School admissions
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1. Choosing schools
If you live in England contact your local council to find:
- state-funded schools in your area
- admission criteria for the schools you’re interested in
The process is different if you live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
You can also contact your local council to apply for places at state schools in other areas. You can search online to find schools in England.
Private schools or home schooling
If you’re looking for a place at a private school (also called ‘independent schools’), contact the school directly.
You can also choose to teach your child at home, known as home schooling.
Children with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan
If your child has an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan, it may name a school for them. A school named in the EHC plan must give your child a place.
Find out about a primary or secondary school
You can find out more by:
- visiting the school - most schools have open days
- reading the school’s most recent Ofsted reports
- checking school performance tables
- talking to other parents about what they think of the school
What schools must publish on their website
Schools’ websites must include:
- admission arrangements, including how to apply
- details of the curriculum
- behaviour policy
- links to Ofsted reports
- links to performance data
- the school’s latest key stage 2 and 4 attainment and progress measures
- their special educational needs (SEN) information report, which includes information about their policies for children or young people with special educational needs and disabilities
- the amount of money they get for taking underprivileged children (the ‘pupil premium’), what they do with it and the effect it’s had
You can also get advice about choosing state-funded schools from your local council.
2. Admission criteria
All schools have admission criteria to decide which children get places. The school or local council usually set these.
Admission criteria are different for each school. They may give priority to children:
- who live close to the school
- who have a brother or sister at the school already
- from a particular religion (for faith schools)
- who pass an entrance exam (for selective schools, for example grammar schools)
- who went to a particular primary school (a ‘feeder school’)
- who are eligible for the pupil premium or the service pupil premium
- whose parent has worked at the school for 2 years or more
Your local council can give you information about schools’ criteria and how to apply.
Children in care
All state-funded schools must give top priority to admitting children who:
- are in care or being looked after
- have been in care
Complain about unfair admission arrangements
Contact the Schools Adjudicator if you think a school has unlawful or unfair admission arrangements.
You need to complain by 15 May of the year before you’re applying for a place. For example, to complain about admission arrangements for September 2021 the deadline is 15 May 2020.
3. School starting age
Most children start reception full-time in September after their fourth birthday.
For example, if your child turns 4 in June, they’ll usually start school in September that same year.
If you want your child to start later
If you do not think your child is ready to start school in September, they can start later. For example, if your child only turns 4 in August, you might decide to wait before sending them to school. But they must be in full-time education by the time they reach ‘compulsory school age’.
They can start:
- part time
- part-way through the year
- in the next school year, in the September after they turn 5
You’ll still need to apply for a school place at the same time as everyone else. You can ask for a later start when you apply.
If your child starts in the September after they turn 5
Your child will go into year 1. Contact the local council or school if you want your child to start in reception instead. They do not have to agree.
Compulsory school age
Your child must start full-time education once they reach compulsory school age. This is on 31 December, 31 March or 31 August following their fifth birthday - whichever comes first. If your child’s fifth birthday is on one of those dates then they reach compulsory school age on that date.
For example, if your child reaches compulsory school age on 31 March, they must start full-time education at the beginning of the next term (summer term that year).
Children must stay in full-time education until they reach school leaving age.
All 3 to 4-year-olds in England are entitled to free early education before they start school full time.
4. How to apply
Follow your local council’s application process to:
You must still apply for a place, even if the school is linked to your child’s current nursery, infant or primary school.
Apply directly for:
- a 6th form place at a school or college
- a place at a private school
Moving to another area
You apply through your local council even if you’re applying for schools in another council area or you’ve just moved to England.
If you’re applying from another country, contact the local council in the area where you’re going to live.
You may need to:
- supply proof of your new address, for example a mortgage or rental agreement or deeds for the property
- prove that you’ll live in the area before the start of the next school term
Completing the application
When you fill in the form (online or on paper) you’ll be asked to list the schools you’re applying for in order of preference.
Listing only one school will not increase your chances of getting a place there.
To get a copy of the application form on paper, contact your local council.
When to apply
Applications open on different days in each local council area.
Applying for a primary school place
You must apply for a primary school place a year before your child can start school. The school starting age is 4.
Your child will be 3 or have just turned 4 when you apply.
This is true even if you want your child to start later - you’ll be able to ask for a later start when you apply.
Applications open in September each year and close on 15 January.
Applying for a secondary school place
Applications usually open on 1 September. You must apply for a secondary school place by 31 October.
Your child is less likely to be offered a place at their chosen schools if you miss the deadline for applications.
When you’ll find out
Councils will send offers of school places for:
- primary schools on 16 April
- secondary schools on 1 March
If either date falls on a weekend or a bank holiday, offers are sent the next working day.
You must accept the offer by the deadline given in the offer letter. Otherwise it may be withdrawn and the place given to someone else.
The local council must provide a place at another school, if your child is not offered a place at any of the schools you’ve applied for. This is usually your nearest school with places still available.
Applying after the start of the school year
Contact your local council to find out about applying for a school place once the school year has started (known as in-year applications). They can tell you which schools still have places and how to apply.
Once your child has been offered a place, they will usually start school at the beginning of the following term.
5. School waiting lists
If your child does not have a place, contact your local council for schools with places.
You can also put your child’s name down on a waiting list. The ‘admission authority’ for the school (usually the school itself or the council) must keep a waiting list open for at least the first term of each school year.
Contact the school or your local council if you want your child’s name added to a waiting list.
You can add your child’s name to a waiting list even if they have been offered a place at another school.
If your child is on a waiting list and the school offers you a place, the admission authority will send you a formal offer. You can still accept the offer even if your child has already started at another school.
6. Appealing a school's decision
You’ll be sent a letter with the decision about your child’s school. If your child is refused a place, you can appeal against the decision. The letter will tell you how.
You must appeal against each rejection separately. You can only appeal once against each rejection.
Preparing your appeal
The admission authority for the school must allow you at least 20 school days to appeal from when they send the decision letter.
The admission authority will set a deadline for submitting information and evidence to support your appeal. If you submit anything after the deadline, it might not be considered and may result in delays to your hearing.
Child Law Advice may be able to give you advice about appeals.
When the hearing will be
The admission authority must give you at least 10 school days’ notice of the hearing.
Appeals must be heard within 40 school days of the deadline for making an appeal.
What happens at the appeal hearing
There’s a panel of 3 or more people at the appeal hearing. The panel must be independent and must follow the school admission appeals code.
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The admission authority will explain why they turned down your application.
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You’ll be able to give your own reasons why your child should be admitted.
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The appeals panel must decide if the school’s admission criteria were properly followed and comply with the school admissions code.
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If the criteria were not properly followed or do not comply with the school admissions code your appeal must be upheld.
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If your reasons for your child to be admitted outweigh the school’s reasons for not admitting any more children at all, your appeal will be upheld.
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You will usually be sent the decision within 5 school days.
You can read more about school admission appeals.
Appeals for infant classes
You need to go through the same process if you’re appealing a decision about an infant class. In reception, year 1 and year 2, the class size is limited to 30. Your application can be turned down if all the classes already have 30 children.
Your appeal could be successful if:
- giving your child a place will not increase the class size above the limit
- the admission arrangements have not been properly followed
- the admission criteria do not comply with the school admissions code
7. Complain about the appeals process
You can complain about the way the appeal was carried out, but you can not complain about the decision itself.
Maintained schools
Complain to the Local Government Ombudsman.
Fill in the online complaint form.
If a maintained school becomes an academy
If you complain about an appeal concerning a maintained school that then converts to academy status, the Local Government Ombudsman will investigate it and pass any actions to the Department for Education (DfE).
Other schools
Fill in the academy appeal panel complaint form to complain about an appeal made to:
- free schools
- academies, including university technical colleges and studio schools
Using the online form is the quickest way to make a complaint. If you need a paper form instead, contact:
Department for Education helpline
Telephone: 0370 000 2288
Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 5pm
Find out about call charges
You should get a decision on your complaint within 9 weeks (45 working days). You’ll be told if it’ll take longer.
You’ll get a letter explaining the reasons for the decision.
If DfE decides something went wrong with the appeals panel, it may:
- ask the school to hold a new appeal hearing with a different panel
- recommend the school reviews its appeals process
Complain about another school matter
If you have a complaint about a school that is not related to the appeals process, contact the Department for Education.