Applying for a pre-school place

Free pre-school education is available for all children for up to 5 part time sessions of  2½ hours per week.

Entry dates for children in their ante pre-school year depends on your child's birthday:

• if your child turns three between 1 March and 31 August they will be entitled to pre-school education from Term 1 (August)
• if your child turns three between 1 September and 31 December they will be entitled to pre-school education from Term 2 (January)
• if your child turns three between 1 January and the last day in February they will be entitled to pre-school education from Term 3 (April) 

An advert will appear in the local press in early November telling you the date of enrolment week.  It is important if you want to get the place of your choice to enrol then. As well as pre-school children, even children in their ante pre-school year who will not start until January or April of the following year, should enrol then. Your child might not be quite two at the time!

To apply for a nursery place you should complete the pre-school enrolment form, also available at your local nursery or partner centre during enrolment week or as appropriate.

You will be asked to list, in order of priority, up to three nursery choices. The completed application form should be submitted to your first choice nursery.

All nurseries provide part-time places and some may offer additional hours or wraparound care. Please discuss this with the head teacher or centre manager.

School nursery class or partner centre

Your child's part-time nursery place can be taken at one of our nursery classes or in a partner provider centre. 

Our nursery classes are attached to 46 of our primary schools and we also have a full day nursery  in Selkirk. You can use our directory of schools to find details of your nearest class.

Partner Centres are not run by us but we commission them to provide pre-school education. They include private day nurseries, voluntary playgroups and nurseries attached to independent schools. You can use the directory to find details of your nearest centre.