School admissions in England: how to apply step by step

To apply for a state school place in England, you apply to your local council, not to the school, and name the schools you want in order of preference by a national deadline. For a place starting in September 2027, the deadline is 31 October 2026 for secondary school (Year 7) and 15 January 2027 for primary school (Reception). Offers arrive on 1 March 2027 and 16 April 2027.

The process itself is simple. The detail is where families lose places they could have had. This guide covers when to apply, how preferences really work, what happens on offer day, how waiting lists and appeals work, and how to apply from abroad or partway through the school year.

How school admissions work in England

All children in England aged 5 to 16 are entitled to a free place at a state school. For the main entry points, Reception and Year 7, admissions are coordinated by local authorities. Whether you want a community school, an academy, a free school or a faith school, you make one application through your home local authority, the council for the area where your child lives. You can name schools in other council areas on the same form, and the councils work together behind the scenes so that you receive one offer.

Each school has an admission authority that sets its admission arrangements, including the rules for who gets priority. For community and voluntary-controlled schools this is usually the council. For academies, free schools, foundation schools and voluntary-aided schools it is usually the school or its trust. Your council collects your preferences, each admission authority ranks its applicants against its published criteria, and the council matches the results so every child gets one offer on the same day.

Education is devolved, so this guide covers England only. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own admissions rules and dates.

Other entry points

• Infant to junior school. If your child is at an infant school, you need a new application for a junior school place in Year 3. This follows the primary timetable, with the same 15 January deadline.
• Nursery to Reception. A place in a school's nursery class does not carry on automatically into Reception. You must apply for Reception like everyone else.
• Sixth form. Sixth forms and colleges run their own admissions. You usually apply directly to each one, and deadlines vary.

When to apply: the key dates for September 2027

The national closing dates and offer days are set out in the School Admissions Code. Opening dates and the local details are set by your council.

The dates repeat every year: 31 October and 15 January for applications, then 1 March and 16 April for offers. An offer day moves to the next working day if it falls on a weekend or bank holiday. The closing date does not move, so this year the secondary deadline falls on a Saturday. Some councils accept online applications until midnight on the closing date (Islington's 2027 guide, for example, says to apply by midnight on 31 October 2026), but check your own council's page and do not leave it to the last evening.

Apply once you have visited schools and read their admission arrangements, and well before the closing date, so there is time to send any extra forms. If you are not sure which year your child starts, our guides to when your child starts school and what school year your child is in explain the 1 September cut-off.

How to apply for a school place, step by step

The process is the same for primary and secondary. Only the dates differ.

1. Find your home council's school admissions pages, by searching your council name and "school admissions" or through GOV.UK.
2. Shortlist schools and read each one's admission arrangements, so you understand how it ranks applicants.
3. Complete your council's application form, naming your preferred schools in genuine order of preference.
4. Send any supplementary information form a school asks for, in addition to the council form. These are common for faith schools, selective schools and some academies. If you miss one, the school may not be able to apply a criterion that would have helped you, so your child could be ranked lower.
5. Submit by the deadline and keep your confirmation.
6. On offer day, accept your place, then decide whether to join waiting lists or appeal.

For grammar schools, you usually register for the entrance test separately, often in the summer term of Year 5. The test is usually sat early in Year 6, often in September, and admission authorities must take reasonable steps to tell you the result before 31 October. Our guide to the 11-plus explains how it works.

How preferences work: the equal preference system

This is the part parents most often get wrong. The School Admissions Code bans schools from giving extra priority to children whose parents rank them in a particular order, including "first preference first" rules. Each school you name assesses your child against its own oversubscription criteria, and your ranking plays no part in that. The council uses your ranking only at the end, to offer you the highest-ranked school on your list that can give you a place.

Two practical rules follow:

• A realistic lower preference can only help. It acts as a safety net and cannot reduce your chance at a higher choice.
• Naming only one school does not improve your odds there. GOV.UK is clear on this. It just leaves you with no fallback.

Put your true first choice first, then add schools you would genuinely accept, including at least one where you are confident of a place. Every council must let you name at least three schools, and some allow more. London boroughs, for example, allow up to six. If none of your named schools can offer a place, the council will still offer your child a school, often the nearest one with space, which may not be one you would have chosen. A realistic safety net keeps that decision in your hands.

How places are decided

If a school has more applicants than places, it is oversubscribed, and places go strictly by its published oversubscription criteria. Two rules sit above everything else:

• A child whose education, health and care plan (EHCP) names the school must be admitted.
• The highest priority within the criteria must go to looked-after children and previously looked-after children, including children adopted from state care outside England.

