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What happens after primary school offer day on Wednesday 16 April 2025


If you are happy with the school place offered to your child, then you do not need to take any further action.

The school will contact you in due course with details about school uniform, taster days and summer starter information.

If you have not heard from the school within four weeks of the offer being made you should contact the school directly. You must tell us about any changes to your contact details (address, telephone number, email) as the school will be using the details you have submitted on your admissions application form to contact you. It's very important to make sure this is kept up to date.

Reallocation day - Wednesday 7 May 2025

If you have not been offered your first, second or third preferred school, we have a day called reallocation day which takes place on Wednesday 7 May 2025 for Primary and Year 3 (Junior Schools only) admissions.

After Wednesday 16 April 2025 which is known as 'National Offer Day', you can Contact School places and admissions to request a place at an alternative school to the one you have been offered. This could be because you weren't offered one of your preferred schools or you may have changed your mind since offer day. This could also include requesting a place at a school you did not originally list on your application form.

On reallocation day, we will offer places from the waiting list where places have become available due to a parent's change of circumstances such as moving home or simply deciding that they did not want the school they first chose.

Late applications are also taken into consideration at this point.

We will write to you to let you know if we can make an offer from the waiting list for your child. We will not, however, write to you if we cannot offer a place at a school from the waiting list.

Waiting lists

See our Ask to be put on a school's waiting list for information about school waiting lists including checking your child's current position and how waiting list places are ranked.

Make an appeal

If your child does not get a place at any of the primary schools you applied for, you can appeal against this decision. Your appeal will be decided by a panel which is independent of both the school and the council and the decision is binding on all parties.

You will need to submit your appeal by Tuesday 20 May 2025.

Appeals not submitted by this date will still be heard, however this will be on a later date. There may already have been successful appeals in May or June which may then make it more difficult for your appeal to be successful. It is therefore in your child's best interests to appeal with all other applicants.

See our School place appeals page to make an appeal.

Please note that if you wish to appeal for a Voluntary Aided (Faith) School, Faith Academy or one of the schools listed below, you will need to contact the school directly for information on how to appeal.

  • Beamish Primary
  • Browney Academy 
  • Castleside Primary
  • Catchgate Primary
  • Middleton-in-Teesdale Primary
  • New Seaham Academy
  • Ouston Primary
  • Pelton Community Primary
  • Sacriston Academy


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