Information on coordinated nursery admissions

The application deadline for the main intake is set by the municipality, cf. Section 16 of the Norwegian Kindergarten Act.
The Municipality of Ås has set the deadline as 1 March every year. The main intake allocates places that will be vacant from the month of August. Applications received after 1 March will not be processed as part of the main intake.

Children who turn one before the end of August
Children who turn one before the end of August of the year in which parents/guardians apply for a nursery place are entitled to a nursery place from August, cf. Section 16 of the Norwegian Kindergarten Act.
A place from August means that the place must be available to the child during the month of August. The nursery will notify the parents/guardians of the starting date. Parents/guardians cannot require a start date later in the year as the entitlement applies from the month of August. Parents/guardians will be invoiced from August if the place is accepted.

Children who turn one in September, October or November
Children who turn one in September or October of the year in which parents apply for a nursery place are entitled to a nursery place from the month in which the child turns one, cf. Section 16 of the Norwegian Kindergarten Act.

During the reading of the state budget for 2017, the Norwegian Parliament decided that children born in November should also have the right to a nursery place. The right will become effective in 2017. This means that children born in November 2016 will be entitled to a nursery place during November 2017. The extension of the right to a nursery place is conditional on the Norwegian Parliament finally adopting an amendment. The Norwegian Parliament is expected to adopt this amendment in the spring of 2017. The Municipality of Ås is assuming that the proposal will be passed. Applications for children born in November will therefore form part of the main intake for the year. The right to a place assumes that an application has been submitted before 1 March.

The municipality and the nursery are entitled to require fees paid from the month the child starts at nursery or turns one.

Example 1: The child turns one in November and starts nursery in November. Parents/guardians will be invoiced from November.
Example 2: The child turns one in October, but starts in August. Parents/guardians will be invoiced from August.

An application may be made for an August start although the child may not turn one until September, October or November. Parents/guardians are required to pay fees from the date on which they accept the place.

Preferential rights when admission to kindergarten

Children with disabilities have according to Section 18 of the Norwegian Kindergarten Act., right to place in kindergarten. An expert assessment shall be made to assess whether the child has impaired ability. An expert must consider whether the disability and its consequences for the child create a greater need for kindergarten space than for kindergarten children otherwise.

The term disability includes various physical disabilities, developmental disabilities, language and speech disabilities, behavioral problems and mental disorders.

All applications for nursery places, both for municipal and private nurseries, must be submitted on the Municipality of Ås Childhood Portal. Documentation of disabilities is sent by post to the municipality, to:

Ås kommune, Forvaltning barn og unge, postbox 195, 1431 Ås.

The municipality is responsible for ensuring that children with a right to priority are accommodated in kindergartens.

For parents/guardians applying for the main intake and whose child is entitled to a place, the latest required start date must be:

• 31 August if the child turns one in the month of August
• 30 September if the child turns one in the month of September
• 31 October if the child turns one in the month of October
• 30 November if the child turns one in the month of November

Parents/guardians are able to specify an earlier start date, but it is not certain that they will be offered a place before the month in which the child turns one. Places in municipal nurseries must be taken up no later than one month from the start date, with fees being payable from the offer date.

All applications for nursery places, both for municipal and private nurseries, must be submitted on the Municipality of Ås Childhood Portal. 
Find out more about the new childhood portal here

Initial applications for nursery places, nursery transfers or notice of termination must be submitted on the Childhood Portal If parents/guardians wish to change their application, a new application must be completed and submitted.

Applicants must click Apply for nursery place here on the Childhood Portal and select the nurseries they wish to apply for by clicking Add. Up to four nurseries can be prioritised in an application. The Municipality of Ås will not always be able to offer a place in a prioritised nursery. Applicants will then be offered a place in another nursery within the municipality.

Applicants will receive an SMS when the application has been received. This may take a few days. Applicants will not receive further information until the application has been processed.

The intake is determined by set criteria that the nursery owners have adopted in their regulations. Municipal and private nurseries do not apply the same intake criteria. The intake criteria for municipal nurseries can be found in regulations for municipal nurseries. The intake criteria for private nurseries can be found in regulations for each private nursery.

Documentation to support priority according to the nursery’s regulations must be provided. This documentation cannot be more than three months old. Parents/guardians do not need to submit documentation for sibling priority.

The nursery authorities or the nurseries cannot usually answer questions of whether it is probable that a place will become vacant or how long it will take before vacancies arise – either for the main intake or additional intakes.  This depends on the number of vacant places and on applicants entitled to a place pursuant to Section 13 of the Norwegian Kindergarten Act.

When the offer of a nursery place is made, the applicant will receive an SMS to say that a letter containing an offer has been sent to the e-mail address provided. To respond to the offer, the parent/guardian must log in to the Childhood Portal and accept or reject the place there. The deadline for responding to an offer is approx. 8 days. If a response is not received within the set deadline, the offer will pass to another applicant. Failure to respond will be taken as a refusal of the nursery place.

The additional intake starts when the main intake is complete on around 1 May. The additional intake allocates vacancies that arise throughout the year to the next main intake on 1 March. Applicants who are not entitled to a place in the main intake and applications submitted after 1 March are included in the additional intake.

Please note: If you have not received an offer for a nursery place by 31 December of the current year, you should resubmit your application as the waiting list is deleted on this date.

The municipality updates the search lists before the main intake on 1 March. Parents who were not offered a seat by December 31, must must log in to the Childhood Portal to update their application. Applications that are not updated/ confirmed will be deleted from the search lists before the municipality's main record.

If a child or the child’s parents/guardians do not have a Norwegian identity number (11 digits), they should contact the Municipality of Ås which will issue a temporary identity number. The temporary identity number will be used in the application.

Send an e-mail to post@as.kommune.no, state the name, date of birth and address of the child and/or parents/guardian who do not have an identity number. Write Nursery Application in the e-mail subject field.

Applicants are entitled to appeal a refusal of a place in the main intake. Applicants are also able to appeal if they do not have their first or second priority met. This assumes that applicants have prioritised a minimum of two different nurseries.

In the additional intake, only applicants for nurseries with a statutory right to priority pursuant to Section 18 of the Norwegian Kindergarten Act may appeal if they are not offered a place at their preferred nursery.

Appeals must be made in writing to the municipality and must state the decision that is being appealed and the basis on which the appeal is being made. The municipality must investigate the reasons for the appeal, including always submitting the appeal to the nursery owner. If the municipality finds that the appellant should have been offered a nursery place, the child must be offered the first vacancy that arises after children with priority pursuant to Section 18 of the Norwegian Kindergarten Act have been offered a place. If the municipality does not accept the appeal, the municipality must escalate the appeal to the appeals body (Formannskapet).

Appeals should be sent to:
Ås kommune, Forvaltning barn og unge
Postbox 195
1431 Ås

The appeals deadline is three weeks from the date on which notification of the decision reached the applicant or the date on which the applicant should have acquired knowledge of the decision. A requirement for a reason for the decision suspends the deadline under Section 4. A new deadline runs from the date on which the applicant received the reasons for the decision. Even if the appellant has exceeded the deadline, the appeal may be processed if this is found to be reasonable.