DRAFT 1 - Secondary school places - West Sussex County Council

1 Check if this application is right for you

Use the information in these pages if you live in West Sussex and want to apply for your child to start Year 7 at secondary school in September 2027.

There are different ways to apply if you have any of the following circumstances:

Apply for a child with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)

If your child has an EHCP, you cannot apply using this form. The Special Educational Needs Assessment Team (SENAT) team should already have sent you information. If you have not received information or you have any questions, contact the SENAT team.

Apply for other year groups

If your child needs a school place in a different year group or at a different point in the year, you need to apply to move schools.

Find more information about school age ranges and year groups.

If you live outside of West Sussex

If you live outside of West Sussex, you cannot apply to West Sussex for a place. You must apply through your own local council and ask them for any advice you need. Use GOV.UK to find your local council.

If we receive an application for a child that lives outside West Sussex, we will not process it.

2 Before you apply

You must read the information for parents booklet, the relevant appendix and additional guidance pages before applying.

It is your responsibility as a parent or carer to apply for a school place. You do not need to have a letter or official invitation to apply.

Follow our checklist to ensure you have completed all the necessary steps before applying.

Application for a school place checklist (PDF, 90KB)

Be aware that each school will take different numbers of pupils. You can find the published admissions number (PAN) for each West Sussex school in the starting school booklet above.

3 Choose your preference schools

You can apply for up to 3 different schools. Find school details using our search for a school page.

We recommend you attend open events or arrange school visits if you can before you complete your application.

Rank the schools in order of preference - you should list the one you would most like your child to go to first.

We advise you to:

use all 3 preferences
enter your catchment school as one of your preferences - find your catchment area school

Personal circumstances, such as child care arrangements, are not part of any oversubscription criteria. We will not consider these when we allocate a place.

Be realistic

When applying for schools that receive more applications than they have spaces available (oversubscribed schools), the further away you live the less likely you will receive an offer of a place there.

Find allocation statistics for the previous year to guide you about whether you have a realistic chance of your child being allocated a place at a school. These are available in the information for parents booklet which you can find on the before you apply page.

Think about how you'll get your child to school

If you select a preference school that is not your nearest or catchment school, you may not receive help with transport. For more information, see our school transport pages.

Don't include a school you don't want

Do not include a school that you do not want as one of your preferences as we may offer you a place there.

Apply on time

Be aware that if you apply after the closing date you are far less likely to get a place at one of your preferred schools.

You cannot change your preferences after the application deadline unless you have a genuine reason, for example, if a sibling changes school.

4 Apply for a place

On-time applications closed at 11.59pm on 31 October 2025. To apply now you must complete the late application form.

Changing information after the closing date

If you have already submitted your application and need to change your preferences, address, or other details, see applying after the closing date.

5 Offer dates

On time applications are those we received before 11.59 pm on 31 October 2025.

Out of time applications are those we received after 11.59pm on 31 October 2025 and up to 28 November 2025. We will consider out of time application preferences after reviewing all applications we received on time.

How we will inform you of the outcome

For both on time and out of time applications online applications we will email you the outcome of your application on Monday 2 March 2026. We send emails throughout the day so we can't give you an exact time.

If you applied by paper form we will email the result later on Monday 2 March 2026 if you gave us an email address on your application. If you don't put an email address on the form, the admissions office will contact you to request one.

If you do not have an email address we will send you a letter by second class post.

We cannot give you any information over the phone.

Late applications

If we received your application on or after Friday 28 November 2025 it is late and outside the normal admissions round. We process these applications after 30 March 2026. We will contact you after this date.

6 Applying after the closing date

On-time applications closed at 11.59pm on Friday 31 October 2025 and the processing deadline was 28 November 2025.

If you have not made an application, to apply now you will need to complete the late application form below. Be aware that we will not process these applications until after 30 March 2026. You will need an email address.

All applications require you to set up a new account on the Parent Portal, unless you have already have one. If you have an account, you will need to log in.

Late application for a school place (external link)

You can save your application and return to it to make amendments before submitting it.

If you began your application after the processing deadline date of 11 February 2026 you can edit your child’s details or make any other changes after you have submitted until the application has been loaded to our system. You must ensure you re-submit the application.

If you submitted your application before the processing deadline date and it is loaded to our system. You can amend your preferences, address, or other details, using the form below. You will need your application reference number from the portal.

In both of these circumstances, we will not process these changes until after 30 March 2026.

Change of application details form (external link)

Do not use any of these forms if you want to move your child in a different year group or at another point in the year. In this case, you need to apply to move schools.

Applying using a paper form

If you are unable to use the online late application form, contact the Pupil Admissions Team to request a paper application form. We will email a form to you. You should return this by email.

You can request that we send you a printed paper form by post. If you return it to the Pupil Admissions Team by post, you should send it by recorded delivery. It is your responsibility to ensure we receive the form.

We will not investigate claims about missing forms unless you can provide evidence that the admissions team received it.

7 After you get your school offer

We may not have allocated you with one of your preference schools. To help you understand the 2026 intake for each school in West Sussex, you can find details in the document below for the:

total number of places we offered
last criteria or category
furthest distance offered within that criteria or category

Allocation statistics

Secondary school allocation day statistics 2026 (PDF, 8KB)

You will need to cross-reference this information with the relevant schools' admission policy. You can find this in the information for parents booklet and appendices on the before you apply page.

Waiting lists and appeals

If you did not get the school place you wanted, we will put your child on a waiting list for your preferred schools. You may also want to appeal.

Find more information about waiting lists and appeals.

DRAFT 1 - Secondary school places