as information about admission arrangements.
The easiest way to make your application is through our website. We automatically acknowledge receipt of your application. You will also receive immediate notification of the decision on your application by email on National Offer Day – 16 April 2026.
You cannot actually choose a school. You have the right to express preferences for up to 4 schools.
In instances where there are more applications for a school than there are places available, we use the admission priorities described in sections 4 and 5 of our admissions information to decide who gets offered places.
Your school preferences will be considered together alongside everyone else’s preferences. Your child will be offered a place at the highest-ranked preference available.
If we cannot offer you a place at any of your preferred schools, we'll offer a place at the nearest school with places available.
We believe all children should have the opportunity, encouragement, and guidance to thrive and fulfil their true potential. The quality and diversity of our schools is something we're very proud of.
In addition to their educational offer, the city’s schools offer a wide range of activities. These include the chance to participate in musical and sporting activities, as well as opportunities to make new friends.
Whichever school you decide to apply for, you should apply for a school place on our website.
Read our schools admissions privacy notice.
If you have more questions when you have read the information in this guidance, contact our school admissions team.
By Deb Austin (Director of Families, Children & Learning) and Cllr Emma Daniels (Cabinet member of Children, Families and Youth Services)
Find the important dates you need to know for infant, junior and primary school applications.
Ensure that you're entirely happy with your school preferences before making an application.
Visit the school’s website or call the school for details about opportunities to visit.
Look at the school’s prospectus. You can get this information from the school. It will give you an idea of the school’s ethos and character, and national curriculum test results.
This is called the published admission number or PAN.
This number is set to take into account the number of pupils each school site can accommodate and how many places are needed in the local area.
The admission number for each school is listed against each school’s entry below.
Read the admissions criteria for each school and look to see which criteria apply to your child.
The admissions criteria for Brighton & Hove schools are listed in sections 4 and 5.
Compare the admissions criteria to the school allocation information from previous years.
Read our How do you travel to school? guide.
This is a list of all infant and primary schools in the city (excluding private schools).
Details of opportunities to visit the schools and their open days are available on the school’s website or you can phone the school for details of their arrangements.
Please note: there are 2 West Hove Infant schools. Make sure you ask for the one you want.
| School | Number on roll (May 2025) | How many places offered under each criteria for September 2025 | Published admission number for September 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aldrington CE Primary | 411 | Information is available from the school governors. | 60 |
| Balfour Primary | 682 |
SEN 0 Priority 1: 0 Priority 2: 0 Priority 3: 36 Priority 4: N/A Priority 5: 54 Furthest child in Priority 5 lived 1119.24 metres from the school |
90 |
| Benfield Primary | 213 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 30 |
| Bevendean Primary | 295 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 60 |
| Bilingual Primary | 600 | Information is available from the school governors. | 90 |
| Brackenbury Primary | 190 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 30 |
| Brunswick Primary | 675 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 90 |
| Carden Primary | 337 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 60 |
| Carlton Hill Primary | 212 |
SEN 0 Priority 1: 1 Priority 2: 0 Priority 3: 9 Priority 4: N/A Priority 5: 20 Furthest child in Priority 5 lived 566.47 metres from the school |
30 |
| City Academy Whitehawk | 339 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 60 |
| Coldean Primary | 308 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 60 |
| Coombe Road Primary | 181 |
SEN 0 Priority 1: 0 Priority 2: 0 Priority 3: 9 Priority 4: N/A Priority 5: 21 Furthest child in Priority 5 lived 2893.39 metres from the school |
30 |
| Cottesmore St Mary Catholic Primary* | 436 | Information is available from the school governors. | 60 |
| Downs Infant | 322 |
SEN 1 Priority 1: 0 Priority 2: 0 Priority 3: 48 Priority 4: N/A Priority 5: 41 Furthest child in Priority 5 lived 762.39 metres from the school |
90 |
| Elm Grove | 415 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 60 |
| Fairlight Primary | 348 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 60 |
| Goldstone Primary | 642 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 90 |
| Hangleton Primary | 407 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 60 |
| Hertford Primary | 208 | SEN 0 Priority 1: 0 Priority 2: 0 Priority 3: 9 Priority 4: N/A Priority 5: 21 Furthest child in Priority 5 lived 802.66 metres from the school |
30 |
| Middle Street Primary | 187 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 30 |
| Mile Oak Primary | 380 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 60 |
| Moulsecoomb Primary | 190 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 30 |
| Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary | 212 | Information is available from the school governors | 30 |
| Patcham Infant | 244 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference | 90 |
| Peter Gladwin Primary | 200 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 30 |
| Queens Park Primary | 297 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 60 |
| Rudyard Kipling Primary | 295 |
SEN 0 Priority 1: 2 Priority 2: 0 Priority 3: 11 Priority 4: N/A Priority 5: 17 Furthest child in Priority 5 lived 779.99 metres from the school |
30 |
| St Andrew's Primary | 645 | Information is available from the school governors. | 90 |
| St Bernadette's Catholic Primary | 218 | Information is available from the school governors. | 30 |
