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School Admissions & Choice

Key dates, catchment and odds, a shortlist built on what your family values, visits that tell you something, preferences ranked well, and calm handling of offers, waiting lists and appeals.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Then open the Marketplace in the app, search for School Admissions & Choice, and click Install. It goes into your own files, and works offline from then on.

What it installs.

1

Pillar

1

Area

50

Projects

201

Starter tasks

👨‍👩‍👧 Family & Parenting

School Admissions & Choice

Researching schools, visiting open days, meeting admission deadlines and handling appeals for primary and secondary places.

  1. Admissions timeline for your child's entry year
  2. How school admissions work where you live
  3. Measuring your distance and catchment position
  4. Family priorities for choosing a school
  5. Long list of schools within realistic reach
  6. Admissions criteria comparison table
  7. Admissions evidence folder
  8. Realistic odds check for each school
  9. Admissions deadline and policy watch
  10. School visit notes kept the same way
  11. Open day and open evening calendar
  12. Waiting list position tracking
  13. Admissions correspondence log
  14. Younger siblings admissions calendar
  15. School news and inspection watch
  16. Talking to current parents and pupils
  17. Your child's view on their next school
  18. Reading a school inspection report properly
  19. Making sense of school results and progress data
  20. Questions that get real answers on school visits
  21. Tie-breakers and definitions in admissions policies
  22. Selective school entrance test familiarisation
  23. Faith school admissions requirements
  24. How school admission appeals work
  25. Ranking your preferences in the right order
  26. Visiting shortlisted schools on an ordinary day
  27. Rush-hour travel trial to each shortlisted school
  28. Final shortlist scoring and decision
  29. State or independent school decision
  30. Bursary and scholarship applications
  31. Moving house for a school catchment
  32. Accepting or declining your school offer
  33. Changing schools during the school year
  34. Primary school application submission
  35. Secondary school transfer application
  36. Offer day plan for every outcome
  37. Entrance test day logistics
  38. Admission appeal case and hearing
  39. Secondary open evening season with your child
  40. Applying for a place from abroad or another area
  41. Applying when parents live apart
  42. Summer-born child entry timing decision
  43. Choosing a school for a child with additional needs
  44. Claiming priority for an adopted or previously looked-after child
  45. Wraparound care as a school choice factor
  46. Late application after a missed deadline
  47. Running a waiting list and an appeal side by side
  48. Juggling independent and state offer dates
  49. Responding to an admissions policy consultation
  50. Complaint to an ombudsman after an appeal

Where it starts.

Each project arrives with its purpose, milestones and first tasks written out. Here is how the first three read.

Admissions timeline for your child's entry year

School places are decided a long way ahead: applications usually open in early autumn, primary and secondary deadlines fall months apart, and offer day and the appeal window follow in spring. An application that arrives after the deadline is normally considered only after every on-time family, which at a popular school means no place.

First tasks

  • Confirm which school year your child enters using their birth date and the local cut-off
  • Find the published admissions dates on your local authority or school district website
  • Put the deadline, offer day and appeal deadline in the family calendar with reminders
  • Note any earlier registration dates for entrance tests or supplementary forms
  • Recheck the published admissions dates when the new year's guide appears @recurring(yearly)

How school admissions work where you live

Every area runs admissions slightly differently: who sets the rules for each school, which criteria come first, how distance is measured and whether your order of preferences is visible to the schools. Parents who learn the system before they start visiting make better shortlists and avoid the tactical mistakes that cost children places. A single evening with the official parents' guide covers most of it.

First tasks

  • Download the main admissions guide for parents from your local authority or district
  • Summarise the oversubscription criteria in five lines
  • Note how home to school distance is measured and from which point
  • List which nearby schools set their own admissions policy

Measuring your distance and catchment position

Distance and catchment decide most places at oversubscribed schools, and many families assume they are in range when the boundary or the measuring point says otherwise. A straight-line distance from your front door can differ by hundreds of metres from the authority's method, which may measure from a fixed point on your property to a specific school gate.

First tasks

  • Enter your address in the official school catchment or address checker
  • Measure the distance to each nearby school using the authority's own method
  • Email the admissions team to confirm any catchment boundary you are unsure of
  • Recheck the catchment map each autumn before applying @recurring(yearly)

Make it yours.

Install School Admissions & Choice, then tell Aurum the date you're aiming for. It checks whether the plan fits the weeks you actually have.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Blueprints are general information to help you organise your own work. They are not medical, financial, legal or other professional advice. See the Terms.