How to Apply for a School Place

The single most common mistake is applying to the school directly. In England and Wales, you apply to the council where you live — your “home local authority” — on one application form, and you name your chosen schools on it. This is true even for academies, free schools, foundation schools and most faith schools, which sit outside direct council control but still admit through the council’s coordinated scheme.

Two things to watch: some faith schools and grammar schools also ask for a supplementary information form (for faith criteria or the entrance test) sent directly to the school, in addition to the council application. And grammar schools require you to register for and sit the 11+ test, usually in September — well before the October application deadline.

The UK uses an equal preference system. Each school you name assesses your child against its own admission criteria without seeing where you ranked it. Your ranking only decides which single offer you get if more than one school would admit your child — you always receive your highest-ranked available place.

What that means in practice:

• Put your genuine first choice first — you never gain by placing a school you’d actually prefer lower down.
• Ranking a realistic school lower does NOT reduce your chance at the schools above it.
• Always include at least one school you are very likely to be offered (near home / within catchment) as a lower preference — this is your safety net.
• Name as many schools as your council allows. Listing only one is the commonest cause of an unwanted allocation.