How to apply for a primary or junior school place
Parent Portal unavailable
Please be aware that our application system for school place, free school meals and early years childcare will be unavailable between 10:00-14:00 on Tuesday 6 January.
You must apply for a primary school place if:
- your child is due to start primary or infant school in September 2026
- your child is in Year 2 at infant school and is due to start Year 3 at a junior school in September 2026
You need to apply even if:
- your child already attends the nursery class at the school
- your older children go to the school
- your child is attending an infant school that is linked to the junior school you wish them to join
You can name a maximum of 3 different schools. Listing more than one:
- won’t affect your first preference
- will increase your chances of an offer at a preferred school
You may want to look at how places were allocated in previous years.
In some cases, the admissions process will be different:
- Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) then the process for admissions is different. Find out more about admissions for children with SEND - Applying from overseas
In most cases, foreign national children in the UK have the right to attend schools in England. See Applications for overseas children before applying.
Deadlines
We recommend that you contact schools to arrange visits from September 2025.
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 12 September 2025 | Applications open |
| 15 January 2026 | Closing date for school applications |
| 13 March 2026 | The deadline to apply late for a school place with a good reason, for example, if you've moved into the area. You will need to supply evidence of this. |
| 16 April 2026 | National offer day |
| TBC May 2026 | Deadline to make an appeal or join the waiting list |
What happens if you apply late
If you apply after the closing date, the request will be dealt with after all on-time preferences have been processed. This may affect your chances of securing a preferred school.
If you move into the area after the closing date you should apply for a school place as soon as possible. If you send us evidence of your house move at the same time, we may be able to consider this application as being on time. Own-admission schools may not be able to do this.
Published admission number (PAN)
School places are allocated according to parental preference wherever possible. Schools will admit up to their published admission number. If there are more applicants than places available, the admissions authority for each school will rank the children in line with their admissions criteria, and offer to those with the highest criteria until they have reached their PAN.
Community areas
Every Community and Voluntary Controlled school in East Sussex has a ‘community area’. Children who live in this area have priority for admission to that school ahead of children living outside the area. Some own-admission authority schools and academies use community areas as well
Living in a community area does not guarantee your child a place.
Other own admission authority schools and academies prioritise children according to other criteria.
Summer born children
If your child was born between 1 April to 31 August 2022, you may decide that you do not want them to start school until September 2027, when they reach statutory school age. In such circumstances, your child would normally be admitted to Year 1 and would miss the Reception year.
However, if you wish your summer-born child to be admitted to Reception instead of Year 1 when they reach statutory school age in September 2027 (so they would be educated out of their chronological year group) you may complete our form for delayed admission to Reception for summer born children [100.4 KB] [docx] to request this. You should complete it at the same time as applying for a school place for September 2026 to ensure your child does not miss out on a place in Reception if the request is refused.
Infant class size
The law requires children aged 5, 6 and 7 to be taught in classes of no more than 30 pupils to one school teacher. Admission numbers at the majority of schools admitting Reception age pupils have been set to ensure compliance with the class size law. See Infant class size law appeals.
There is no legal limit on class size above this age, but the County Council recommends that KS2 class sizes should not exceed 30 pupils irrespective of the age mix.
Apply for a school place
The easiest way to apply for an infant, junior or primary school place in East Sussex is online.
If you are new to the system, you will need to create an account to get started. You can save your progress and sign in to your school account at any time.
When you submit your application, we will email you to confirm receipt.
If you can’t apply online
Please contact us via the application form [93.2 KB] [docx] and email it to admissions@eastsussex.gov.uk by the end of 15 January.
Phone: 0300 33 09 472 between 10 am to 3 pm Monday to Friday
Email: admissions@eastsussex.gov.uk
If we receive more than one application for the same child before the closing date, we will use the latest application.
Changes to your application
If you wish to make changes to your application before the closing date, please email these to admissions@eastsussex.gov.uk and include your child’s name and date of birth.
If you have a change of circumstances after the closing date, which may affect your application such as a house move or a sibling is allocated a place at a preferred school, please let us know. We can only take these into account for the initial allocation of places if we receive these by 13 March 2026.
You will need to provide independent supporting evidence by this date, in the case of a house move this should be proof of address.
