Starting primary school

If you have a child born between 1 September 2020 and 31 August 2021, you must apply for your child to start primary school in September 2025.

Primary school applications
There have been reports of processing issues when applying for a primary school place. If you come across any problems making a new application, visit eAdmissions support online or call the helpdesk on 020 8255 5555 then choose option 1.
We apologise for the inconvenience caused and thank you for your patience.

In this section

Key dates

  • The deadline for on-time applications was Wednesday 15 January. 
  • National offer day was Wednesday 16 April.

National offer day: Wednesday 16 April

You must accept your offer by Wednesday 30 April to secure your child's school place. 

If you applied online:

  •  you will receive an email on the evening of Wednesday 16 April, advising you to log back into your eAdmissions account to view and accept your offer
  • you will not receive an offer letter in the post
  • all relevant information will be available on the eAdmissions website. 

If you have changed your email address and do not receive an email, you can still log into your account on the evening of offer day.

Please note: If you applied online after Wednesday 15 January, you will not be able to view your outcome online. An offer letter will be sent via email or post in accordance with our late application timetable.

Access your eAdmissions account

If you submitted a paper application, your offer letter will be emailed with full instructions on how to accept your school offer.

For data protection reasons, our school placement and admissions team cannot advise parents/guardians of the outcome of their application over the telephone.

Please note: If you applied after Wednesday 15 January, you would receive an outcome via email following late allocations that begin during May.

Accept/decline school offer

Once you have accepted the offer, we will advise the school, who will contact you directly between April and July, with all the relevant admission information. 

Please note: Different schools send their information out to parents/guardians at various times.

If you do not respond to the offer within 5 days, you will be contacted again for a response. At that time if you do not reply, we will withdraw the offer we have made, and offer it to another child.

Declining your offer

If you applied online, you can decline the offer online. Please ensure you state the reason(s) for the decline, for example if you have moved out of the area. If you are unhappy with the school offer, you are strongly advised to accept it. This will not affect any of your higher preferences and your child will be placed on the waiting list for all schools you named as a higher preference.

Waiting lists

For Hillingdon community schools please contact the Hillingdon Council's school placement and admissions team for more information.

All Academy, Foundation, Free and Voluntary Aided (faith) schools hold their own waiting lists. If the school is outside the borough of Hillingdon, contact the borough in which the school is located, to query whether the waiting list is provided by the school or the local authority.  Please do not contact schools in Hillingdon any sooner than 4 weeks from national offer day, as waiting lists will not be available.

Please note: Any child who is not offered a place at their preferred school in Hillingdon, will automatically be added onto the waiting list.

Appeals

You have the right of appeal under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, against the refusal of a place at any of the schools for which you have applied.

You must contact the school directly to obtain all relevant information. If the school is outside of Hillingdon, please contact the school's borough to obtain the procedure and the date by which an appeal must be received by.

Appeals are heard by an independent panel and have no connection with the school concerned. Please contact the school directly for all appeal information, the process and any deadlines.

For Hillingdon community schools you must contact Hillingdon Council. If your appeals is submitted before the appeals deadline of Wednesday 14 May then your appeal will be heard before the start of term in September.

Late rounds of allocation

You can still submit a late application online up until Tuesday 19 August.

Alternatively, you can request a paper application by calling the school placement and admissions team on 01895 556644 or by submitting an online query form below. However, your application will not be processed until after Wednesday 16 April.

For further information regarding when late rounds of allocation will be, please read our late rounds of allocation timetable (PDF, 62 KB).

Admission of children outside their chronological age group 

Please view our designated Guidance on the admission of children outside their chronological age group (PDF, 232 KB) for information and advice.

Before you apply

Proof of address

When you apply for a school place, you must have parental responsibility for the child and submit evidence to show that you and your child live at the address you've stated on your application, even if you have been placed in temporary accommodation.

Please read our Proof of address (PDF, 101 KB) for details on what proof of address is accepted.

How to apply

The closing date for on time applications was Wednesday 15 January.

If you miss the deadline date, you can still submit a late application online until Tuesday 19 August. However, your application will not be processed until after Wednesday 16 April (national offer day).

Hillingdon Council is not liable for delays due to postal services or internet providers. If you are completing a paper application form, we recommend sending it as soon as possible to ensure it is received before the deadline.

Apply for a primary school place

Please note:

Supplementary information

If you are thinking about applying to a school that considers faith as a criterion, you must complete a supplementary information form (SIF) and return it to the school or address stated on the school's criteria.

The deadline for on-time supplementary information forms was Wednesday 15 January.
Any forms submitted after the deadline will not be processed until after Wednesday 16 April (national offer day).

The following schools consider faith as a criterion; please visit the school's website or contact them directly for further details.

Applications for families arriving from abroad, including from the EU

In most cases, children arriving from overseas have the right to attend schools in England. It is the responsibility of parents to check whether their child has a right, under their visa entry conditions, to study at a school before submitting an application. 

Read more about applications for families arriving from abroad

Statistics

The following provide information on furthest distances offered for community, academies, foundation and free schools. 

Parental responsibility and disputes

Our School Placement and Admissions team has seen a significant increase in the numbers of disputes between parents, relating to where their children should go to school. We understand that, when trying to come to a mutual agreement on child arrangements, parental disputes can be extremely upsetting for all involved (including the children). 

Protocol and guidance regarding parental responsibility (PDF, 179 KB) has been published to help parents understand the council's protocol for dealing with situations where parents disagree. This is general guidance intended to help parents understand their rights and responsibilities in line with the law. 

Can't find the information you're looking for?

If you're unable to find the information you are looking for, please complete our online schools query form.

Submit a schools query form

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Page last updated: 16 Apr 2025
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