| St John the Baptist Catholic Primary * | 200 | Information is available from the school governors. | 30 |
| St Luke's Primary | 621 | SEN 0 Priority 1: 3 Priority 2: 1 Priority 3: 25 Priority 4: N/A Priority 5: 61 Furthest child in Priority 5 lived 2055.35 metres from the school. |
90 |
| St Margaret's CE Primary | 171 | Information is available from the school governors. | 30 |
| St Mark's CE Primary | 165 | Information is available from the school governors. | 30 |
| St Martin's CE Primary | 171 | Information is available from the school governors. | 30 |
| St Mary Magdalen's Catholic Primary | 173 | Information is available from the school governors. | 30 |
| Mary's Catholic Primary | 211 | Information is available from the school governors. | 30 |
| St Nicolas CE Primary website | 429 | Information is available from the school governors. | 60 |
| St Paul's CE Primary | 169 | Information is available from the school governors. | 30 |
| Saltdean Primary | 568 |
SEN 0 Priority 1: 1 Priority 2: 0 Priority 3: 27 Priority 4: N/A Priority 5: 32 Furthest child in Priority 5 lived 5451.32 metres from the school. |
60 |
| Stanford Infant | 215 |
SEN 0 Priority 1: 0 Priority 2: 1 Priority 3: 20 Priority 4: N/A Priority 5: 39 Furthest child in Priority 5 lived 1497.44 metres from the school. |
60 |
| West Blatchington Primary | 217 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 30 |
| West Hove Infant | 160 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 60 |
| West Hove Infant | 350 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 120 |
| Westdene Primary | 446 | SEN 0 Priority 1: 0 Priority 2: 1 Priority 3: 20 Priority 4: N/A Priority 5: 39 Furthest child in Priority 5 lived 2262.06 metres from the school |
60 |
| Woodingdean Primary | 372 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 60 |
This is a list of all junior schools in the city (excluding private schools).
Details of opportunities to visit the schools and their open days are available on the school’s website or you can phone the school for details of their arrangements.
| School | Number on roll (May 24) | How many places offered under each criteria for Sept2024 | Published admission numbers for September 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Downs Junior | 501 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 128 |
| Hove Junior - Holland Road | 190 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 64 |
| Hove Junior - Portland Road | 485 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 128 |
| Patcham Junior | 340 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 96 |
| Stanford Junior | 302 | All preferences allocated unless offered a higher preference. | 96 |
Any applications received after this date will be processed after the majority of places have been allocated unless there's a good reason for it being late such as a house move.
A late application therefore means you are much less likely to get what you want.
Notifications of the places offered will be made on 16 April 2026 (unless your application is late).
You could disadvantage yourself if you do not use your opportunity to express a preference for 4 different schools.
Each preference is considered in its own right, so give yourself 4 separate chances. Do not list the same school multiple times because it will only be considered once.
We only look at your order of preference (first, second, third or fourth) if we're able to offer you a place at more than one of your selected schools.
Think about the school’s admission priorities as this is how places will be allocated if the school is oversubscribed and has more applications than places.
Don’t assume you will be allocated a place at your closest school. If you want to be considered for a place at your closest school, you need to put it as one of your preferences.
Don’t assume your child will get priority because they attend a nursery school within the area of the primary school.
If you're applying for a church-voluntary-aided school, most of these schools need you to complete a supplementary information form (SIF). This enables governors to rank applications correctly against the school’s admissions criteria.
Remember to send the SIF and any other required documents to the school by the closing date.
If you are applying to a community school but are providing supporting documents about exceptional circumstances, those documents should be submitted with your application or sent to the school admissions team (see section 4).
Children start school in the school year during which they have their fifth birthday.
The school year runs from September to August, so any child who reaches their fifth birthday between 1 September 2026 and 31 August 2027 should start school in September 2026.
Children are allowed to start full-time in September or defer admission until they reach compulsory school age (or until the start of the summer term if this is earlier).
Your child can also attend part-time initially, but you will need to discuss this with the school at which your child has been offered a place.
Your allocated school will tell you the starting date.
If you decide to defer admission, you must inform your allocated school when you accept the place.
Where a place is deferred it will not be given to another pupil, but your child must enter the school by the beginning of the school term following their fifth birthday and within the school year that the offer was made.
If your child’s fifth birthday falls between 1 September 2026 and 31 December 2026, they would normally start school in September 2026. However, you may defer until January 2027.
If your child’s fifth birthday falls between 1 January 2027 and 31 August 2027, you can defer admission until the beginning of January 2027, or until the start of the summer term.
If your child’s fifth birthday falls between 1 April 2027 and 31 August 2027 and you choose not to send your child to school until the September following their fifth birthday, you will need to apply in the 2027 to 2028 admissions round.
This will normally be considered for year 1 rather than a reception class, however, a request for admission to reception can be made.
The process for requesting admission outside the normal age group for summer-born pupil’s application to reception rather than year 1 is as follows.
You should apply for the ‘normal’ year for your child’s admission by the closing date of 15 January.
