Determined Co-ordinated Scheme for Primary School Admissions for 2025/26

4. Parents will be able to make an online application. If an online application has been submitted, a written application is not necessary. The online facility will be available from 1 September 2024 up until the deadline of 15 January 2025.

5. There will be a standard form for applications known as the Primary Common Application form (PCAF) used for the admission of pupils into the first year of primary education in the specified year.

6. The PCAF must be used as a means of expressing one or more preferences by a parent wishing to apply for a school place for their child (either within or outside the county). The child must live in Wiltshire.

7. The LA will make arrangements to ensure

a. the PCAF is accompanied by written guidance notes
b. that copies are available on request from the LA
c. that an electronic version of the form is available for parents to make an online application.

8. The PCAF and accompanying guidance notes will invite the parent to express up to three preferences in rank order. Preferred schools may be state-funded schools inside or outside Wiltshire. They will also explain that the parent will receive no more than one offer of a school place and specify the closing date and the address to which the PCAF must be returned. They will also confirm that;

a. a place will be offered at their highest ranked school at which they are eligible to be offered a place; or
b. if a place cannot be offered at any one of their preferred schools, and the child is living in Wiltshire, a place at an alternative school will be allocated.

9. Split Site Schools - where a school operates from separate bases and each base provides for the full primary age range (i.e. Both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2), the two sites will be treated as separate schools for admissions purposes, as they have their own discrete catchment area. This means that an application must name the site preferred. An applicant can use two preferences to name both sites.

10. The governing body of a Foundation (F) or Voluntary Aided school (VA) or an Academy(A) can ask parents who have expressed a preference for their school on the PCAF, to provide additional information on a supplementary form, but only if the additional information is required in order to apply their oversubscription criteria to the application.

11. Where a school receives a supplementary form, it will not be regarded as a valid application unless the parent has also completed a PCAF which expressed a preference for that school. The application must have been returned to the LA by the deadline date.

12. The closing date for applications is 15 January 2025. All completed PCAFs are to be returned directly to the LA. Any PCAFs which are incorrectly returned to schools must be forwarded to the LA to be received by the deadline. Forms returned to schools and not received by the LA by 15 January 2025 will be treated as late applications.

13. The LA will send out an acknowledgement of receipt for each PCAF and all online applications. Applicants will be advised to contact the LA if they have not received an acknowledgement within 15 school days of posting their applications.