School Admissions
Higher Failsworth is a community school which means that Oldham Council is responsible for the administration of places for our school. Our Pupil Admission Number (PAN) is 60, which means that we have two classes of 30 children in every year group from Reception to Year 6.
If you wish to send your child to school at Higher Failsworth Primary school, you must apply for a place to Oldham Council, unless you require a Nursery place. The school manages Nursery place allocations itself.
Applying for a Nursery Place
We have 39 places available for the morning session and the afternoon session, which includes a maximum of 24 full time places. Ratios is school Nurseries, mean that we must have 1 adult for every 13 children attending our setting, and we must have a qualified teacher. In our setting, we have one teacher and two Teaching assistants.
We offer the ‘30-hour entitlement’ scheme for working parents, which means that your child is able to attend Nursery for a full day for free, if you are eligible. You can check your eligibility and submit an application online on the Government website here You will need to renew your eligibility every three months on the government website, otherwise you may lose your free full time place.
We also offer full time paid places, which are £75 per week.
If you do not wish to take a full time place, we offer free Nursery places to all children on a part-time basis – either five mornings or five afternoons.
Children can start Nursery in the term after their 3rd birthday, and (if places are available) we have an intake in September, January and April at the start of each school term. It may not always be appropriate though for children to start Nursery in the term after they are three if they need greater adult support, but we are always happy to discuss any issues that you think your child might have before starting Nursery.
You can register for a Nursery place at any point, either by downloading a form here or by calling into school to pick up a form. We need to see proof of your child’s age when you return the completed form to us (birth certificate, passport, medical card).
Should there be a greater number of applications than places, then we will apply the following criteria in order to allocate the places:
- Children who are ‘looked after’ by the Local Authority, have been adopted, or have a residence order
- Children who have exceptional medical or social needs
- Children who have siblings in school
- Distance to school from home address
Applying for a Reception Place
Children normally start school during the academic year in which they turn 5. Our school has an intake every September for children who will become five during the particular school year.
All parents and carers must apply for a Reception place through Oldham Councils website here.
You will find lots of information on the Oldham Council website about applying for a school place, what to consider, and how to apply.
The window for applications opens every year in September for the following academic year. You normally have until the beginning of January to submit your application online, and you can select a number of schools in preference order. The closing date for all applications for September 2025 start is 15 January 2025 at 5pm.
During February and March the Council processes all of the applications. In April, all parents are notified of the place their child has been allocated on National Offer day. If you are not happy with your allocated school, you can appeal the decision to the council. Appeals are heard during June and July.
Applying for a place in any other Year Group – Changing Schools
Oldham Council also processes all applications for in-year transfers for our school. You can apply to change schools here.
You should complete this form either if you want to apply to our school or you want to move to another school.
Getting ready for starting school
You can help your child to get ready for starting school in a number of ways. You can find out more about this through Oldham Council’s website here.
We also arrange transition meetings for parents and children where we will provide specific information about what to expect when your child starts at Higher Failsworth.
You can find out more in our current Prospectus, Starting Reception handbook or Starting Nursery handbook.