The ‘normal’ year for reception applications, is the academic year when your child will be 5 years old – between 1 September and 31 August.
When you apply, you should also complete the additional form which is available on the Brighton & Hove City Council’s website to request that your child be educated out of year group. Please also discuss your request with the headteachers of your preferred schools.
You should explain on this form why you would like your child admitted out of the normal year group.
For summer-born pupils due to start reception, this is the reason why they should be admitted into reception rather than year 1 in September after their fifth birthday.
You should also include any evidence to support your case.
Evidence could include:
Brighton & Hove City Council and the school, if it's its own admission authority, will consider each case on its merits.
A decision will be made about whether, after reaching compulsory school age, it would be in your child’s best interest to start in reception or in year one.
Where Brighton & Hove City Council is the admission authority, we'll seek the headteacher's views before a decision is taken.
If there are exceptional reasons why you cannot make your request by the closing date, late requests will be accepted up until 8 March, but requests made after this date will not be considered until after National Offer Day.
We'll ensure that you're aware of whether your request for admission out of year group has been agreed before national offer day in April and the reasons for the decision will be shared with you.
If your request is agreed upon by the admission authority for all of your schools of preference, your application for reception in September 2026 will be withdrawn and you will need to apply again for a reception school place in September 2027.
It's the admission authority’s decision, so if you apply for different schools the following year that are their own admission authority you will need to request again for your child to be admitted out of year group.
If your request is refused by any admission authority for your preferences, we'll continue with your application for a reception place in September 2026 and you will need to decide whether to accept the place or apply for a year 1 place for September 2027.
If you're applying for admission into a different year group or are requesting an accelerated admission, the same process will be applied. However, you should apply for a school place at the same time that other families are applying for this cohort.
In considering these requests the admission authority will also take into account whether your child has previously been educated out of year group.
If you want to move your child from an infant school to a primary school rather than a junior school, you will need to follow the steps below.
To apply, always use our online form or download an application form provided by Brighton & Hove City Council if you're a resident of Brighton & Hove.
If you live anywhere else, you must use the application form, or the online admissions system provided by your local council even if you would like your child to attend a school in Brighton & Hove.
The closing date for applications is midnight on 15 January and online applications can be changed and resubmitted up until this date.
The last application submitted, or form received by the closing date will be taken as your final selection of preferences.
You should decide which schools you would prefer your child to attend and then complete an online application (or paper form) listing up to 4 different preferences.
You do not have to express 4 preferences but if you only give one preference and are not offered a place at that school, you will be offered a place at the nearest school with an available space after everyone else’s 4 preferences have been considered.
This may mean that by the time we look at allocating a place for your child, your local schools may be full, and your child may have to travel some distance to get to school.
Each of your preferences will be considered equally and separately. Listing second, third and fourth preferences will not affect your chance of being offered your first preference school.
Your first preference will only be considered above your other preferences if we can offer your child a place at more than one of your selected schools. In this case, we will offer you the highest-ranked preference we can.
Make sure you like your first preference more than your second preference, your second preference more than your third and your third preference more than your fourth.
The following examples are provided to show what may happen.
These are only made-up examples. They are in no way a guide to oversubscription levels. Do not assume that if your situation is the same as one of these examples, your application will have the same outcome.
Mohammed lives in Hangleton.
His parents are keen for him to attend a local school. They express the following preferences:
Goldstone and West Hove Infant (Portland Road) are both oversubscribed. Mohammed does not live close enough to Goldstone to be offered a place there and he also does not live close enough to West Hove Infant (Portland Road) to be offered a place at this school. However, he can be offered a place at both West Blatchington and Hangleton.
Because West Blatchington was higher on his preference list than Hangleton he's offered a place at West Blatchington.
Agatha lives in central Brighton.
Her parents express the following preferences:
All 4 schools are oversubscribed. Agatha lives further away from Middle Street than the 30th child who could be given a place at the school so she cannot be offered a place at Middle Street. The situation is the same for Carlton Hill.
Although Agatha does not meet the religious priorities for either St Paul’s or St Mary Magdalen she's considered by the governors under their other children criterion.
Agatha does not live close enough to St Paul’s to be offered a place, but the governors of St Mary Magdalen do have a space for Agatha.
Agatha’s parents receive an offer of a place at St Mary Magdalen.
Elijah lives in Hanover.
His parents are not sure whether they live nearer to St Luke’s Primary or Elm Grove Primary, but they would like him to attend Elm Grove as his cousins go to this school. They list the following preferences:
All 4 schools are oversubscribed. Although Elijah lives closer to Elm Grove than St Luke’s he still lives further away than 60 of the other children whose parents have applied for a place there, so it is not possible to offer Elijah a place at Elm Grove.
However, he does live close enough to St Luke’s to be offered a place, even though it's slightly further from his home than Elm Grove. Elijah also lives close enough to Fairlight and Queens Park to be offered a place at these schools.
Elijah is allocated a place at Fairlight because his parents have ranked Fairlight higher than St Luke’s and Queens Park on their application.
