What happens to my application?
Your preferences are considered by each school separately, without regard to the order you ranked them on your application. For each school, your application is prioritised according to their admission criteria and included in a ranked list with every other application for that school.
Places at each school are offered to the highest ranked applicants until the school is full. If your child is ranked high enough to be offered a place at more than one school we offer you only the school ranked highest in your preferences. The place your child could have been offered at lower preference schools is offered to the next child on their ranked list.
Preferences for community schools are ranked by the local authority (Hackney Education for schools in Hackney). Preferences for religious schools, academies or free schools are ranked by the admission authority for the school, usually the governing body or academy trust. Preferences for schools outside Hackney are dealt with in the same way via the local authority where the school is located.
Who has priority for school places?
Some applicants have higher priority for places according to their family circumstances. Priority is not determined by who applied first, where the school is ranked in your preferences or how long a child has been waiting for a place.
Every school has admissions arrangements that set out the priority criteria the school will use to rank applicants. You should read the admission criteria for each school before you apply. The schools directory includes the 2025/26 admission arrangements for most Hackney schools. You can also find them on school websites, including for schools outside Hackney.
In addition, you should read the additional information about common priority criteria.