School waiting lists
How do the waiting lists operate?
The Local Authority holds waiting lists for all schools including Academies, Voluntary Aided and Trust Schools. If you have been refused any of your preferred school(s) you will have the opportunity to place your child’s name on the waiting list. You may place your child’s name on a waiting list for more than one school. However, you can only place your child’s name on a waiting list for three schools.
Waiting lists are established after 16th March (Middle and High) and 1st of May 2026 (Reception)
Children are placed on the waiting list according to the oversubscription criteria regardless of when their application was received and within each criterion their place is ordered by shortest distance measured by a straight line from a single fixed point of the home address (including flats) to a single fixed point of the school using the Local Land and Property Gazetteer and the Council’s GIS/ONE system. If pupil numbers fall below the published admission number the place will be offered to the child at the top of the waiting list.
This means a child who is on the waiting list may move down the list if another ‘Late’ application is received that falls within a higher priority under the oversubscription criteria. Waiting lists for all schools will be held for one term in the academic year, until 31 December 2026; no list will be kept for any individual school thereafter, either by the Local Authority or by any individual school. If the school is an Academy or Voluntary Aided School you should contact the school direct to discuss their admission policy.
Appealing the decision when a place has been refused.
You have the statutory right to appeal this decision. There is also information available at Education Appeals. You must fill in an online appeal from. Telling us that you want a place at the school is not an official appeal.
Changing your school preference after National Offer Day.
Parents can have a maximum of three preferences including schools within and outside North Tyneside. If you are not happy with the school you have been offered and want to apply for a school that was not on your original application you must complete a new application on a paper application form. Amended preferences will overwrite your initial application. Therefore if you wish to retain any of your original preferences they must be included in your new application. You are unable to have your child’s name on a waiting list for more than three schools.
Withdrawing Offers of a School Place
When considering your application only the address of the parent/carer with whom the child normally lives with and who is in receipt of the child benefit or child tax credit will be taken into account. The address of childminders or other relatives or friends who may help you look after your child must not be used on your application form. If the address on your application is not your child’s normal address; you must provide a Child Arrangement Order issued by a Court if you wish that address to be considered. Admission authorities will not accept any other arrangement e.g. where parents delegate parental responsibility to a grandparent or other family member unless you have court documentation that supports their living arrangements. We reserve the right to seek proof of your address and it should be noted that an offer of a school place may be withdrawn if information supplied by you on your application is intentionally misleading or fraudulent (for example a false claim to a residence within the catchment area). Where a place is withdrawn on the basis of misleading information the application will be considered afresh, and a right of appeal offered if a place is refused.
Cancelling your School Place
If you move out of North Tyneside or your child will be attending a Private School you should notify the Access Team immediately in writing as you may be holding a place at an oversubscribed school. This will enable the Admission Authority to offer the place to the next child on the waiting list.
Reserved Places
Places in North Tyneside schools will not be held back or reserved in the expectation of further applications from families moving into the area.