Admissions: Reception September 2026
2026 Reception September
1. Key Dates for Reception 2026 Entry:
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Applications Open | September 1, 2025 |
| Application Deadline | January 15, 2026 |
| National Offer Day | April 16, 2026 |
| Deadline to Accept Offer | April 30, 2026 |
| Appeals Period | May–June 2026 |
| Children Start Reception | September 2026 |
2. Important Reminders:
Both forms must be submitted by the deadline.
Missing documents or late submissions may affect your child’s chance of being offered a place.
Attending the school nursery does not guarantee a place in Reception.
For further guidance, please refer to our Admissions Policy, your Local Authority’s Primary Admissions Booklet, or contact the school office.
3. We put St James's as 1st preference but we have been offered another school. What should we do next?
1. Don't Panic, Stay Positive
- It's natural to feel disappointed, but try to stay calm for your child.
2. Secure Your Safety Net:
- Accept the place offered: Accept the school you were offered, even if it's not your first choice; this ensures your child has a school place if appeals fail. Accepting this doesn't stop you from appealing or joining other waiting lists.
3. Join St James's Waiting List:
- Contact your local authority (where you submitted your eAdmissions application form to) and requested that your child goes on our waiting list; places often open up.
4. We have been offered and accepted a Reception place at St James's, for September 2026. Is wraparound care guaranteed?
No!
Please see wraparound for more information ("Extra" tab on website).
Reception Cohort Profile Analysis:
Application Process Overview:
To apply for a Reception place at St James’s Catholic Primary School, you must complete two key steps:
1. Local Authority, Online eAdmissions: Common Application Form (CAF):
Required for all applicants:
You must apply via your Local Authority’s online admissions system (e.g. eAdmissions for London boroughs).
You can list up to six schools in order of preference.
This is the main application used to allocate school places.
2. Supplementary Information Form (SIF):
Required only if applying under a faith-based criterion:
If you are applying for a place at St James’s Catholic Primary School under a faith criterion, you must also complete the Supplementary Information Form (SIF).
The SIF must be returned directly to the school, along with supporting documents (e.g. baptism certificate, priest reference if required).
This ensures your application is correctly ranked within the school’s Admissions Policy.
Supplementary Information Form
Link to Catholic Parish Boundary Maps:
This information is only applicable to Catholic families where their child has been baptised.
Baptised Catholic Children, must indicate on their supplementary information form if their primary home address resides within 1 of the 4 parishes.
For clarification - this is NOT where a parent worships but where the child resides. On your supplementary information - please indicate if your child resides within a parish boundary or outside of parish boundary.
Please look to our Admissions page: "Admissions General Information", for parish boundary maps. These should be used to identify where the primary carer's home address resides within:
- St Francis de Sales Hampton Hill
- St Theodores Hampton
- St Margarets
- St James's Twickenham
https://www.st-james.richmond.sch.uk/admissions-general-information/