Enrolling your child for school

Children normally start school in August if their 5th birthday falls before 1 March of the following year.

If your child attends the nursery of your catchment school, please remember that they are not automatically transferred to Primary 1 – you still need to register them in the usual way.

Only the parent or carer the child normally lives with is authorised to register them, this includes guardians or anyone with legal parental responsibilities.

Children starting school in August 2026

If your child will turn five between 1 March 2026 and 28 February 2027, you need to register them for starting school.

You should complete the online registration form from Monday 5 January 2026.
Once you have submitted the form, your catchment school will contact you to arrange a discussion between Monday 12 January and Friday 16 January 2026.

To begin, please use our school catchment area checker to find the correct catchment school for your permanent home address (both denominational and non-denominational) and start the registration process.
If you have difficulty, please email edsuppserv.helpline@southlanarkshire.gov.uk.

Placing requests

If you would like your child to attend a school other than their catchment school, you must register them at the catchment school first. Enrolling at the catchment school is required for every child. Once this is done, you can then submit a placing request. More information is available on our placing requests page.

Important information on enrolling

To register your child for school, complete our Primary school registration form by selecting the ‘Enrol my child for their catchment school’ button below. After searching for your address, make sure you select the online form link for the correct catchment school.

A separate registration is required for each child (for example, twins each need their own registration).

Documents you need to upload with your application

Please have the following documents ready to upload when you start the online form:

• Your child’s full birth certificate
• Two recent official documents showing your permanent home address (for example a utility bill, Council Tax statement, housing rent card, child benefit documentation). Proof of where the child lives may also be requested.

Documents must be no more than 5MB each and preferably in .jpg or .pdf format – if your combined file size is larger than 25MB your registration form may not be received by your catchment school.

Enrol online now

Enrolling during the summer holidays

If you need to enrol your child during the summer break, please complete the online registration form. An admissions review will take place a few days before the new August term begins, and you will be contacted to confirm whether a place is available at your catchment school.

Early entry

If your child's birthday is after 1 March, you can apply to have them admitted early. Please read our page on early entry to school.

Deferred entry

If you want your child to have an additional year at nursery, please read our page on deferred entry to school.