Brighton & Hove City Council coordinates admissions with church-voluntary-aided schools, free schools and academies in the city by using the same application form for these schools as for the community schools.
Church voluntary aided schools, free schools and academies are still responsible for offering places in their schools (see section 5 to find out how they will make decisions about this).
City Academy Whitehawk, Moulsecoomb Primary, West Blatchington Primary, Hangleton Primary and Benfield Primary Schools are academies, but they all use the Brighton & Hove admission priorities in section 4.
We will let parents know the schools’ decisions. If your child is not offered a place at your preferred school, we'll offer an alternative place, where possible using your other listed preferences.
Brighton & Hove City Council values this joint working with own-admission-authority schools. It means that all parents will receive one offer of a school place because information about applications is shared.
Church voluntary aided, free schools and academies have their own admission priorities. Church voluntary aided schools often give higher priority to children of the faith. These are set out in section 5.
You should check with the school to see if you fulfil their priorities if you are not sure. If applying to a church voluntary aided, free school or academy you must still apply online to Brighton & Hove City Council or use a paper application form.
Most church voluntary aided schools will also need you to complete a supplementary information form (SIF) or provide other information.
When you're required to complete a supplementary information form or provide other information to a church voluntary aided or free school, you should provide it to the school by the closing date of 15 January.
We also share admissions information with neighbouring local authorities.
If you are a Brighton & Hove resident you are entitled to apply to schools in other local authority areas, but you must do this through Brighton & Hove City Council and include the out-of-city schools in your 4 preferences.
If you apply to schools in other local authorities, you must do so on your Brighton & Hove application. We'll then forward your application to that admission authority for a decision and will let you know along with all the other parents who have applied for Brighton & Hove schools.
If you're applying online, you should use the Brighton & Hove online facility if you live within Brighton & Hove even if you're applying for schools outside the city. We'll ensure that your application is sent to the relevant admission authority.
If you apply to an ‘out-of-city’ school that has been oversubscribed, the further away you live the less likely you are to obtain a place. Check this with the relevant admission authority before applying.
If you are a resident of the city and do not apply online to Brighton & Hove or return a Brighton & Hove City Council application form you will not be given a place at a city school. If you are not sure whether you live within the boundary of Brighton & Hove City Council, contact the school admissions team to check.
Local authorities next to Brighton & Hove are:
A child or young person has SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them.
In most cases, support for special educational needs can be met in mainstream schools. Brighton & Hove City Council is committed to this approach wherever it is practical. Many children have difficulties at some stage in their school career, and often the problem is temporary and can be dealt with by the school.
If you think your child may have special educational needs, please speak with your child’s current school/nursery and the schools you are considering.
Find out about how we support children with special needs or disabilities with our SEND Local Offer.
Contact the special educational needs team.
Apply online or return the paper application form to your first preference school by 15 January.
It's your responsibility to ensure that your application arrives on time. Proof of posting is not proof of delivery.
In all cases, if you return the form to the school, you should hand it to a member of staff. If you need a receipt, you should ask for one at the time.
We strongly recommend that forms be completed online, returned to schools, or delivered by hand to Hove Town Hall wherever possible.
If your online application or paper application form is received after the closing date without good reason it will be considered after all the on-time preferences have been dealt with and school places allocated to them.
This means there is a much greater chance that you will not get a place at your preferred school as the places may already have been given to other children. It will also mean our response to you is delayed.
This is the case even if you already have older children attending the school.
If you have a good reason for your application being late, like you have just moved to Brighton & Hove, your application will be considered if it is received by 8 March.
You must supply independent supporting evidence of why it is late such as a solicitor’s letter confirming the exchange of contracts or a tenancy agreement signed by both parties. This evidence must also be received by 8 March.
If we agree that this is late with good reason your application will be treated as if it were submitted on time. If we do not agree, it will be a late application.
If we receive no independent supporting evidence with the application, we will assume that you do not have a good reason and your application will be treated as late.
If you're moving within Brighton & Hove, you must still make your application by 15 January and then provide your revised application and proof of your new address by 8 March.
Not knowing about the closing date, forgetting to hand the form in or leaving it in the wrong place are not good reasons for your application being late.
Even if your child has a sibling at the school you need to complete an application in the usual way.
Church voluntary aided, free schools and out-of-city schools may not accept these applications as on time, check with the school concerned.
Applications submitted after the closing date listing revised preferences will only be considered from mid-June onwards unless there has been a house move or other change of circumstances. This is to make sure that parents and carers who do this do not gain an unfair advantage over others by having the opportunity to list more than 4 preferences.
When repeat applications are considered, they will be taken as replacing the first application and the first set of preferences will be withdrawn.
On-time applications will be dealt with using the published admission priorities listed in section 4.
Where a church voluntary aided, academy or free school is listed as a preference, it will be considered by the governors who will apply that school’s admission priorities listed in section 5.
Late applications with good reason received by 8 March will be treated in the same way.
Late applications without good reason will be dealt with using the published admission priorities after the on-time preferences have been processed.
