Admission arrangements for primary schools
If there are more applications than places available at a school, the admission authority for the school will use its admission criteria to decide which applicants should be offered a place.
Decisions about offers of places in community schools are the responsibility of the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
Decisions about admissions to academies and voluntary aided schools are made by the schools' governing bodies.
You can find out what type of school a school is by looking at its entry in the primary school admissions booklet.
Voluntary aided schools
The admissions policies of different voluntary aided schools are varied, so we recommend that you read the admission arrangements for these schools before you apply.
These schools also have separate supplementary information forms you'll need to complete if you're applying to them.
The following schools use a supplementary information form. These forms and the schools’ admission arrangements can be can be downloaded from their website, which you can link to by clicking on the names below.
You can find the admissions arrangements information and download supplementary information forms for primary voluntary aided schools on the specific school's website. Find a primary school's website using our directory.
Community schools
Admissions priority
First priority will go to children with an education, health and care (EHC) plan naming the school.
Remaining places will be given in the following order:
1. Looked after children and previously looked after children who have been adopted or become subject to a child arrangements or a special guardianship order, immediately after having been looked after.
A looked after child is a child who is in the care of an English or Welsh local authority, including foster care.
A child is regarded as having been in state care in a place outside of England if they were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation or any other provider of care whose sole purpose is to benefit society.
2. Children or their immediate family member with a chronic medical or social care need for a particular school.
Applicants need to set out the reasons why the school can best meet needs and the implications for the child or immediate family member if a place was not obtained at the school. Evidence of the condition or need must be submitted with the application, such as a letter from a registered health professional or practitioner, for example, a doctor or a social worker.
3. Children who have a sibling (brother or sister) living at the same address - who will be attending the school at the time of the child's admission.
Sibling means a full, half, step brother or sister, or a child living at the same household at the date of their entry to school. This does not include siblings who attend a school's nursery provision.
4. Children of staff.
This is for children of a member of teaching staff employed directly by the school and not an agency. Staff must be employed for 2 or more years when they apply to a school place or be recruited to fill a vacant post with demonstrable skill shortage.
Staff members applying under this category must provide:
- evidence of their relationship with the child
- a letter from the headteacher confirming they have been employed for a minimum of two years at the time of the application or be recruited to fill a vacant post with demonstrable skill shortage
The child must be:
- the staff member's natural or adopted child who lives with them
- the staff member's stepchild or child of a cohabiting partner who lives at the same address
- a child living at the same address as the staff member at the date of their application for entry
- a refugee child living with the staff member
To avoid doubt, a stepchild or child of a cohabiting partner who lives at another address will not be eligible for a school place under this category.
5. Other children based on home to school distance.
Distance from home to school is measured as a straight line from the centre of the home address to the centre of the school site. In the event that two or more applicants have equal right to a place under any of the above criteria, priority will be given to those who live nearest to the school. Should two or more applicants live an equal distance from the school, including instances where more than one applicant lives in a multi-occupancy building, the offer of a place will be decided by random allocation.
Attendance at a school's nursery, children of staff, work commitments and childcare arrangements are not part of the decision making process.
You can find full details of the council's admission policies in the Royal Greenwich primary admission arrangements document.