Parents in London will be putting in applications for their children to attend primary school as the deadline for places looms closer.
Mums and dads of children who are set to start in September 2017 will need to make sure that applications are in for Sunday January 15.
But what are the best ways of making sure that what you have submitted is what councils need to process your application properly?
We rounded up the best advice from the London boroughs to help you out ahead of the day.
1. If you're struggling with online applications, check your borough for drop-in sessions to help
Boroughs suck as Hounslow have said that although the process is quicker and easier online for many parents, some still might struggle with the application.
That's why it is holding two drop ins, including one on January 11 from 10am to 2pm.
2. Make sure you are not missing out by checking if it applies to your child
It sounds ridiculous, but it can be the simple things which can muddle people.
This application is for children born between 1 September 2012 and 31 August 2013.
3. Get your application in before the deadline
Ealing Council said: "People who return their applications after the deadline greatly decrease their chances of being offered a place at their preferred school."
For the borough, all children who applied on time last year were offered a place at an Ealing primary school and more than 94% were offered a place at one of their top three primary schools.
With those figures in mind, it's definitely worth getting yours in before January 15.
4. Have the date noted of when you will find out about the place
There will be a single, national offer day on Monday April 17, when parents across the country will find out where their child has been offered a school place.
5. Be familiar with allocation rules which have changed
Following a public consultation held in 2014 priority is now given to siblings of children already at the school.
This change was introduced because previously, growing demand meant that some families were unable to secure a place for a younger child at their older sibling’s school.
6. Remember that catchment areas no longer apply
Schools no longer have priority areas, more commonly known as catchments.
Instead applications will be assessed on straight-line distances from schools.
This removes the anomaly where families sometimes could not secure a place at a school they live close to, because of where the catchment boundary fell.
7. Faith and free schools might have different rules
Faith schools, foundation schools, free schools and academies have their own admission criteria and parents should read them carefully.
8. Don't think because your child attends the nursery, they will get a place at the school
Brent borough said: "Everyone must apply for their child even if they already attend the nursery.
"Schools are not permitted to give priority for Reception places to children already in their Nursery class."
9. Stick to the number of schools you're supposed to list in the form
Councils have specifically noted that children "can only be considered once for a school and any duplicated preferences will be deleted".
Those who only list one school do not increase their child’s chances of being offered a place.
Keep up to date with the latest news in west London via the free getwestlondon app.
You can even set it to receive push notifications for all the breaking news in your area.
Available to download from the App Store or Google Play for Android now!
