Respond to your offer
You must respond to your offer by the date indicated in your offer letter.
If your child did not get a place at your preferred school, we strongly advise you to accept the offered place.
Follow the guidance in your offer letter to accept your offer because:
- if you refuse it, the place will be offered to another child
- if you are later unsuccessful with a waiting list offer or appeal, you may be left with a school much further away
- accepting the place will not affect the outcome of any waiting list or appeal
This application process adheres to the requirements of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, in relation to the local authority’s obligations to meet parental preferences where possible, without compromising the provision of efficient education and the use of resources.
Unsuccessful for a Portsmouth school
Waiting list
If your child did not get a place at your preferred school, they will be added to the waiting list for each refused school.
If you have any change of circumstance, such as a change of address, or a change of school through the in-year application process for your child or a sibling, please contact the admissions team immediately as this could impact on the position your child holds on a school’s waiting list.
Appeals
You have the right to make an appeal to an independent panel against the decision not to allocate a place to your child at your preferred school(s).
You will need to submit your appeal by Friday 15 May 2026 or as soon as possible after this date. Appeals received after Friday 15 May cannot be guaranteed to be heard during the summer term.
Appeals for Starting School will be held during July 2026.
If you wish to appeal, visit waiting list and appeals for a school place.
Infant class size appeals (year R, 1 and 2)
The law says that no 5-, 6- or 7-year-old child in an infant class may be in a class of more than 30 pupils with a single qualified teacher (not teaching assistants). The Panel’s task is to review the decision not to admit your child to your preferred school including checking that a mistake was not made at the time. It cannot take your personal and family circumstances into account.
The only grounds for an infant class size appeal are: Ground A – the school did not have 30 children in the class (Infant Class Size); or – Official – Ground B1 – the admission arrangements were not lawful; or Ground B2 – the admission arrangements were not correctly applied in your case (a mistake was made); or Ground C – the decision to refuse your child a place was not ‘reasonable’ (as defined by the law) in the circumstances.
Unsuccessful for a school outside Portsmouth
We do not operate waiting lists for schools in Hampshire or other schools outside Portsmouth, contact the relevant local authority directly for details on waiting lists and how to appeal.
If you need further guidance for this process, contact the admissions team at admissions@portsmouthcc.gov.uk or on 023 9268 8008 (via the city helpdesk).
Oversubscribed schools
These schools received more applications than they had places available. The table shows the admission criteria of last place offered for on-time applicants.
| Infant/primary school | Criteria of last place allocated |
| Copnor Primary School | The final criterion under which places have been offered is distance. The last applicant to be successful under this criterion lived 0.754 miles away from the school. |
| Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School | The final criterion under which places have been offered is distance. The last applicant to be successful under this criterion lived 0.925 miles away from the school. |
| Cumberland Infant School | The final criterion under which places have been offered is distance. The last applicant to be successful under this criterion lived 0.568 miles away from the school. |
| Gatcombe Park Primary School | The final criterion under which places have been offered is distance. The last applicant to be successful under this criterion lived 1.177 miles away from the school. |
| Highbury Primary School | The final criterion under which places have been offered is catchment. As the number of applicants under this criterion exceeded the number of places available, distance from home to school was used to prioritise applications. The last applicant to be successful under this criterion lived 0.332 miles away from the school. |
| Langstone Primary Academy | The final criterion under which places have been offered is distance. The last applicant to be successful under this criterion lived 0.304 miles away from the school. |
| Moorings Way Infant School | The final criterion under which places have been offered is distance. The last applicant to be successful under this criterion lived 0.356 miles away from the school. |
| New Horizons Primary School | The final criterion under which places have been offered is distance. The last applicant to be successful under this criterion lived 0.512 miles away from the school. |
| Solent Infant School | The final criterion under which places have been offered is distance. The last applicant to be successful under this criterion lived 0.795 miles away from the school. |
| St John’s Cathedral Catholic Primary School | The final criterion under which places have been offered is Other Christian Child. The last applicant to be successful under this criterion lived 0.245 miles away from the school. |
| St Jude’s CofE Primary School | The final criterion under which places have been offered is distance. The last applicant to be successful under this criterion lived 0.993 miles away from the school. |
| St Paul’s Catholic Primary School | The final criterion under which places have been offered is distance. The last applicant to be successful under this criterion lived 0.835 miles away from the school. |
| St Swithun’s Catholic Primary School | The final criterion under which places have been offered is distance. The last applicant to be successful under this criterion lived 0.305 miles away from the school. |
| The Victory Primary School | The final criterion under which places have been offered is distance. The last applicant to be successful under this criterion lived 0.628 miles away from the school. |
| Westover Primary School | The final criterion under which places have been offered is catchment. As the number of applicants under this criterion exceeded the number of places available, distance from home to school was used to prioritise applications. The last applicant to be successful under this criterion lived 0.263 miles away from the school. |
| Wimborne Primary School | The final criterion under which places have been offered is distance. The last applicant to be successful under this criterion lived 0.531 miles away from the school. |
Contact us
For more information, contact the admissions team at admissions@portsmouthcc.gov.uk, or on 023 9268 8008 (via the city helpdesk).