APPLICATIONS for school places are now being accepted for children due to start next September.

Parents have until midnight on January 15, 2015 to apply for a place, if their child is four-years-old between September 1, 2014 and August 31, 2015. This is also the closing date for junior school places.

This year, Hampshire County Council’s admissions services processed almost 15,000 applications for primary school places, of which just under 90 per cent were given their first choice school.

Councillor Peter Edgar, the county’s executive member for education, said: “Starting school is a huge milestone for children and their parents.

“I urge Hampshire parents to ensure that they have completed, and submitted their application by the deadline to ensure their child is able to start school next September.

“Missing the deadline could mean missing out on a place at your local school.”

He added: “In common with the national picture, demand for school places is growing.

“We want to be able to ensure children can go to a school near to where they live and we have been working hard to increase capacity at primary schools in areas where demand is highest.

“To this end, earlier this year, we committed to a £149million planned investment to build new schools and expand others to create an additional 8,000 primary school places over the next three years.”

Hampshire residents will be able to apply for school places online, where they will also find useful information about the application process and details of Hampshire schools.