Admissions
Placing requests and appeals
How it works
- 1Check your catchment schoolEvery address has a catchment school, often one non-denominational and one Catholic. Check the exact address with the council: it may not be the nearest school.
- 2Register at the catchment schoolFor primary school, councils usually ask you to register your child at the catchment school first, even if you plan to ask for another.
- 3Make the placing requestApply to the council that runs the school you want. For a place from August, requests are usually made between December and February; check your council's deadline.
- 4Get the decisionCouncils usually reply in spring. If they refuse, the letter must say why – most often because the school is full.
- 5Appeal if refusedYou can usually appeal to the council's education appeal committee within 28 days. If that fails, you can take it to the sheriff court. Some councils allow only one appeal in a 12-month period.
Before you buy or rent: check the odds
Popular schools are often full with catchment children, and some councils refuse almost every placing request to them. Many councils publish placing request statistics – look these up for the school you want, and see how full each school is on its EduThistle profile. If a particular school matters, buying or renting inside its catchment is far more reliable than a placing request.
Additional support needs
If your child has additional support needs, different rules can apply – for example, refused requests for a special school can go to the Additional Support Needs Tribunal (Health and Education Chamber) rather than the council's appeal committee.
Getting help
- Free first: the council's admissions team can explain its rules and deadlines; your school can help too.
- Additional support needs: Enquire, the Scottish advice service for additional support for learning, is free.
- Find a solicitor: the Law Society of Scotland's Find a Solicitor lists firms that handle education law.
EduThistle doesn't give legal advice. Any law firm shown on EduThistle in future will be clearly labelled as a paid listing.