Offers
Reception Class (Starting September 2026)
National Offer Day: 16th April 2026
- If you apply online using the Portal, and asked to be notified by email, you will receive an email on this day telling you the school your child has been allocated. You can also log on to your account on the Portal on the 16th April 2026 to find out what the response is to your application.
- If you applied on a paper form, on the 16th April 2026 you will be sent a letter by second class post telling you the school your child has been allocated. Please do not contact us until you have received the letter. We will not be able to give you any information by email or telephone until you have received the letter.
Middle School Year 5, High School Year 7, and Whitley Bay High School Year 9 (Starting 2026)
National Offer Day: 2nd March 2026
- If you apply online using the Portal, and asked to be notified by email, you will receive an email on this day telling you the school your child has been allocated. You can also log on to your account on the Portal on the 2nd March 2026 to find out what the response is to your application.
- If you applied on a paper form, on the 2nd March 2026 you will be sent a letter by second class post telling you the school your child has been allocated. Please do not contact us until you have received the letter. We will not be able to give you any information by email or telephone until you have received the letter.
Oversubscription and Admissions Criteria
When a school is oversubscribed, published oversubscription criteria are used by the Admission Authority to decide which children to offer places to. You should read the admission arrangements for each school you are interested in to get a full understanding of how places are offered.
What Happens If Your Child Is Not Offered a Place at a Preferred School?
If you have not been offered a place at your preferred school(s) and you applied online you will be sent a letter in the post explaining the reason why your child has been refused a place at the school. If you have not been offered your preferred school, you are advised to accept the school place you have been offered to ensure that your child has a school place for September 2026.
If none of your preferred schools can offer a place, your child will be allocated a place at their catchment school if a vacancy exists. If the catchment school is full, the nearest suitable school with available space will be offered, based on straight-line distance.
If parents are dissatisfied with the response to their preferences they have the right to present their case to the Independent Appeals Panel.
Accepting the school place offered will not affect your chances of getting a place at a school you prefer through the waiting list process or through an Appeal.
Receiving Your Offer
Online applicants who opted for an email response will receive an email on offer day with details of the school offered and instructions on how to accept the place.
Paper applicants will receive their offer by second-class post.
If your child is not offered a place at any of your preferred schools, you will receive a letter explaining the reasons for refusal. We advise accepting the school place offered to secure a place for September 2026.
How Offers Are Made
All applications for schools are considered at the same time and the oversubscription criteria applied equally regardless of the order the schools are listed on the application form. The order of preference will only be used if it would be possible for your child to be offered a place at more than one of your preferred schools.
If this is the case a place will be offered at the highest ranked school able to offer a place.
The allocation process is an automated process for all schools. Officers are not involved and do not influence the decisions. The only exception is deciding whether a child qualifies for a place is when allocating a school not listed on the application form.
How Academies and Trust Schools Handle Applications
The Governing Bodies of Academies prioritise applications in accordance with their individual published admission criteria. They receive a list of every child who has named their school on their application form. Information about preference order is not included.
Governing Bodies then apply their admission criteria and place each child in order according to how well the application meets the individual admission criteria of the school. Each school’s list is then uploaded into the admissions database, the rest of the process is automated.
Trust schools delegate this to the Local Authority to do on their behalf.
Applications for schools outside North Tyneside or for North Tyneside schools from families living outside North Tyneside are co-ordinated with the relevant authority and are also processed electronically.
If you need further assistance, feel free to contact our Admissions Team.