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School nursery places

Children are eligible for a place at a school nursery from the term following their third birthday. You can apply for a place at any nursery in Barnsley from the term following their second birthday.

Date of child's birthday When you can apply for their nursery place When they become eligible for a nursery place
1 January to 31 March From the April after their second birthday From the April after their third birthday
1 April to 31 August From the September after their second birthday From the September after their third birthday
1 September to 31 December From the January after their second birthday From the January after their third birthday.

When you apply for a school nursery place, your child's name will be added to the waiting list for the nursery you've chosen. The nursery will also need to see your child's birth certificate.

Please note: available nursery places might not be at your preferred setting.

Apply for a school nursery place

You can apply online for a school nursery place from the term after your child’s second birthday. 

If you want to apply for any of the following nurseries at voluntary-aided schools, you'll need to contact the nursery directly instead of applying online:

  • Holy Rood Catholic Primary School
  • Holy Trinity Catholic and Church of England School
  • Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School
  • St Helen's Catholic Primary School
  • St Michael and All Angels Catholic Primary School
  • Tankersley St Peter's Primary School
  • The Ellis Church of England Primary School

If you're unable to apply online, please contact us.

What happens next

Your child will be offered a school nursery place from the term following their third birthday, subject to availability. You'll find out if they have a place during the term before your child would be due to start:

  • If your child was born between 1 January and 31 March, you'll receive an email around the end of February, ready for them to start in April.
  • If your child was born between 1 April and 31 August, you'll receive an email around the end of May, ready for them to start in September.
  • If your child was born between 1 September and 31 December, you'll receive an email around the end of October, ready for them to start in January.

Places are allocated from the waiting list in order of date of birth. If the nursery is full, your child will stay on the waiting list and be offered a place when a vacancy arises and they're at the top of the list. To find out the position of your child on the waiting list, contact us online and tell us your child's name, date of birth and the name of the nursery you've applied for.

Once your child reaches the term following their fourth birthday, you're guaranteed a place in a local authority nursery. This may not be at your preferred nursery. In exceptional circumstances priority may be given to children with special educational needs.

Confirming your child's place

After your child's been offered a place, you must confirm with the nursery as soon as possible if you wish to take this up. If you don't confirm the place within two weeks, you'll receive a reminder. If you haven't confirmed your child’s place after a further week, the offer will be withdrawn and the place will be offered to another child.

If you receive an offer but feel your child isn't ready for nursery, you can defer your place until the start of the following term. Contact us for details about doing this.

More information

Details of nursery sessions

Sessions at school nurseries are free of charge and usually last for three hours a day. The school will tell you which session your child's been offered when you confirm your offer of a place. Some nurseries won't offer a choice of session as they may have all the younger children in the same session or may only open for a single session.

Some nurseries may offer a limited number of extended hour places. Visit the Childcare Choices website to check if you're eligible for extended funded hours, and contact your preferred nursery directly to discuss availability and register your interest.

The ratio of staff to children in local authority nurseries is one member of staff for every 13 children.

Attending a local authority nursery and a private provider at the same time

At some nurseries you can choose to take up less than 15 hours per week. If you do, you can claim the balance of your entitlement per week from a private nursery provider.

You can use your funded hours across any number of settings, as long as you don't exceed more than two sites in a day.

Changing your mind after applying

If you change your mind after applying for a school nursery place, please contact us online and we'll tell you what to do.

If your child isn't offered a place at your preferred nursery

A nursery is classed as full when the number of children already attending plus the number of allocated places reaches its capacity.

If there are no vacancies at your preferred nursery you can either:

  • apply for a place at a different nursery
  • decline an alternative place and keep your child's name on the waiting list for your preferred nursery
  • consider other provision in the private sector

If your child is refused a place at your preferred nursery, you can't appeal this decision. As nursery isn't compulsory, there isn’t an appeals process.

Applying for a school place if you don't take up a nursery place

If you don't take up a place in a local authority nursery, you won't be be disadvantaged when it's time to apply for a school. There's no link between admission to nursery and admission to school.

Admission into a nursery unit also doesn't guarantee a place in the associated primary school.