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Moving primary school

If you're wanting to change the primary school your child attends, you can check our list of nurseries and primary schools in Bury.

Find a nursery or primary school in Bury

Apply to change primary school

All in-year primary school move requests must be completed on the In-Year Fair Access application form. The application consists of two parts:

  • the first part is completed by the parent or carer
  • the second part is completed by the current or last school that the child attended.

Three schools can be stated on the application.

Please complete and return the in-year primary school transfer application to admissions@bury.gov.uk.

Primary school transfer process

Once the form has been completed in full, it should be forwarded to each of the individual school preferences. The school(s) will review the application and there can be one of four outcomes:

  1. the school have a vacancy and there are no issues, then the school can offer the child a place, arrange admission and the child will start school
  2. there are no issues with the application, however the school is full. The school will then forward the application to the admissions team who will process the application as an appeal
  3. there are issues with the application, however the school are happy to take the child and will arrange to admit the child and notify the Local Authority inclusion team
  4. the final option is that the child has issues which will make admission into school a difficult transition. In this case, the school will put their objections and concerns in writing and it may be necessary for the application to be heard at a special meeting before allocating a suitable school placement.

It should be noted that the majority of applications will be covered in either the first or second category noted above.

The in-year primary school transfer form will be processed as an appeal if the school is full and falls under the second category as noted above.

Primary school admissions appeals

A statement will be prepared outlining the reasons why a place has not been offered at your preferred school(s). The two forms will then be forwarded to the Democratic Services section which is responsible for arranging the appeals meetings. You will receive notification of the date of the meeting and will be invited to attend.

The appeals panel will consider your submission, the Local Authority's statement and any other information made available to them at the meeting. A decision will be reached based on this information. Any enquiries relating to the date or time of the appeals meetings, the decision or the process of the appeals panel should be made to Democratic Services by calling 0161 253 5134.

The decision of the appeals panel is binding. If the decision is in your favour, then a place will be offered to your child and the school will be notified accordingly.

If you need any advice on this matter, please do not hesitate to contact us 0161 253 6474 and we will try to help you.

If your child has a statement of special educational needs, you cannot appeal through the local appeals panel. If you do not live within Bury Council's area, you should contact the Special Needs Section of your own Local Authority. If you do live in Bury, you should contact the Special Educational Needs (SEN) team on 0161 253 5969.