The schools’ admissions process can be pretty daunting, especially if you are applying for the first time.  You want to make sure that you have fully researched all the options and are making an informed decision, as well as being realistic about which schools you have a chance of getting in to.  Following the steps below will ensure you have all the information you need at your fingertips. 

The first place to look is the Hertfordshire County Council website.  Here you will find a wealth of information about St Albans' primary and secondary schools, how to apply and how places are allocated. You will also find all the key dates and deadlines for school applications. Nursery applications are not handled by Herts County Council and you must apply directly to each Nursery individually.

Take time to understand the Herts County Council admissions criteria and the criteria for any voluntary-aided schools or academies as they do not need to follow the HCC criteria and may apply rules based on other factors such as religious affiliation, quotas for specific geographical areas or offer "lottery" places. Fully understanding where you fit in the criteria will give you a better idea of your likelihood of getting a place.

There are always lots of myths and misunderstanding circulating at application time. It is important to understand that the application to each school listed on your form is treated separately based on the published criteria for that school. Your order of preference, or the other schools you included on your application has no bearing on whether or not you will be offered a place at any particular school.  The order that you rank your choices only comes into play if it is possible to offer you a place at more than one school.  In that case you will be offered whichever of those schools you ranked highest.

Before submitting your school application it is worth looking on the School Guru website.  As well as information about the primary and secondary schools’ admissions and appeals process, you can also access links to school Ofsted reports and performance statistics from the Department of Education website.  Perhaps the most useful part of the site however is the ‘Schools Admissions Calculator’ which can instantly tell you whether you would have been offered a place in your chosen school in previous school years (for a charge).  This can be an invaluable source of information when choosing which schools to put on your application, though please bear in mind that school allocations change from year to year.  

Parent View on the Ofsted website lets you see what other parents think of any school in England - a useful source of information to make an informed choice about the best school for your child.

Decide which schools you are interested in and arrange to visit them.  This will give you the best idea of what each school is like.  You can find details of the open days on the individual school websites.  Some schools do not arrange formal open days but are happy to show interested parents around the school by appointment.

Once you have done all your research, you can access the Hertfordshire County Council’s online schools admissions application system. You can use the help manuals available on the website to guide you through the online admissions process. And most importantly make sure you get your application in on time.

If your child does not get offered a place at one of your preferred schools straight away don't panic!  There is a Continued Interest process to go through and a lot can change before September.  However, if after the Continued Interest process has concluded you are still not happy with your allocation, and you feel have sufficient grounds, you may choose to appeal to the Independent Appeals Panel.  Information on how to complete this process can again be found on the Hertfordshire County Council website.