The application process opens on 1 September 2024 and the deadline to apply for a secondary school place is 31 October 2024. If you apply by this date, you will receive your child’s school offer on National Offer Day (3 March 2025).
Applications made after this date will be classified as late and won’t be processed until after 3 March 2025, by which time many schools will be full and you are much less likely to be offered a place at your preferred school.
To make a late application please apply online.
There is an extended deadline of 31 December 2024 if your address changes before then. So if you have moved house and are submitting an application before 31 December 2024, please include relevant documentation of your move with your email (tenancy agreement or completion letter from solicitor) as we will then be able to class your application as on time.
- Information on grammar schools
- Our Applying for a Secondary School Place in Warwickshire video has lots of useful information and guidance on submitting your application.
- If you missed any of our webinars for parents and carers applying for a secondary school place, you can watch the recordings on our admissions YouTube channel.
How to apply for a secondary school place
The information below has everything you need to know about the application process and guidance on what you should do before making your application.
You can only use this system if your child lives within Warwickshire. If you do not live in Warwickshire, you must apply through your home authority (who you pay your council tax to).
September
We recommend you use the time before the application process starts to do some research into your local schools. Visit the deciding a place to learn page for guidance on how to decide on which schools to include in your application.
Please note faith schools and some academies will ask you to send them supplementary information. They usually have their own forms for this, which you will find on their websites and should send directly to the schools. Please remember that you must still submit an online application to be considered for a place at that school.
October
The deadline for applications is 4.00pm on 31 October 2024.
- Last year there were over 500 late applicants. If you apply late, you are much less likely to be offered a place at one of your preferred schools.
- The late application policy, detailed in the admission arrangements, will apply to those applications made after the closing date.
December
The extended deadline for changes in address is 31 December 2024.
If your address changes after the 31 October deadline, you have until 31 December to either amend your original application or submit a new one. You can do this online via the parent portal.
You’ll need to be living in the new property by 31 December and send us either a full copy of a signed tenancy agreement or a copy of your purchase completion letter.
March
If you applied by the deadline, you will receive your school offer on National Offer Day, 3 March 2025.
On this day, we'll send you the name of the school that your child has been offered for September 2025.
You do not need to let us know if you plan to accept this offer. Look out for any updates from the school and visit their website for information on term dates, uniform and any transition arrangements.
Your offer letter will tell you how you can refuse the offer. If you do not refuse the offer, our records will show that the offer has been accepted.
If your child has not been offered a place at one or more of your higher preferred schools, or any of the schools you applied for, this will be because the school(s) received more applications than there were places available and other children met the admission criteria more closely than your child. However, your child will have been added to the waiting list(s) for those schools. More information on these is below.
March to August
During this time we will be processing late applications and allocating any available places from waiting lists. You might also want to start thinking about your child's transition to their new school. More information on transitions
Waiting lists
We operate waiting lists for school places. If you have not been offered your first preference school, you will automatically be placed on the waiting list for your higher preference schools. For example If you applied for three schools and were offered your third preference you will automatically be added to the waiting list for the first and second preferences.
Please note that a child’s position on a waiting list can move up and down, as late applicants are added to waiting lists and any vacancies are reoffered. Given this, we are unfortunately not able to provide any information on waiting list positions while we work on these. Please be assured that if we can allocate your child a place at a school listed as a higher preference on your application than the school currently offered, we will contact you.
May to July
Appeals are heard by independent appeal panels.
Lodging an appeal
You can appeal for any higher preference school for which you have been refused a place. The deadline to submit an on time appeal is 28 March 2025 or alternatively please visit Appeal the outcome of a school placement
Even if you plan to appeal, we advise you to accept the offer you have been made, so that your child has a secured place for September 2025. Doing so will not affect any appeal you make, or your place on any waiting lists.