How do I apply for a secondary school place?
You can apply for a secondary school place by either:
- completing a Common Application Form which will be sent to you via your child’s primary school with the Information on school admissions and transfers
or
When do I need to apply?
Applications must all be in before the deadline which is usually the Friday before October half term when your child is in year 6 for admissions in to Secondary school the following September. Any applications received after that date will be considered after all other applications have been processed.
Can I put just one school on the application?
It is not advisable to state only one school on the application. This reduces your choice. It is strongly recommended that you take the opportunity to express all three preferences. These must be in the order that you would prefer your child to attend. The Admission Authority is obliged to try as far as possible to comply with parental preferences in the order they are requested. The Authority will only look at 2nd and 3rd preferences if the first preference is full with children who fulfil the criteria more than your child. Naming the same school three times does not increase your chances of receiving an offer for that school. It is a waste of the other two preferences.
Only if none of your preferences can be met will the nearest school with a vacancy be allocated.
Can I get help to fill in the application form?
Yes. The child's primary school or the Choice Advisor can help you to complete the form.
What happens if I miss the deadline that the form has to be in?
It is important that the form is completed on time. You can still submit a late application, however this would significantly decrease the chance of your child being offered a place at the preferred school.
How does the admissions system work?
- After the closing date, all online and paper applications will be entered on to the computer system.
- The schools’ admission authorities will be advised of the number of applicants who have requested places at their school.
- If there are fewer applicants than places available all applicants will be offered a place.
- If there are more applicants than places, the published oversubscription criteria (the order in which places are offered) for the school will be applied.
- Places will be offered to those children who meet these criteria most closely.
- If it is not possible to allocate a place at the child’s highest preference because they do not meet the criteria, the computer will automatically try to allocate a place at the second preference and if that is also not possible, the third.
- If none of these preferences can be met, a place will be offered at the nearest school with a vacancy.
- This process includes any schools in neighbouring local authorities who have been named on the child’s Common Application Form
- By the 1st March all children will have been allocated a school place.
When will I know which school my child has been allocated?
Surrey County Council Admissions Team will write to you on the first working day in March to advise which school your child has been allocated. |