If we receive more than one application for the same child before the closing date, we will use the one that was submitted most recently. If they appear to have been submitted by different people, we will check which one is correct before deciding which one to use.
All preferences will be considered equally regardless of whether you have listed them as first, second or third. If we can offer you a place at more than one of your preferred schools, we'll offer a place at the one that features the highest in your list of preferences.
Sometimes we will not be able to offer a place at any of your preferred schools. If this happens, we will offer a place at the nearest school to your home that has a place available.
If the nearest school to your home address is a church voluntary aided school, academy, or free school we may contact its governors to see whether they have places available.
If you do not want us to consider allocating a particular type of school, you should let us know on your application. This may mean your child has to travel further to attend school.
If you're unhappy with your allocated school or with the preferences you listed on your original application, you can submit a revised application listing different schools.
Revised applications will only be considered from mid-June onwards unless there has been a house move. This is to ensure that parents or carers who change their minds are not given an unfair advantage by being allowed to list more than 4 preferences.
Priority for on-time applications will cease after the initial allocation of school places has been made.
Late applications for schools that are full will be added to the waiting list.
People have rights about automated decision-making under the 2018 EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The use of a computer allocation system could be an example of automated decision-making as school allocation decisions are made using a computer algorithm.
Below is an explanation of how this process works.
Applications are submitted online, or paper forms are received and imported into the admissions computer system.
The computer system will then calculate the home-to-school distance from every pupil’s address to each of the 4 preference schools.
Admission officers then manually assess all applications and set the correct admission priority for each pupil based on Brighton & Hove City Council's admission arrangements (section 4).
The computer will list all preferences for each school in admission priority order and within each priority, it uses the distance to order the list of pupils (closest at the top, furthest at the bottom).
For schools that have their own admission arrangements (see section 5), it's the school governors who list the pupils according to that school’s admission arrangements and this is replicated on Brighton & Hove City Council’s admissions computer system.
The final part of the automated allocation process involves pupils who could not be offered any of their school preferences.
For these pupils, the computer calculates the distance from each address to all the schools that still have available space. The computer then allocates the nearest pupils to each of these schools until all pupils have been given a school place.
Following this automated process, admission officers perform a number of checks on a random sample of pupils to ensure that school places have been allocated correctly.
Read the following information carefully. It will help you to decide whether your child has a good chance of being offered a place at your preferred school.
Where there are more applications received for a community school than there are places available, we will use the 5 admission priorities listed below to decide who will be given a place.
We do not use catchment areas for infant, junior or primary schools.
Children with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) will be entitled to a place at the school named in the EHCP. If the child for whom you are responsible has an EHCP, indicate on your application that this is the case.
We do not take into account your child’s nursery place or current school place (except for junior school applications), your childminding arrangements or workplace address.
We do not consider a child’s academic achievements or abilities.
We may contact you at any stage in the process to request proof of your address.
All allocations to community schools are based on the following priorities.
Previously looked after children are such children who were adopted (or subject to child arrangements orders or special guardianship orders) immediately following having been looked after and those children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.
A child is regarded as having been in state care outside of England if they were in the care of or were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation, or any other provider of care whose sole or main purpose is to benefit society.
You will need to supply proof of your child’s status. This could be a copy of the original adoption certificate or order. A letter from the local authority, agency or department that last looked after the child confirming they were looked after immediately prior to the adoption or order being made.
If you are not sure what to provide, contact the school admissions team.
This priority applies to pupils with a specific need that can only be met by one school rather than any other. This could be a medical or social reason that makes it essential for your child to attend a particular school.
To qualify under this priority, independent supporting information must be provided from a professional, for example a doctor, consultant, mental health practitioner, social worker or other professionals working with the family which makes a compelling case as to why the child's needs can only be met at your preferred school and no other.
Advice will be sought from a panel of relevant professionals where necessary to determine whether or not the evidence you have provided is sufficiently compelling to qualify under this category.
The supporting evidence you provide needs to set out the particular reasons why the school in question is the most suitable, and the difficulties that would be caused if your child had to attend another school.
The school admissions team will not seek information about your child or telephone people on your behalf. The decision will be based solely on the information you send in.
Online applicants can upload supporting documents through the online admissions system. Alternatively email documents to the school admissions team giving your child’s full name and date of birth. You can also attach supporting documents to your paper application.
If we do not receive this information by the closing date, we will not be able to consider your child under this priority.
Where an application is submitted late with a good reason or if there has been a change in circumstances (such as a new diagnosis) that has occurred since the closing date, supporting information will be considered alongside the application if it is received by 8 March.
If the evidence you supply is not considered compelling enough to be included in this priority, your application will be considered under a lower criteria as appropriate.
All correspondence will be treated as private and confidential and will only be shared with staff in the admissions team and members of the panel.
Find more information about priority 2, how it is applied and the decision-making process.
Where separate junior and infant schools are linked (see priority 4), the sibling may be at either school and may be older or younger.
If you have 2 children, of whom one is due to start junior school and the other infant school in September 2026, the junior school child’s allocation will be done first, and a sibling link will count for the infant child.
