School applications for September 2027: key dates, offer day and appeals

A guide for parents in England applying for Year 7 or Reception · October 2026

If your child starts secondary school or Reception in September 2027, secondary applications close on 31 October 2026 and primary applications on 15 January 2027. Here is how applying works, what happens on offer day and what to do if you are not offered the school you wanted.

Key dates for September 2027

Junior schools (Year 3) follow the primary dates. Grammar schools also need you to register for the 11+ test, usually in Year 5. Councils set their own opening dates, so check your council's admissions booklet.

How applying works

1. Apply to your own council, the one where you live, even if the schools you want are in another council area. Most councils use an online form; ask for a paper one if you need it.
2. Name your schools in order of preference. Most councils let you name three; London councils usually allow six.
3. Read each school's admission rules (its oversubscription criteria). When a school has more applicants than places, children in care come first, then groups such as siblings, catchment, faith or a feeder school, and usually distance last.
4. Send any supplementary form a school asks for. Faith schools often need one to assess religious priority.
5. Apply even if your child is at a linked school. A place at a nursery, infant or primary school does not carry an automatic place at the next school.
6. Keep your confirmation and tell the council if you move. You may need proof of your new address.

The order matters, but it doesn't hurt you

Councils in England use an equal-preference system. Each school ranks your application against its admission rules without knowing where you put it on the form. If more than one of your schools could offer a place, you are offered only the one you ranked highest. So list schools in the order you really want them and use every preference, including at least one school you are very likely to be offered. Naming only one school does not increase your chance there. If none of your schools can offer a place, the council offers the nearest school with places left, which may not be one you would have chosen.

How likely is a first choice?

On national offer day 2026, 83.6% of secondary applicants and 92.4% of primary applicants in England were offered their first-preference school, and 95.0% and 98.4% one of their top three (Department for Education). It varies a lot by area: see first-choice offers by council. For a particular school, look at how far places went in recent years: how to read a last distance offered.

On offer day

• You get one offer: the highest of your preferences that could offer a place, or another school with places if none could.
• Accept or decline by the deadline in the letter. If you don't reply, the place may be withdrawn and given to someone else.
• Accepting does not stop you trying for a school you preferred. You can accept the offered place, join waiting lists and appeal at the same time.
• Councils publish how places went. Many publish each school's last distance offered after offer day. Catchmently collects these figures with their source and year.

Waiting lists

Schools must keep a waiting list until at least 31 December of the year of entry (31 December 2027 for September 2027). The list is ranked by the school's admission rules, not by how long you have been on it, so your position can move up or down as other families join and leave. You can be on several waiting lists, even after accepting a place elsewhere, and you can still take a later offer if your child has already started at another school. Some councils add you automatically for the schools you ranked higher than the one offered; others ask you to opt in.

Appeals

You can appeal against each school that refused a place. The refusal letter explains how.

• Deadline: at least 20 school days from when the decision letter is sent. Send supporting evidence by the date the admission authority sets.
• Hearing: at least 10 school days' notice. Appeals made on time are heard within 40 school days of the appeal deadline, so most are heard in the summer term.
• The panel has at least three people, is independent of the school and follows the School Admission Appeals Code. It checks that the admission rules are lawful and were followed, then weighs your reasons against the school's reasons for not admitting more children.
• Decision: usually sent within 5 school days. You can appeal only once against each refusal.
• Infant classes (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2) are limited to 30 children per teacher, so appeals there can succeed only on narrow grounds: for example, that admitting your child would not take the class over the limit, or that the admission rules were unlawful or not followed properly.

Free advice on appeals: Child Law Advice.

Grammar schools and the 11+

In selective areas you usually register for the 11+ separately, in the spring or summer of Year 5, and the test is usually taken in September of Year 6. Schools must try to send results before 31 October, so you know them before you name schools. Passing does not give a place: you still name the grammar school on your council form, and places go by the school's rules, often test score or distance among those who passed. Some grammar schools have moved the test earlier, to the summer of Year 5, so check your area's dates well ahead.

Children with an EHC plan

If your child has an education, health and care (EHC) plan, the school is named through the plan rather than the normal application, and a school named in the plan must admit your child. For a move to a new school in September 2027, the council must amend the plan, naming the school, by 15 February 2027. Talk to your council's SEND team early.

Checklist before you apply

1. List every school you would be happy with, including one you are very likely to be offered.
2. Read each school's admission rules and work out which priority group your child is in.
3. Check whether you live in a catchment or priority area that the rules name.
4. Look at three or more years of last distance offered, not just last year's. They move: only 34% of oversubscribed secondaries stayed within 10% of the year before (research).
5. Send supplementary forms and register for any 11+ test.
6. Submit before the deadline: 31 October 2026 for secondary or 15 January 2027 for primary.

Quick answers

When is national offer day 2027?

Secondary offers for September 2027 are sent on Monday 1 March 2027 and primary (Reception) offers on Friday 16 April 2027. Your council sends them by email or through its online admissions system.

When is the deadline for secondary school applications for September 2027?

Saturday 31 October 2026, for children starting Year 7 in September 2027. Apply to the council where you live, even for schools in another council area.

When do primary school applications close?

15 January 2027, for children starting Reception or junior school in September 2027.

Does the order of my preferences matter?

Each school considers your application against its admission rules without knowing where you ranked it. If more than one school could offer a place, you are offered the one you ranked highest. Ranking a school lower does not reduce your chance of it, and naming only one school does not help.

What happens if I miss the deadline?

Late applications are usually considered only after all on-time ones, when popular schools may already be full. Some councils treat a late application as on time for a good reason, such as moving house. Ask your council.

What if I am not offered any of the schools I applied for?

The council must offer a place at another school, usually the nearest one with places left. You can accept it, join the waiting lists for the schools you wanted and appeal for each school that refused you.

How long do I have to appeal?

At least 20 school days from when the refusal letter is sent. The letter gives the deadline and explains how to appeal. Appeals made on time are heard within 40 school days of that deadline.

Sources: GOV.UK, School admissions · Department for Education, School Admissions Code, School Admission Appeals Code and Primary and secondary school applications and offers 2026/27 (OGL v3.0). Dates are for England; your council's admissions booklet has its own timetable. This guide is general information, not admission advice.