After that, each admission authority sets its own order. Common criteria include brothers or sisters at the school, distance from home, a catchment or priority area, faith, attendance at a named feeder school, eligibility for the pupil premium, and children of staff.

In many areas distance or catchment decides the last places, but faith, sibling, selective and feeder rules matter more at some schools. Check each school's criteria and be honest with yourself about where you stand. Our guide to school catchment areas explains how the cut-off changes each year and how to read the last distance offered.

After you get an offer

On offer day you receive one offer, for the highest-ranked school on your list that could give you a place. Then:

• Accept the place by the date in your offer. If you do not respond, the admission authority must give you a further chance before it can withdraw the offer, but do not rely on that.
• Check you are on the waiting list for any school you ranked higher. Many councils add your child automatically; others ask you to request it. Waiting lists are kept until at least 31 December and ranked by the same criteria as admissions, not by how long you have waited, so your position can move down as well as up. Our guide to school waiting lists explains what to expect.
• Appeal if you were refused a place you wanted. You must be given at least 20 school days from the decision letter to lodge an appeal, and it must be heard within 40 school days of that deadline. You can be on a waiting list and appeal at the same time. See our guide to appealing a school place and the GOV.UK guidance.

Infant classes (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2) are limited by law to 30 pupils per teacher. If a school refuses a place because another child would take a class over that limit, an appeal succeeds only on narrow grounds, for example if the admission arrangements were not followed properly.

Accepting a lower offer does not affect your place on a waiting list or your right to appeal for a school you preferred. Accept what you are given so your child has a place, then pursue the schools you wanted.

Late, in-year and overseas applications

Late applications

If you apply after the closing date, your application is normally treated as late and considered after on-time applications have been placed, often after offer day. That can mean missing popular schools. Some councils treat a late application as on time if there is a good reason, such as a recent move, so apply as soon as you can and explain the circumstances.

In-year applications

If you move during the school year, or your child needs to change schools, you make an in-year application. Start with your council's in-year admissions page. Some councils coordinate in-year applications, while elsewhere some schools, often academies and voluntary-aided schools, handle them directly.

If the school has a place, it must offer it, unless it is a grammar school and your child does not meet the entry standard, or admitting another child would prejudice the efficient provision of education or use of resources. A school cannot refuse just because you applied later than others, you are not of its faith, or your child followed a different curriculum. If there are more applicants than places, they are ranked by the school's published criteria. You should hear the outcome in writing within 15 school days, and a refusal must give the reason and explain how to appeal.

Moving to England or applying from abroad

If you are moving to England, contact the council for the area where you will live. Government guidance says a council should not refuse an application made from overseas, or from Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, just because you do not live in its area yet. The admission authority can ask for evidence of where you will live, such as a rental agreement or a letter from an employer confirming your transfer date. Families of UK armed forces personnel and crown servants can apply using a letter from their commanding officer or employer.

If you are a foreign national, it is your responsibility to check that your child's UK immigration status allows them to study at a state school. Schools must not refuse a place because of nationality or immigration status.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Ranking tactically. Put schools in your real order of preference. Ranking cannot help or harm you at an individual school.
• Listing only popular schools. Include at least one where your child has strong priority.
• Forgetting a supplementary form. Check every school on your list.
• Using an address you will not live at. Admission authorities can check addresses, and an offer obtained through a misleading application can be withdrawn.
• Missing the infant-to-junior or nursery-to-Reception application. Neither happens automatically.

How FindMySchool helps

The strongest application is a well-judged preference list. FindMySchool covers more than 25,000 schools in England, with inspection information and the last distance offered where we have the data, so you can move from a long list to a realistic, ranked set of preferences.

• Use the school search and map to find schools near you and compare them.
• School Match suggests schools based on your priorities and location. It needs a free FindMySchool account, and your first result is free. There is a primary version too.
• Check each school's criteria and last distance offered before you rank your preferences.

Before you submit, do three things: confirm the closing date for your child's stage, rank your true preferences with at least one realistic safety net, and send every supplementary form the schools require.

The rules in this guide come from the School Admissions Code 2021, still the current code in September 2026. The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 brings in changes, in stages, to some admissions powers, covering co-operation between schools and councils, councils' powers to direct admissions, and admission numbers, but not how parents apply or the national dates.

Frequently asked questions

How do I apply for a school place in England?

You apply through your home local authority, the council for the area where your child lives, on one application form. That is true even for schools in another council area and for academies and faith schools. You name your preferred schools in order and submit by the national deadline: 31 October for secondary places and 15 January for primary places.

What are the deadlines for September 2027?

Does naming more schools hurt my first choice?

Can I apply for a school place from abroad?

What happens if I miss the application deadline?

Can I apply for a school place during the school year?