When do I start searching for a school & what's the process please? (UK)

For reception or nursery?

For reception (England) you don't apply until the November before they are due to start school.

For your little one that won't be until November 2027 for her to start in September 2028.

For nursery you book viewings and apply directly with them.

I had to apply on my local Council website. This might be the same for you if you are based in England.

I am sorry I read 'looking at schools' and thouhht you meant literally looking 🤣🤣

I rwalise you prob meant applying.

Schools are council website , nurseries can be eithee council or directly . We live on the border of 2 and they were both different application process for nurseries.

For schools, if we apply through one town, we get 3 school choices , the other we get 5 choices

Wraparound care is breakfast club and after school club

You can keep her at a childminder until school or she will qualify for school nursery after the term she turns 3 which isn't compulsary - it's ylur choice

I really just asked about wraparound times and costs as it's crucial for usboth going to work . Also how far in advance to book - some are more flexible than others.

I wanted to kmow reading schemes and whole school reading approach through to y6

Homework - what is expected. I don't want all on screen stuff. I want time to play and relax with my child too. That's so important for their brains

Their values - I didn't really ask schools this - they shone or they didn't through how they spoke

How likely he is to get 30 hours. We need 30 or will need to keep him in his private nursery

I think if you don't have questions just how it feels and a quick read of the ofsted report. You don't HAVE to go see the schools eitger. Realistically, you haven't got THAT much choice as a parent

Applications opened October last year for my area, and already closed last month. I think different counties must vary in application dates. It was just a form online to fill in, then some playgroup sessions to get chance to know the school

Your local Family Hubs may be able to support you in findibg some information out too and guiding you in the right direction x

Check your council website, I know in my county we have applied and got the place for reception last year!! But for the county we’re moving to the applications for reception 2026 closed November 2025, so it’s definitely worth checking.
In terms of what school to chose, go with gut feeling, but also what outdoor provisions they have, are there kids actually outside even on a not so nice day, what do they do for PE, extra curricular stuff like choir or drama or music etc, do the kids seem happy when you go see.
Very important for us was the transition between reception and yr 1 and a lot of schools we visited went from play based still in reception and yr 1 was straight to desks with very little room to roam around, which is super important in my opinion at merely 5 yrs old. We also asked about how do they involve the kids in leadership, initiative etc but also what provisions they have for kids who either have any kids of neurodiversity or learning difficulties or even just slower.