What happens after you apply

If the school you have applied for has a place, your child will be offered a place at the school.

If the school you have applied for does not have a place, the school will add your child to their waiting list.

You have the right of appeal against the school’s decision to refuse your child admission.

The school will give the School Admissions and Fair Access Service your child’s details and the outcome of your application.

If your child is not receiving education and is not on roll at another school, they will be offered a place at a school closest to your home address that has a vacancy available.

If there is no school place available within what School Admissions and Fair Access Service considers a reasonable distance, your child will be offered a school place under the Fair Access Protocol.

Waiting lists

Waiting lists are compiled in the same order as the school's over-subscription criteria, for example, siblings first.

Waiting lists are not fixed and can change. Your child's name could move up or down a waiting list.

Being on a waiting list does not guarantee that a place will become available.

The school will send you an offer letter if a place becomes available for your child.

Appeals

You can appeal against the refusal of a place in reception class up to year 13 using our in-year appeal form.

Infant class size legislation appeals

It is important you understand that the circumstances in which an appeal panel may uphold an infant class size appeal (reception class, year 1 or year 2 only) are extremely limited.

For an appeal to be successful, the appeal panel must be satisfied that the:

• admission of additional children would not breach the infant class size limit, which requires that no infant class should contain more than 30 pupils with a single qualified teacher. If this is exceeded, the school will be required to take qualifying measures
• child would have been offered a place if the published admission arrangements had been properly implemented
• child would have been offered a place if the arrangements had not been contrary to mandatory provisions in the School Admissions Code and the School Standards and Framework Act 1998
• decision to refuse admission was not one that a reasonable admission authority would have made in the circumstances of the case

It is important that parents and carers recognise this before investing what can be a significant amount of time and effort in an infant class size appeal.

For full information on the infant class size legislation, see Infant Class Size Appeals.

For details about appeals and to submit an in-year appeal form for the schools Birmingham City Council manages, see the schools appeals process.

Page last updated: 16 June 2026