Offer day for primary schools

How and when will you get offers

If you applied online for a 2023 primary school place, you will get an email after 5pm on Monday 17 April 2023 saying where your child has been offered a primary school place. If you applied by post, we will send your results by first class post on Monday 17 April 2023. We do not give results over the telephone. 

96.5% of children living in the Lewisham borough have been offered a place at one of the schools they have applied for. 

The School Admissions and Appeals team anticipates a high volume of calls and emails in the days following Monday 17 April, and we thank you for your patience when contacting the team during this busy period.

How to accept an offer of a primary school place

You must accept your place by Wednesday 3 May 2023.

Online

If you applied online, you need to log into your eAdmissions account using your user name and password. If you applied online and have been offered your first preference school, you do not need to accept online. We will assume you are accepting the place.

By post

If you completed a paper application, please email your completed acceptance form to primaryadmissions@lewisham.gov.uk

If you applied by post and received an offer which was not your first preference, or have been allocated an alternative school place, then you will receive a letter with the information below:

Parents must accept or decline a school place by 3 May 2023. Verbal responses will not be accepted.

• Parents who have applied online must log back onto the admissions site to accept or decline the place offered.
• Parents who made a paper application must return the acceptance/decline slip by email to primaryadmissions@lewisham.gov.uk

Appeal against not getting a primary school place

You have the right of appeal against the refusal of a place at any of the schools for which you have applied and not been offered a place.

Find out how to appeal.

If you still want to be considered for a place at a higher preference school

If you have been offered a school place but you still want to be considered for a place at a higher preference school, we encourage you to accept the school you have been offered, as we cannot guarantee you a place at your higher preference school. 

Waiting lists for schools in and outside of the borough

Your child's name will automatically be added to the waiting list for any schools in the borough that you named as a higher preference than the school offered. 

Waiting lists will move between 17 April and the start of the school term in September 2023 so there is still a possibility that your child may be offered a higher preference school.

If you are on a waiting list for a school and you decide you are happy with the school you have already been offered, you must let us know.

We can then remove your child's name from the waiting list and offer places to other children if they become available.

If you wish for your child to be removed from the waiting list for any higher preference schools, please email primaryadmissions@lewisham.gov.uk and include ‘Reception 2023 Remove from waiting list’ in the subject line.

What to do if you were offered a school you didn’t apply for

Unfortunately, not every child can be offered a place at a school they have applied for. In these cases, we have a duty to ensure that every child who is a resident in the borough is offered a school place.

If your child has not been offered a place at a school you applied for, you will be offered a place at the school closest to you where there is a place available.

The headteacher of that school will write to welcome you and offer to meet with you and your child and show you their school before you decide whether to accept the offer.

Our primary schools offer modern and state of the art learning facilities. Before you decide whether to accept this offer, please visit the school first and speak to the headteacher about the opportunities available for your child.

If you still do not wish to accept the place, please contact the School Admissions and Appeals team by phone.on 020 8314 8282 between 9am and 1pm Monday to Thursday, or email primaryadmissions@lewisham.gov.uk to discuss the options available to you.  Please include 'Reception 2023 - allocated place' in the subject line.

You will also be invited to meet with an Admissions Officer to discuss the options now available to your child.

From 17 April to 3 May 2023, we will prioritise calls and emails from parents of children who could not be offered any of their preferred schools. If your child was not offered one of the schools you applied for, and you have been unable to contact us by phone, email primaryadmissions@lewisham.gov.uk and include ‘Reception 2023 allocated place’ in the subject line so we can prioritise your email. 

Accepting the alternative offer secures a primary school place for your child, and does not affect any waiting list your child's name is added to, or an admissions appeal.

Your child's name will automatically be added to the waiting list for all the schools you originally applied for.

If you have been offered a school place but want a place at a lower preference school

The object of the coordinated admissions scheme is to offer a place at the highest preference school where your child qualified for a place. All lower preferences in your application are then ‘settled’, meaning the application is not progressed further with these schools.

We will only reinstate a lower preference school if you complete and submit the form below, called ‘Lower Preference Form’. Please complete and email this form back to primaryadmissions@lewisham.gov.uk with ‘Reception 2023 - lower preference required’ in the subject line. 

If you have been offered a school place but want to add an additional preference to your application

We will only add an additional preference if you complete and submit the form below, called ‘Additional Preference Form’. This form is for Lewisham residents who may want to add any additional schools to their child’s application for starting school in September 2023.

If you wish to do this, please complete and email this form back to primaryadmissions@lewisham.gov.uk with ‘Reception 2023 – additional preference required’ in the subject line.

Get more advice

You can get advice and information from the Department for Education on a wide range of school-related issues, including:
• school admissions code
• school admissions appeals codes.

For independent advice, you can contact ACE Education Advice.