School Choice Advice Service

Under the scheme, choice advisers can offer parents free and impartial help and support. However, they cannot make decisions on their behalf.

The aim is to help parents make the best possible choices through the wide range of information available (including over-subscription criteria), as well as providing the local knowledge of what individual schools have to offer.

The transition between schools can be one of the most difficult times for families and children. Therefore, parents and carers who need additional support and would like to discuss any aspect of applying for a school place, can speak to a choice adviser.

Choice advisers can offer:

• discussions with individual parents, either on the phone or by making an appointment
• advice on the information available to help parents make realistic choices
• meetings in nurseries and schools for groups and individual parents

The choice adviser will advise on:

• how the co-ordinated admissions system works in County Durham and neighbouring areas
• admission policies of all local schools 
• performance and value-added data for local schools 
• OfSTED information for local schools 
• over-subscription data from previous years, including: the number of applications received, the number of children admitted to local schools, the preparation of appeals, and how many were successful 
• special needs policy and provision for children with special educational needs 
• details of the curriculum offered, including their specialism if appropriate 
• times of the school day and term dates plus any knowledge of proposals to change the pattern of education provision 
• travel details, including help with the cost of travel to and from school, and home to school distances 
• details of uniform policy and advice about how families can obtain help with the cost
• the range of relevant professionals, specialists and organisations available and how to contact them

Useful links

You can access our school holiday dates.

For information on our current admissions process and oversubscription criteria, please click on the relevant link below:

Early Years Brochure.pdf (14 pages, 1508kb)

Primary Brochure Interactive 2009 - Updated.pdf (59 pages, 5113kb)

Secondary Brochure - Interactive 2009.pdf (43 pages, 1593kb)

For a PDF version of the school choice advice information booklet please click on the link below:

School Choice Advice Information Booklet.pdf (16 pages, 1133kb)

Useful websites

Parents and carers may find the following websites useful:

Direct Gov - this is a national website giving detailed information which parents and carers may need when deciding which school/s to apply for.

School Finder - this website provides a facility for searching for schools. OfSTED information and access to school profiles can also be obtained via links on the site.

Durham County Council's My Durham - this facility helps you to locate schools in your area. Simply type in your house name/number and postcode in the boxes on the left of the council's homepage and press enter. Click on your address from the results then click on the 'My area' tab at the top. Select either nursery, primary or secondary school provision from the drop-down list and click search. This will show the schools in your area and a map showing their location. It is important to remember, however, that this facility does not identify your nearest suitable school.

Ofsted - you can get school OfSTED reports from this site.

The School Choice Advice Service will be holding information events on the following dates. If you would like to speak to a choice adviser or collect some information, please feel free to visit us.