How to apply for a secondary school place
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If your child is due to join Year 7 in a secondary school in September 2026, you will need to apply for a place at the school you would like your child to attend.
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 your 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. - If your child is being taught out of their age group
You will also need the agreement of your preferred secondary schools for this to continue. You will need to complete a request form and send this to the Admissions Team: applying for a secondary school if your child is being taught out of their age group.
Deadlines
We recommend that you contact schools to arrange visits from September 2025.
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 12 September 2025 | Applications open |
| 31 October 2025 | Closing date for school applications |
| 31 January 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. |
| 2 March 2026 | National offer day |
| 27 March 2026 | Deadline to make an appeal |
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.
Apply for a school place
The easiest way to apply for a secondary 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 the Admissions and Transport team for a paper application
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 31 January 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.
