Primary school applications for September 2017 have opened this week for parents in Staffordshire.
Parents can apply online for next year's primary admissions at www.staffordshire.gov.uk/admissions, and have until 15 January 2017 to get their preferences in.
And Staffordshire County Council have released some tips to make the process as easy as possible, and give parents the best chance of being allocated one of their primary school choices.
Parents must make an actual formal application between now and 15 January, even if they have an elder child in attendance at their preferred school.
Attendance at a nursery class does not give any priority in the Reception Class admissions process. The most important thing is for parents to make sure they apply for at least three schools. Just putting down one school in the hope it will be allocated doesn't always work, and parents may end up getting a school they would not normally have chosen.
Make sure to understand the admission criteria for the school that is being applied for, as this will give an idea of the likely outcome of a preference
Parents should visit preferred school – talk to the headteacher and other teachers so they can be sure it is the right one for their child.
Visit www.staffordshire.gov.uk/admissions for the latest performance data on schools in the local area, and for the county council's new school guide which helps parents compare local schools.
County Councillor Ben Adams, Cabinet Member for Learning and Skills said: 'Year on year, the majority of parents are allocated their first choice school, and we are constantly above the national average for allocating parents one of their top three preferred schools. This is despite rising birth rates putting pressure on school places across the county.
'Because of this, we need all applications in by 15 January 2017 as a lot of work goes into organising the process.
'We understand the pressures we are facing on primary school places, and are putting in a lot of work to ensure we have enough to accommodate the increase in population in some areas of the county. This work means we can still have a consistently high percentage of parents allocated one of their top three primary schools, and help give every child in Staffordshire the best possible start in life.'