Secondary school admissions: the timeline and how to apply

You apply for secondary school in the autumn term of Year 6, the year before your child moves up. For a Year 7 place starting in September 2027, the national closing date is Saturday 31 October 2026 and offers arrive on Monday 1 March 2027. You apply through your own council, name your preferred schools in order, and receive one offer.

31 October falls on a Saturday this year, and some councils set a later local deadline. Kent's, for example, is Monday 2 November 2026. Your council's website is the final word on your date. This guide sets out the full timeline from Year 5 to the first day of Year 7, including grammar school tests and fair banding.

Secondary school application dates for September 2027

This round is for children born between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016, who are in Year 6 now.

The closing date and offer day are set nationally by the School Admissions Code. Opening dates, closing times and the number of schools you can name are set locally. In Westminster, for instance, online applications close at 11.59pm on 31 October 2026.

Applying earlier than another on-time applicant gives you no priority. What matters is applying before your council's deadline, because late applications are usually considered after on-time ones, and that can cost you a place at a popular school.

If your child is in Year 5 now

Your child will apply in autumn 2027 for September 2028 entry. The national closing date is 31 October 2027, a Sunday, so your council may set a later local date. Year 5 is the year to prepare:

• Visit schools and read their admission arrangements, so you know how each one ranks applicants.
• Register for any grammar school test. Registration usually closes in the spring or summer of Year 5, and a missed deadline usually cannot be undone.
• Check faith schools early. Some ask for evidence of religious practice, such as worship attendance, so find out what they ask for well before Year 6.

Not sure which round your child is in? Our guide to what school year your child is in explains the 1 September cut-off.

How to apply for a Year 7 place

The mechanics are the same as for any state school place, so this is the short version. Our guide to school admissions in England covers preferences and oversubscription in full.

1. Apply to your home local authority, the council where your child lives, usually online. This covers academies, faith schools, grammar schools and schools in other council areas.
2. Name your preferred schools in genuine order of preference. Every council must let you name at least three. Kent allows four and London boroughs allow six.
3. Send any supplementary information form a school requires, direct to the school. These are common for faith, selective and some academy schools.
4. Submit by your council's deadline and keep your confirmation.

Your ranking does not affect your chances at any individual school. The School Admissions Code bans "first preference first" rules, so each school ranks your child against its own criteria alone. The council uses your order only to offer the highest-ranked school that can give you a place. A realistic lower preference is a safety net that cannot cost you a higher choice.

Independent schools are outside this system. You apply to each one directly, by its own deadline.

Grammar schools and the 11-plus

Grammar schools select by academic ability through the 11-plus, and their timeline runs ahead of the main application. You register for the test separately from your council form, usually in Year 5, and the window is set by each grammar school or local consortium, such as the Essex selective schools consortium. Many areas hold the test in September of Year 6. The Kent Test, for example, took place on 10 September 2026 for children at Kent primary schools, after registration closed on 1 July 2026.

The School Admissions Code requires admission authorities to take all reasonable steps to tell you the result before 31 October, so you normally know whether your child has qualified before you submit. You still name the grammar school on your council form alongside your other choices. Passing does not guarantee a place, because qualified children are then ranked by the school's oversubscription criteria, so include at least one non-selective school you would be happy with.

You can browse grammar schools by area to see which are within reach of your home.

Banding and other arrangements

Some schools use fair banding. Applicants sit an ability test and are placed into bands, and the school admits a set proportion from each band. In Tower Hamlets, for example, children sit the test in September 2026 if they attend a Tower Hamlets primary school, or in November 2026 if not, and are placed in one of four bands. All but two of the borough's secondary schools use it.

Banding is about a balanced intake, not selecting high scorers. Within each band, the school applies its usual criteria, and the test score gives no extra priority. Unlike the 11-plus, there is no requirement to give you a banding result before the closing date.

Faith schools often ask for a supplementary form so they can apply their faith criteria, and some schools give priority to children from named feeder primary schools. The school's published arrangements are the only reliable guide to how it ranks applicants.

How places are decided

When a school has more applicants than places, it offers them by its published oversubscription criteria. A child whose education, health and care plan names the school must be admitted, and looked-after and previously looked-after children must come top of the criteria. After that, schools commonly rank by siblings, distance, a catchment or priority area, faith, a feeder school, or banding, in an order each admission authority sets.

At many schools, distance or catchment decides the last places. Our guide to school catchment areas explains how the cut-off changes each year and how to read a school's last distance offered.

After offer day

On Monday 1 March 2027 you receive one offer: the highest preference that can give your child a place. If none of your preferences can, the council offers a place at another school with space, often the nearest. Then:

• Accept the place by the date in your offer, even if it is not your first choice. In London the deadline is Monday 15 March 2027.
• Join the waiting list for any school you ranked higher. Lists are kept until at least 31 December and ranked by the school's criteria, not by how long you have waited. Our guide to how school waiting lists work covers what to expect.
• Appeal if you were refused a school you wanted. You must be given at least 20 school days from the decision letter to lodge it, and the hearing must take place within 40 school days of the appeal deadline. See our guide to appealing a school place.

Accepting a lower offer does not affect your waiting-list place or your right to appeal, so accept what you are given, then pursue the schools you wanted.

If you move or need to change schools outside the normal round, you make an in-year application. Contact your council first: it can tell you which schools have places and whether you apply to the council or to the school.

How FindMySchool helps

A strong Year 7 application comes down to a realistic, well-ranked preference list. FindMySchool covers more than 25,000 schools in England, with inspection information and, where the council publishes it, each school's last distance offered.

• Use the school search and map to find secondary schools near you, or browse secondary schools by area.
• School Match suggests secondary schools based on your priorities and location. It needs a free FindMySchool account, and your top match on your first search is free.
• Check each school's last distance offered, where available, before you rank your preferences. Where a school admits mostly on faith, selection or siblings, the distance figure tells only part of the story.

Before you submit, do three things: confirm your council's closing date, send every test registration and supplementary form the schools require, and rank your true preferences with at least one school where a place looks realistic.

Frequently asked questions

When do you apply for secondary school?

You apply in the autumn term of Year 6, the year before your child starts secondary school. For a place starting in September 2027, applications opened in September 2026 and the national closing date is Saturday 31 October 2026. Offers arrive on Monday 1 March 2027. You apply through your home council, even for academies and schools in other areas.

My child is in Year 5. When do I apply for secondary school?

Is the deadline 31 October even when it falls on a weekend?

When is secondary school national offer day in 2027?

When do children sit the 11-plus for grammar school?

What happens if I miss the secondary school deadline?

What if I do not get my preferred secondary school?

What is fair banding?