A sibling link is only taken into account if children live at the same main address and the sibling has been allocated a place at the school by 8 March.
Twins or multiple births do not qualify for the sibling link unless one child has already been offered a place.
Where a sibling attends a nursery class on the same school site, it will not be counted as a link for admissions purposes.
You may be asked to supply proof that your child has a sibling at the same address who attends the school.
Children who are attending or have been offered a place at an infant school in the list below will have priority for places at the linked junior school provided the allocation takes place by 8 March.
There's no link between West Hove Infant Holland Road and Hove Junior Portland Road, or between West Hove Infant Portland Road and Hove Junior Holland Road.
Once all the children in priorities 1, 2, 3 and 4 have been offered places at the school, the remaining places (up to the admission number) will be offered to other children.
If there are more children applying than places available in any given priority, the available places will be offered to those children living closest to the school up to the published admission number.
Home-to-school distance will be measured by the shortest route from the child’s home to the nearest of the school’s gates.
This will be measured by specialist computer software based on Ordnance Survey data. It measures using the road network supplied by the Ordnance Survey and some other public rights of way which are paved and lit.
You can check your home-to-school distance measurement and the route used.
If you would like us to consider adding a footpath or would like to query a route you will need to contact the school admissions team before the closing date.
Late requests for footpaths will not be accepted. Routes across public parks or open spaces will not be accepted.
When using roads for measurement purposes the computer measures along the middle of the road. It measures from the address point in your property to the nearest point on the road network and from there to the nearest of the school’s gates to the child’s home.
No other measurement systems will be used for school admissions decisions.
Where the home addresses of 2 or more children are an equal distance from the school (for example, 2 children living in the same block of flats) and only one place remains available at the school in question, the place will be allocated randomly by computer to one of these children.
Where the random allocation tiebreak is used, every preference is assigned a unique random number by the computer between +/- 10 billion. The computer will then list the pupils using this random number (smallest to largest).
If you and your child live on a boat or a traveller site and there's no Ordnance Survey or postal address data for your home, we'll measure the distance to the site or marina.
No special priority is given to these children, however, for families of service personnel with a confirmed posting, or for crown servants returning from overseas, Brighton & Hove City Council will use a future address and allocate a place in advance of the family arriving in the area.
This is provided that the application is accompanied by an official letter that declares a relocation date and some evidence of the intended address.
No special priority is given to the admission of these children. If it's possible to offer a place at the preferred school to one of the children because it's the last place remaining, both (or all) children will be offered a place.
You should indicate clearly on each child’s application if they have a twin or other same-year sibling also applying.
The school admissions team will allocate school places using the address at which a child lives on the closing date for applications (15 January) although late changes of address will be considered if we receive proof of address by 8 March.
Only one address can be used for admission purposes, and this will be taken as the address where the child spends most of their time.
Where a child’s time is divided between addresses, parents must agree which address they would like to be considered for the purposes of the application.
In the event of a dispute, in the absence of a relevant court order, the admission authority will make a judgement about which address applies. This will usually be the address where the child is registered with a doctor.
We may ask for evidence to confirm the address given.
It's an offence to give a false address.
If we offer your child a school place based on information which then turns out to be false or misleading, we reserve the right to withdraw the offer and your application will be re-considered based on the correct facts.
This may apply even if your child has started at the school offered.
To ensure that offers of school places are made fairly, Brighton & Hove City Council is committed to following strict address verification procedures.
The address on your online or paper application will be checked against council tax records.
After the closing date, if the school that you have applied for is oversubscribed, you may be asked to provide further proof of address.
If you have recently moved into Brighton & Hove from overseas or another part of the UK and have not yet registered for council tax in Brighton & Hove, you will need to supply one of the following:
We'll also require proof that the child you are applying for lives with you. Therefore, please provide a letter from your child’s GP, dentist, hospital, optician, NHS medical card, child trust fund document, or your most recent family tax credit letter which clearly states your child’s name and address.
If you do not provide the above proofs by the date asked, we will assume your child lives further away than all the other children applying for the same school.
Even if you prove that you live at the address yourself, we still need proof that your child (or children if you are claiming a sibling link) lives there as well.
Providing proof of address does not guarantee your child a place at your preferred school.
Checks are made on information provided by parents/carers.
If a parent or carer is found to have supplied false or misleading information to gain a place at a particular school, Brighton & Hove City Council reserves the right to withdraw the place, even if the child has started at the school. An example of false information would be the use of an address that is not the child’s normal residence.
It's an offence to give false information to obtain a place at a school. We will investigate allegations about false information and will consider prosecution in any such case.
You will receive an email, or a letter from the school admissions team informing you which school your child has been allocated.
If you want to accept the place you have been offered, you should complete and return the pupil registration form (a link is provided in the decision email) to the school at which your child has been offered a place.
The school will give you clear information about arrangements for starting school.
If your child does not take up their school place on the agreed day and you have not informed the school of any special reason for the delay, the school admissions team may give the place to another child.
You may ask the school admissions team about places at other schools.
