If you are applying for a school place to start in September as part of the normal admissions round, the address on your application must be your child's permanent address on the date of the relevant application deadline (even if you are planning to move after this date).
If you are moving school within the school year, the address on the application must be the child’s current address (at the date of the application).
We use the address to ensure the correct priority is applied to the application.
It is the parent’s responsibility to notify us (and the child’s current school where applicable) in writing of any change to the child’s address. This is particularly important during an allocation process as it may affect the priority applied to the application and its outcome.
Moving house
If you are applying for a school place as part of the normal admissions round, you must let us know if there are any changes to the child's address before the first day of the new school year in September.
Fraudulent use of addresses
All West Sussex schools are asked to validate the address of all their intakes. This is done to ensure that school places have been allocated correctly and to discourage fraudulent applications.
If it is found that a school place has been allocated using incorrect or knowingly misleading information which allowed the application an unfair advantage, the offered place will be withdrawn. If the school that should have been offered was full at allocation an alternative will be offered, which may be further away.
If you are aware that a fraudulent address has been used for an application, you should contact us in writing, providing as much information as possible regarding the child and the address. All information will be treated as confidential and investigated.
Shared residency
We can only use one address to allocate a school place.
If your child regularly stays overnight with another parent or relative on a shared residency basis, and therefore potentially has more than one address, you must confirm this in writing after completing your online application.
You must inform us of:
- both addresses
- details of your child’s living arrangements and any supporting papers (residency order/special guardianship order)
- which address you believe should be used for the application (your child’s main address) and why.
We may contact you for further supporting evidence which could include:
- Council Tax bill
- NHS registration card
- utility bill
- bank statement
- Child Benefit documentation.
Priority for your application will be based upon the address which the Pupil Admissions Team determines as your child’s main address.
Parents should note that overnight stays relating to childcare arrangements are not considered to be a formal shared residency; priority will not be given from a relative's or carer’s address in these circumstances.