St Francis C.E.Primary School
Admissions
Reception Admissions
Children are offered a full-time place in our Reception class from September following their fourth birthday. We currently have 30 places for children in Reception each September, with all applications handled by Oxfordshire County Council. To apply for a place at St. Francis CE Primary School you must submit an application via the county council website by mid-January in the year in which your child will be commencing school. The procedure for applications can be found online at:
If your child is not offered a place and you wish to make an appeal, please see our admissions policy for details about appeals, or visit the link below.
Key Dates for Applications:
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 4 November 2025 | Applications open |
| 15 January 2026 | Closing date for applications |
| 30 January 2026 |
Last date for confirmation of change of address |
| 16 April 2026 |
National Offer Day: letters sent out by post and emails sent online |
| 30 April 2026 |
Closing date to respond to offers and to join the waiting list |
| September 2026 |
Start of the school year |
Transfers and In-Year Admissions
We also welcome children joining any of our school classes (Reception to Year 6) during the school year following a move to Oxford or change of school. Full details of the procedures to follow and links to the application forms can be found on the Oxfordshire County Council website at:
If you would like to arrange a visit prior to making an application, please contact the school office.
For more detailed information about school admissions, please see see supporting documents below.
Nursery Admissions
Children are eligible to join our nursery the term after their third birthday. Nursery children start at the beginning of term in September, January or April. Applications for our nursery are made directly through the school and allocation of places are made strictly in accordance with the Oxfordshire County Council Admissions Policy.
This must be returned to the school office together with a copy of your child's birth certificate and proof of address.
Sessions Times: Universal 15-Hour Entitlement
All children are entitled to 15 hours of early education funding. To access a funded place, children must have reached their 3rd birthday before the start of the term as is set out below. These dates are statutory and cannot be varied.
- Autumn Term: September 1st - December 31st
- Spring Term: January 1st - March 31st
- Summer Term: April 1st - August 31st
At St Francis we offer five morning sessions from 8.35am until 11.35am.
It will be expected that your child will attend Nursery every day unless they are ill or there are exceptional circumstances. If your child does not attend for 4 weeks, their place will be offered to another child.
Extended 30 hour entitlement
We also offer a limited number of 30-hr places (9 am to 3 pm) for children who are entitled to 30 hours of funding. Please visit the Childcare Choices website at www.childcarechoices.gov.uk where you can find more information and apply for an eleven-digit code to confirm your eligibility. We must have a valid code before we can offer your child a 30-hour place. We only offer 30-hr places to children who will be moving up into Reception the following academic year.
Fee-Paid Sessions
We have introduced fee-paying places in our nursery which are currently charged at £20 per session. Fee-paid sessions do not count towards our Published Admission Number and offers of fee-paid places will only be made where there is spare capacity in the nursery, after all 3- and 4-year-olds have been offered their requested funded hours. Fee-paid 3hr sessions may be booked for a minimum of 5 days a week. We may consider offering these sessions on a 4/3 day per week basis, however this will be dependent on various factors and be at the discretion of the headteachers. For more information, please see our Nursery Charging Policy:
An application form for fee-paid sessions can be downloaded below: