Choosing the best school for your child in England and managing the application process properly is very important. So how do you apply for a school, how does allocation work, and what should you look out for?
Here's the school application process and how allocation works, step by step!
This process applies only to primary and secondary school applications in the normal admissions round. If your child has to change school in the middle of the school year, i.e. you're making an in-year admission, a different process applies. For in-year applications you usually need to contact schools directly rather than the council, and whether there's a place depends entirely on the school.
How Do You Apply for a School?
For secondary school, before 31 October of Year 6, parents tell their local council which schools they want, in order of preference . After applications close, the council contacts every school on the list and asks whether there's a place.
For example, imagine a parent has chosen three schools, and let's call her Lisa
📌 Lisa's School Preferences:
1️⃣ School A
2️⃣ School B
3️⃣ School C
Let's look at how the process works, step by step.
How Does School Allocation Work?
1️⃣ After applications close, the council contacts every school on the list.
- The question is along the lines of: “A parent living in our area wants to send their child to your school. Do you have a place?”
2️⃣ Schools review the applications and decide who they can admit under their own admission criteria.
- If there are more applicants than places, oversubscription criteria are applied.
- These criteria may depend on factors such as distance, test results, special circumstances, etc. , and every school's criteria are different. Check the school's website.
3️⃣ Schools reply to the council:
- “We can admit these students, but not these.”
4️⃣ The council makes offers to applicants:
- If School A can admit Lisa, she is sent an offer on 1 March: “You have a place at School A; do you accept?”
- If School A can't, School B is checked. If School B can admit her, an offer is made for School B.
- If neither A nor B can, School C is checked.
- If none of them can, the council tries to place Lisa at the nearest suitable school.
📌 Note: If every school on the list is full, the council places the student at a school with spare places . This may often be a school that others didn't choose.