After receiving an offer

Starting School, Reception from September 2024 

Log into your Citizen Portal account to view the school place offered.

After receiving an offer for your child, you must log your acceptance or refusal. You must do this by Friday 3 May 2024. Log your acceptance or refusal using your Citizen Portal account. Further instructions are given on the portal.

If you are unable to log into the Citizen Portal, email application.support@bracknell-forest.gov.uk.

If you made a late application, refer to the information about late applications at the bottom of our Starting primary school page.

Year 7 from September 2024

On time applicants

The deadline to accept or refuse your school place offer was 15 March 2024.

If you no longer require the school place allocated, let School Admissions know - email school.admissions@bracknell-forest.gov.uk

Late applicants

Follow the instructions provided within your outcome letter.

If we have not been able to offer your child a place at your preferred school, this is because there were more applications for the school than there were available places. Not all requests for places could be met. 

More information can be found in the 'reasons for refusal' document at the bottom of this page.

You must still respond to the school place offered.

Refusing the school place offered

Refusing an offer, will not:

• change or advantage your child’s waiting list position
• advantage you in appeal
• result in your application being reconsidered

Refusing the school place offered will result in the offer being withdrawn, this school place may then be offered to another child. Once you have refused the school place offered, there is no guarantee this place will still be available should you change your mind.

If we are unable to make an offer at a preferred school from a waiting list or if your appeal is not successful, refusing the school place offered will result in your child not having a school place for September 2024. You will be responsible for making sure your child receives education. 

If you refuse the school place offered, you must inform School Admissions of the alternative arrangements you have made for your child’s education. 

If there are no confirmed alternative arrangements for your child’s education, your details will be passed to Education Welfare.

Accepting the school place offered

If you accept the school place offered, it will not:

• affect or disadvantage your child’s position on any waiting list for a preferred school
• affect or disadvantage any appeal that you may wish to make

If we are unable to make an offer at a preferred school from a waiting list or if your appeal is not successful, accepting the school place offered will make sure your child has a school place for September 2024.

Accepting a school place for a child does not guarantee a place at the same school for a younger sibling.

For details of the number of applications received for Bracknell Forest schools and how these were ranked against the relevant admission criteria, see how school places are allocated.

Your child’s name will be added to the waiting list for any Bracknell Forest school listed higher on your application than the school place offered. 

For information on waiting lists for non-Bracknell Forest schools you should contact the relevant admissions authority.

Offers from waiting lists

School Admissions cannot confirm when a school place will be offered to your child.

However, if a place becomes available for your child from a waiting list you will be informed immediately. School Admissions will contact you using the contact details provided on your application.

If any of the details you provided have changed, make sure you contact School Admissions to update them. 

With schools becoming increasingly oversubscribed, School Admissions will require a prompt response from you regarding any waiting list offer. Parents are expected to accept the offer of a place for a higher preference school.

School Admissions may give a short deadline to accept this offer and if a response is not received, the offer will be withdrawn.

It is important to note that positions on waiting lists are not fixed. Waiting lists are ranked by criteria order, not how long you’ve been on the waiting list. If applicants do not fulfil any criteria, they will then be ranked by distance. 

Offers can only be made once all acceptances and refusals are received. School Admissions will not make any waiting list offers until the second round of admissions.

Remaining on a school waiting list

Waiting lists for Bracknell Forest community and voluntary controlled schools will be cleared at the end of the academic year you have applied for.

This also applies to the following academy schools in Bracknell Forest:

• Edgbarrow School
• Great Hollands Primary School 
• King’s Academy Binfield
• King’s Academy Oakwood 
• King's Academy Easthampstead Park
• Sandhurst School

Some own admission authority schools within Bracknell Forest only hold a waiting list until the end of the autumn term. You should refer to the individual school’s admission arrangements 2024 to 2025 for more information. Visit the relevant school's website for this information.

The waiting lists for all Bracknell Forest schools will close at the end of the academic year (July 2025).

If you have not been offered a school place at your preferred school by this date and you wish to be added to the waiting list for the following academic year 2025 to 2026 (Year 1 or Year 8) then you must re-apply from July 2025.

More information on being added to your preferred school's waiting list will be provided online at this time.

You can appeal for any school listed higher than the school place you have been offered. Visit school admissions appeals for more information.

It is important that you read the 'information about appeals' document at the bottom of this page before submitting an appeal.

If you wish to make an amendment to your application, such as making a change of preference or updating your address you must fill in the amendment form below.

If you wish to consider changing your preferences, you need to remember that you are only allowed 3 preferences on your application.

Making a change could result in the school place offered being withdrawn or your child’s name being removed from the waiting list for your preferred schools.

Consider this carefully before filling in the online form. You may wish to contact School Admissions for advice.

Make an amendment to my application

Once all the acceptances and refusals have been received, School Admissions will be able to provide schools with the information for children who have been offered and accepted a school place with them. 

Schools will then send welcome packs to families however, the timescales for this vary and you should contact the schools directly for more information.

If you have not sent us a copy of your child’s birth certificate, you must do this now.

It can be a scanned or photographed copy. It must be clear and readable. Email the copy to school.admissions@bracknell-forest.gov.uk.

If you have misplaced or lost your child’s birth certificate, you should still respond to the offer.

You may be able to order a new birth certificate, see our copy birth certificates page for information.

Once received, a copy can be provided to School Admissions as detailed above.

For more information on school transport see our school transport page.