School admissions: communication with parents

Find out how admission communications are managed and use our prompts to write letters to parents and carers.

Last reviewed on 26 June 2026See updates
School types: AllSchool phases: AllRef: 10308
Contents
  1. Who is responsible for sending offer letters?
  2. Create letter templates quickly and easily using KeyGPT

Who is responsible for sending offer letters?

Normal admissions round

Offers of primary and secondary places must be sent by the home local authority (LA) and schools must not contact parents about the outcome of their applications until after these offers have been received (paragraph 2.10 of the Schools Admissions Code 2021).

This is true even if your LA isn't usually your admissions authority.

In-year applications

LAs are not required to co-ordinate in-year applications, although they can operate co-ordinated schemes locally.

Schools that are their own admissions authority can accept applications directly. In this case, schools must tell the LA about the application and its outcome.

Where a pupil is refused a place following an in-year application, the school must inform parents/carers about the:

  • Reason for refusal
  • Right to appeal
  • Contact details for making an appeal
  • Deadline for lodging an appeal

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