At first glance, the schools’ admission process may seem a daunting process to parents and carers. Your child’s education will help shape their future, so making such big decisions can be a little scary

By arming themselves with as much knowledge as possible about local schools, parents will put themselves in the best possible position to make the right choices regarding their child’s primary or secondary school education.

Parents should go to school open days, check out school websites, Ofsted reports and league tables, plus talk to other parents close by who have first-hand experience of local schools; such actions will put parents in a better position to make such important decisions. As a parent faced with choosing a primary school for my son two years ago, I found a combination of such sources of information helpful.

To formally apply for school places, parents can either complete an online application – www.bristol.gov.uk/schooladmissions – or a paper application, however, it is advised that parents apply online.

Mike Wheeler, Schools Admissions and Attendance Manager for Bristol City Council explains: “We recommend applying online as the system is secure, checks for errors and you can change your preferences any time up until the closing date for submissions.”

Below is a handy check list for parents applying for either primary, or secondary school places for their children this year.

Primary Schools Admissions Check list

Midnight 15/1/15 – Parents and carers have until midnight of this date to apply for a primary school place for their children.

Parents can express a preference for up to three schools in their application and it is recommended that all three choices are used: Mike Wheeler advises: “We recommend parents use all three of their preferences when applying for school places. Do go and visit the schools you are interested in. A lot of Bristol primary schools are oversubscribed, and home to school distance is often a key factor in allocating school places, so we recommend putting down the closest schools to your home address, while recognising that there are some schools with different admissions criteria, such as Catholic schools.”

16/4/15 – Providing parents have applied online and by the above deadline, they will receive offers of a primary school place by first class post on this date. Parents who applied online will also receive an email on this date with the school that is offered.

30/4/15 – Parents and carers have until this date to formally respond to the offer

If the child qualifies for a place at more than one school of the parent’s three choices, the highest preference will be offered. If a child is not offered a place at the first choice of school, he or she may instead be offered either the second or third choice of schools which has an available place.

But due to many primary schools being oversubscribed, sometimes parents are not offered any of the three preference schools. On this occasion, parents will be offered an alternative school that is both close as possible to their home address, and has a place available for the child. If parents do not wish to accept the school place offered to their child, they then have several options: accept the alternative school, go on the waiting list for their preferred school and/or make an appeal.

Secondary Schools Admissions Check list

31/10/14 – Parents with children due to start secondary school in September 2015 should have applied for a school place by this deadline date.

2/3/15 – Parents can expect to receive an offer of a school place for their child on this date.

If parents do not receive any of their three choices of schools, they will instead be offered a place at an alternative school with a place available. Parents have the choice of either accepting the offer of the alternative school, going on the waiting list for their preferred school, changing their school preferences or making an appeal for a school place.

16/3/15 – Parents have until this date to formally respond to the above offer.

Parents who have applied online and on time will be able to respond to the offer in the same way. Waiting lists will remain in action until 18th December 2015.

However, the schools’ admission process differs for the many private schools in Bristol. Because private schools are independent of local government control, parents who wish their children to gain a private school place must apply directly to the school rather than via the Bristol Schools admissions link, given above. To secure a private school place, an entrance examination must be undertaken by the child. These are usually held in October to January; dates vary according to the school.

An example of which is Colston’s School, an independent day school for girls and boys aged three to 18 years, situated in Stapleton, Bristol. Entrance assessments for the Lower School will take place on Saturday 24th January 2015.

For entry into Year 3, children spend time familiarising themselves with the school and take a numeracy paper as well as writing a story. In Years 4-6, the entrance examination involves papers in Maths, English comprehension and English writing, and children are asked to read to a member of staff. The format is informal to ensure that there are no nerves and the children are able to perform at their best.

For entry into the upper school, there is an 11+ examination for all pupils entering Year 7. The 11+ examination for potential pupils to start Year 7 in September 2015 will be held on Saturday 10th January 2015. The morning will consist of tests in English comprehension, English composition, Mathematics and verbal reasoning.

These assessments at Colston’s School are general rather than syllabus-specific and, while the process is academically selective, the expectation is that the examinations should not require additional preparation.

Headmaster, Jeremy McCullough explains, “First and foremost our aim is to ensure that all those joining Colston’s will be happy members of our community and this process allows us to be sure of this as well as identifying those candidates of exceptional ability who are then automatically considered for Academic Scholarships. In line with our belief in holistic education, scholarships are also available in Sport, Music and Art.”

Some non-fee paying schools in Bristol have an admission process which differs from others. Academies, Foundation schools and Aided schools require parents to complete a supplementary form in addition to the online form on the Bristol Council website.

We hope that this article has made the schools’ admissions process a little less daunting for parents applying for primary and secondary school places this year.

For more advice and information on the primary and secondary schools’ admission process in Bristol, please visit: www.bristol.gov.uk/page/children-and-young-people/school-admissions