Apply for primary 1

You can apply for a P1 school catchment place for your child if you currently live within East Renfrewshire Council or will be living within the authority by the start of the new session in August 2024.

Read our school admissions policy (PDF) [384KB] (opens new window) .

How to apply

The application process for P1 commencing August 2025 will open in December 2024. If you wish to apply for a current P1 place, please complete a current session application.

Deferring entry

If a child is not yet 5 years old on 1 August in the year which they are supposed to commence their primary education, parents/carers have an automatic right to defer their child's entry to primary 1 until the following academic year. In such cases, children will be entitled to an additional year of funded early learning and childcare.

Parents of children who reach the age of five before 1 August have no automatic right to defer their child's entry to school.  It's expected that all children aged 5 before 1 August would start Primary 1 in that year.  Where a child has turned 5 prior to 1 August and the parent wishes to defer entry to primary school, an exceptional application should be made.  All exceptional applications are considered by a panel to decide if a further year of a nursery funding is appropriate. 

In either case you must still complete a Primary 1 catchment application where you can note your intention to defer/apply to defer.