Places at schools in Edinburgh are allocated on the basis of your home address and are not allocated as a result of previous attendance at a related or associated school or nursery class.
The City of Edinburgh is separated into catchment areas (maps are available in the directory) which are based upon your home address and every catchment area has:
- A Non Denominational Primary School
- A Non Denominational Secondary School
- A Roman Catholic Primary School
- A Roman Catholic Secondary School
Which school should my child enrol at?
All Edinburgh schools are attended by both boys and girls and wherever you live, you can choose to send your child to a non-denominational or a Catholic school. Parents have a legal right to express a preference for a particular school, which is a school outside of their normal catchment area.
A preference for a different school, a “non-catchment school”, can be made by making a placing request. In the City of Edinburgh many placing requests are granted, but not all requests can be met. The City of Edinburgh Council can only refuse your request for certain reasons laid out in law.
Application forms for a “non-catchment placing request” are available from schools.
For entry to P1 and S1 the forms are available from all primary schools from mid November. Places are not allocated until the demand is assessed against the number of places available. You will be advised of the outcome of your request by 30 April.
See Also:
- Making a Placing Request for an Edinburgh School
- Appealing a Placing Request
- Denominational Schools in Edinburgh
