This is when secondary school places are confirmed in Newcastle - and how to appeal

Schools in the Newcastle City Council area are expected to release their decisions on their 2022 applications in March.

This is what you need to know about the application process - and how to accept or appeal an offer.

Parents and pupils in Newcastle can expect to receive a decision on whether they have been accepted into a secondary school from midnight on 1 March 2022.

However, applications submitted past the October 2021 deadline are less likely to be offered a place at any of their preferred schools.

The deadline to accept your offer is 15 March 2022.

The first waiting list run will begin on 17 March 2022, and the second run for late applications will be 11 April 2022.

To accept your child’s place, log on to your citizen portal on the Newcastle City Council website.

There, you should find an acceptance form along with an admissions letter.

Fill out the acceptance form and return it to the relevant address.

Each school has different admission criterias when it comes to deciding which children get places, and it is usually set by the local council or school.

They are as follows:

• Children who live close to the school
• Children with siblings already enrolled in the school 
• Children with aligns religion (for schools of faith) 
• Children that pass the entrance exams (this is for selective schools such as grammar schools)
• Children who attended the school’s feeder school (a connected primary school)
• Children who are eligible for the pupil premium or the service pupil premium 
• Children whose parents have worked at the school for at least two years.

If you are appealing multiple decisions, you must appeal each rejection separately.

The admissions authority must legally give you at least 20 days from when they sent the decision letter to appeal their decision.

The admissions authority will also set a deadline for submitting any evidence you may have to support your appeal. If you miss this deadline, the evidence may not be considered.

You must be given notice of at least 10 school days before an appeals hearing and the hearing must take place within 40 days of the deadline for making an appeal.

The hearings are usually held in front of a panel of three or more people.

The panel will be independent and will follow the school admissions appeal code.

The hearings begin with the admission authority explaining why they turned down your application, to which you will be able to give your reasoning as to why your child should be admitted.

The panel will then identify whether the school’s admission criteria was followed in compliance with the code.

After your hearing you will receive a decision within five school days.