Your child’s name will automatically be placed on a waiting list for your first preference school if it's a community school or the Bilingual Primary School.
You may appeal.
Brighton & Hove City Council's school admissions team holds waiting lists for community schools and the Bilingual Primary School.
The governors of academies and church-voluntary-aided schools operate their own waiting lists.
You should contact individual academies or church-voluntary-aided schools to find out about their procedures.
Children will be placed on a waiting list for community schools according to the admission priorities listed in section 4. Within each category, children will be ranked according to home-to-school distance.
A waiting list place can be affected by other children’s names being entered later. For example, if a child’s name were added to the list, that child could be placed above existing entries if he or she had an exceptional reason for admission, a sibling link or an address closer to the school than other applicants.
Children can move down the list as well as up.
Late applicants will also be added to waiting lists as soon as possible after they apply. Late changes of preference (repeat applications) will be added to the waiting list for the new preference as soon as possible from mid-June onwards.
If you have applied for your child to start in reception or year 3 of a junior school and you do not get your first preference school, your child’s name will be placed on the waiting list for that school.
Your child’s name will remain on the waiting list until 31 December or until a place becomes available if this happens sooner.
If you wish your child’s name to be on the waiting list for another of your preferred schools contact the school admissions team.
If you want to remain on a waiting list after 31 December you must inform the admissions team at the end of the autumn term. The waiting list is then renewable on a termly basis.
You will need to contact the school admissions team at the end of each term to confirm you wish to renew or your child’s name will be removed.
The school admissions team will offer the place to the child at the top of the waiting list.
Parents will have 7 days to reply before the place is offered to another child.
If you're unhappy with the school place your child has been offered, you can appeal to the independent appeal panel.
You should act quickly to register an appeal, normally within 20 school days of receiving an email or letter informing you of the decision about your allocation.
If your appeal is unsuccessful the authority will not normally consider a further appeal for the same school for entry in the same academic year.
You can only appeal for a place at a school for which you have expressed a preference. If you wish to appeal it's a good idea to accept the place at the school you have been offered, as this will have no effect on the outcome of your appeal and will prevent you from missing out on a school altogether.
The appeal panel will consider your appeal. This is an independent body that is not bound by Brighton & Hove City Council’s admission priorities or the published admission numbers.
You have the right to appeal for any of your preferred schools, but you may only appeal once for each school.
The appeal panel’s decision is binding on Brighton & Hove City Council, the school and parents/carers.
There's a legal limit on the size of infant classes set at 30 children. Where classes are at maximum capacity an appeal panel can only agree to the appeal if it can be shown that the authority has made a mistake in applying its admission arrangements or has acted unreasonably.
Find out more about appeals and appeal online.
Contact the School Appeals Team if you need more information on how to appeal your child's school place.
The governors of Brighton Aldridge Community Academy (BACA), Portslade Aldridge Community Academy (PACA), Cardinal Newman Catholic School and King’s School are responsible for organising their own appeals. However, this is done via the contact details above.
If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan and you want to appeal against the school named in the plan, or against the fact that no school has been named, an appeal should be made to the special educational needs tribunal, not an appeal panel.
Phone 01273 293 552 for more information.
If you change address during the admissions process, you will need to supply proof of your new address by 8 March if you want us to base your school allocation on your new home address.
If you change address during the admissions process, before the closing date for applications, you must notify the school admissions team. If you do not, and we offer your child a place at your preferred school based on an address where you no longer live, this place will be taken away.
You should also notify the team of changes of address that happen after the closing date. If you do not, you may not receive any information from your child’s new school.
You must provide proof of all changes of address. Until we see proof of a change of address, we'll allocate a school place based on your existing address.
If your application is received after the closing date and we do not receive proof of a house move (or other independent supporting information explaining why the application is late), we'll treat this application as late. It's up to you to provide us with reasons to accept it as late with good reason.
If you're due to move to a new house within Brighton & Hove, you must still apply by the deadline and then provide your revised application and proof by 8 March.
These arrangements refer to community schools. Church voluntary aided schools, free schools and academies have their own admission arrangements that are controlled by the school governors. Contact the relevant school for further details.
If a family has a residence in Brighton & Hove and temporarily lives elsewhere (for example, a temporary job out-of-area, or abroad), the school admissions team may seek evidence of residence at both addresses and evidence that you will be returning to the area.
Contact the school admissions team if you need any advice about filling in your application if this applies to you.
Usually, we can provide free public transport from home to school if your child is:
Most children in Brighton & Hove live within walking distance of the school and will not be able to get free transport.
Distances are measured by the shortest safe walking route. This will be measured by the Brighton & Hove City Council Data Maps system.
If you're unable to obtain a place at your catchment area school, then free transport will be provided we're unable to offer you an alternative school within 3 miles of your home.
If you choose not to apply for the appropriate school and apply for a school beyond the statutory walking distance from your home, you will not be entitled to free transport unless:
When applying for schools, consider carefully which schools are your nearest suitable schools as this may affect your eligibility for Home To School Transport, if they are not in your catchment area.
