Apply for a secondary place

Apply for your child to start in year 7 at secondary school.

You can also apply here for your child to start in year 10 at a studio school or university technical college (UTC) or a middle or high school.

Before you apply

Before you apply we encourage you to do the following:

read the relevant booklet (which contains guidance about the process and available schools) for the type of school you are applying to:
- The Next Step for year 7 secondary school applications
- The Step Ahead for year 10 studio school or university technical college (UTC) (or year 9 for the Atrium School) applications
- The Middle Step for middle or high school applications
find out what different schools have to offer your child
if possible, visit schools you are interested in
know which school is designated for your child’s address
understand what equally ranked preferences mean
be aware of the school transport policy – it is important that you understand who will be responsible for transport before applying to a school.

You should apply to the local authority where you live. For example, if Devon County Council is your local authority, you should apply on this site, but residents of Plymouth, Torbay, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset should apply to their local authority.

We will not assume that you want a place at a particular school – even if you have an older child who already attends or you live nearby.

Apply now

Apply online >

The closing date for children starting a secondary school, studio school, university technical college, middle or high school in September 2015 was Friday 31 October 2014.

Applications after this date will be considered late. To apply after this time please contact us on 0345 155 1019.

Don’t forget to:

consider completing a ‘supplementary information form’ if there is one for the school
express a preference for 1, 2 or 3 schools
consider naming your designated school as one of your preferences
provide accurate and complete information.

We won’t send you a paper application form unless you tell us you want one – by calling us on 0345 155 1019.

Late applications

Applications closed on Friday 31 October 2014.

Remember:

you cannot apply online after the closing date. To apply after this time please contact us on 0345 155 1019
if your application is late, places at the schools you prefer may already have been filled – no places are held in reserve
if your application is late you may be responsible for transport to and from a school further away from your home.

Offer day

If you applied online we will email your child’s offer of a school place on Monday 2 March 2015. Please make sure your email address is kept up to date.

You can also log into your online account from 2 March to find out which school has been offered.

If you applied by post we will send a letter by second class post on 2 March.

We will offer your child one secondary school place. If a place was available at more than one of your preferences, the offer will be for the school which was your highest preference. If none of your preferred schools could offer a place, we will make an offer at another school. This may be the school designated for your address if it has a vacancy remaining or the closest school to your child’s home with a vacancy.

What happens next

If you are happy with the school place offered to your child you do not need to do anything else.

If you are not happy with the offer find out how to appeal for a school place.