When should I apply for my child’s secondary school place?
It is important that you allow yourself enough time to apply for a secondary school place for your child.
You should probably think about applying at the start of the autumn term to ensure your child entry in the following September.
If you miss the deadline, you will ruin the chances of your child being offered a place at their preferred school.
How do I apply for a secondary school place?
You should complete the application form for a school place on behalf of your child. To make the process of applying less confusing you can now apply for a school place online.
When you apply online you will be able to retrieve and change the application as many times as you like right up until the deadline date.
Apply for a secondary school place (online)
- All you have to do once you are in the website is type in your postcode and this will take you to the relevant page on your local authority's website.
- Local authorities take care of admissions for all state schools, even if the local authority is not the school's admission authority. For other types of schools you will have to apply directly to the school.
- All you have to do is complete the local authority's common application form online. This covers applications for all schools inside and outside of its area.
- The address on the application must be where you (the parent or carer) and child normally live. You will have to be the person that is in receipt of child benefit at that address or (if not in receipt of benefit); the address will have to be the one that is registered with the doctor.
If you provide false information after your child is offered a place it can be withdrawn and you could also be prosecuted.
- You will be asked to list your preferred schools and the reasons for your preferences.
- You may be asked to put down three or more schools, (depending on the rules of your local authority).
You need to put down more than one school. Your choices should be put down in order of preference.
With this information the authority will be able to make you an offer of a school place that you named as being your highest preference school (where you have met the criteria).
- The schools you name can be in or outside of your local authority area, although you need to be aware of the possible consequences of not naming schools in the area that you live.
It is likely that other children living nearer to that school will take up all the places. The Local authority must not tell you that you have to express a preference for the school in whose catchment area you live.
- The authority cannot offer a place for your child at a school before you have expressed a preference.
- Your information will be passed on to any school that is its own admission authority. The school will then use the relevant criteria to decide if your child should be offered a place.
Refer to the schools prospectus to see their published admission criteria, as this is what will be used to decide whether your child gets into that school or not.
- For the majority of local authorities, the deadline for getting your application in will be November or December.
- It will not have to wait too long for you to find out the result of you application. You will receive a response through the post by 1st March, or the local authority will let you know by email the next day (2nd March) if you have applied online and requested that they contact you in this way.
Please note that if you move house and as a result have to change your child's school, you will be expected to go through the admission process again.
What other sort of information will schools require?
- Some schools may ask you for your child’s birth certificate and many schools now insist on seeing at least three different documents giving proof of address. You will need to send this directly to the school, even if you applied online.
- If you are applying to a Faith School they will ask you to complete an additional form providing details about your child’s faith and how committed to that faith you are as a family.
Some schools may also ask you for a reference from a priest or other religious minister.
- Selective schools will ask you to complete a form which gives your consent for your child to take test/s.
- Some Boarding schools may ask you for a reference, they will use this to establish your child’s suitability for boarding.
A school should NOT ask you (the parent or Carer) for any of the following:
- For your personal details. For example:
Do you have any criminal convictions?
What is your marital status?
What is your occupation?
What is your educational background?
Is English your first language?
What are your interests or hobbies?
(The only time that the above question will be considered acceptable is if it can help support you application to a Faith school, where this can be used to demonstrate your commitment to a particular faith).
- For details about you or your child’s disabilities, special educational needs or medical conditions, (unless it will support your application in a positive way).
- Photographs. This may only be used by schools that use tests and only as a security measure to verify the child’s identity. Otherwise, photographs must not be required with applications for school places.
- To sign a home–school agreement
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Choice Advisers
Schools and local authorities can also offer Choice Advice to parents and carers who are finding the admissions system difficult to understand.
A Choice Adviser can see you inside or outside of school and the advice that they give can be delivered through group or one-to-one sessions.
The main aim of this service is to empower you and help you to make informed and realistic choices of which secondary schools to apply for, but they cannot make the decision for you.
The information on offer includes the following:
- How the admissions system works.
- Available schools in the area.
- Admission policies for different types of schools.
- Performance and value-added data.
- Ofsted reports.
- Admissions data from previous years including the number of applications received, number of children admitted and success rate of
appeals.
- School Profiles, including their ethos and special facilities.
- Special needs and disability policy and provision.
- Details about the curriculum, including the school’s specialism etc.
- Transport details including financial assistance to help with the cost of travel.
- School uniform policy and how you can get financial assistance to help with the cost.
- Online applications.
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