If you get the maximum amount of Working Tax Credit or free school meals for your child, we can provide free public transport for your child if they are:
When a person is first awarded tax credits, or following a change in their household circumstances, HM Revenue and Customs issue a tax credit awards notice detailing the breakdown and amount of the award.
Part 2 of the tax credits award notice gives details of ‘How we work out your tax credits’ including details of the full WTC elements. This is the maximum amount a customer can receive in WTC in any year. It then lists ‘any reduction due to your income’ and shows the net amount payable. It's therefore readily apparent from the award notice whether a person is receiving maximum WTC or a reduced sum due to income.
Only those with the maximum WTC will be entitled to the greater entitlement to free school transport.
If you're claiming entitlement to school transport on the grounds of low income, you must inform our home-to-school transport team.
Contact the School Transport Team.
You will need to say whether your child is entitled to free school meals, which we can check against our records, or that you receive the maximum WTC.
In the case of WTC, you will be asked to provide your award notice as proof of receipt.
You should contact the home-to-school transport team as soon as possible after you know which school your child has been allocated.
Your child may get help with transport if they can't walk to their nearest suitable school because of special educational needs and disabilities or mobility problems.
We'll require evidence of the child’s special educational needs or disabilities.
Apply for help with home-to-school transport.
Applications for help with home-to-school transport, mileage or Personal Travel Budget (PTB) will be assessed at the Home-to-School Transport Panel.
If a child is entitled to free transport, assistance could include a:
Free transport will be provided for children to attend a school based on the parent’s faith or belief (usually a voluntary aided school) if they're either:
Children travelling to school whether on public transport or in hired vehicles will be expected to behave reasonably and treat drivers, other travellers, and members of the public with courtesy and consideration.
Any breach of acceptable behaviour will be dealt with through the school’s disciplinary procedures, and if serious, could result in Brighton & Hove City Council reviewing a child’s transport arrangements.
In some cases that could mean the temporary or permanent removal of entitlement to travel on a particular route.
Any complaints from parents or carers about home-to-school transport will be investigated immediately.
Where the complaint is upheld, steps will be taken to rectify the situation by whatever means necessary.
If you have a complaint, contact the School Transport Team.
Starting school is a major milestone for all children. There are key skills that schools expect children to be learning before their first day and practising these skills will make your child’s journey to Reception as positive as possible.
You can find out more on the Starting Reception website.
Being toilet trained is an important part of school readiness. While every child develops at their own pace, most children should be reliably out of nappies and pull-ups, and able to use the toilet and wash their hands before they begin reception class. This helps them feel confident, independent, and ready to thrive in a busy classroom environment.
It matters because:
You can help by:
Go to the following websites to get support:
Some of the everyday language used in this booklet has a very specific meaning when used to describe the admissions process. This section explains the meanings of some educational terms.
Academies are publicly funded independent schools, free from local authority and national government control. Other freedoms include:
The body is responsible for deciding admission priorities and for allocating school places.
In the case of community schools, this is Brighton & Hove City Council. In the case of church-voluntary aided schools, academies, and free schools, it's the school’s governing body.
The method used by the admission authority to decide which children are offered places when a school has received more applications than it has places.
A school where the buildings are maintained by the Church of England or the Catholic Church, and the governors are responsible for admissions policy.
With the exception of the costs of new buildings and maintaining the buildings, Brighton & Hove City Council meets the running costs.
Community schools are maintained entirely from public funds and are managed locally by the headteacher and governors together with Brighton & Hove City Council. Formerly known as county schools.
Free schools are all-ability government-funded schools set up in response to what local people say they want and need to improve education for children in their community.
A school that takes pupils aged between 4 and 7, who will normally go on to a junior school to complete their primary education.
A school that takes pupils aged between 7 and 11. Pupils are normally admitted after having previously attended an infant school.
The LA in Brighton & Hove is Brighton & Hove City Council.
State-funded school. In Brighton & Hove these are either community schools or church voluntary aided schools.
A school where there are more applications than available places.
A school whose governors are responsible for making decisions about admissions. Academies, Church voluntary aided schools and free schools fall into this category.
Under the terms of the Children Act 1989, married parents or the unmarried mother of a child have parental responsibilities automatically.
Other people, including unmarried fathers, stepparents, grandparents and other relations, foster carers, and others, may acquire parental responsibilities in a variety of ways.
If you're uncertain about your parental status, the school admissions team will be happy to discuss it with you. Contact the school admissions team for information.
A school which has pupils aged between 4 and 11, that is, both infant and junior age groups.
The number of pupils a school can admit in its intake year. The figure is set after consultation between Brighton & Hove City Council and the school governing body.
The method Brighton & Hove City Council uses to decide who will be offered any places at an oversubscribed community school that becomes available after initial decisions have been notified to parents.
A school that takes pupils aged between 11 and 16, or 11 and 18 where there is a sixth form.
For the purposes of the school admissions process, children are siblings if they share the same main address and live as part of the same household. You may be asked to supply proof of this.
Contact children and learning services within the council.
Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted).