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.
If you live outside West Sussex
If you live outside 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.
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.
Apply for a child having an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA)
If your child is going through the process of having an EHCNA you should still complete this application online with your mainstream school preferences. If you receive a draft EHCP during the process, you can make a request for the school you would like your child to attend by contacting the SENAT.
Apply for a child educated outside of their normal age group
If your child is educated outside of their normal age group, you cannot apply using the online form. You will need a paper form - to request one contact the Pupil Admissions Team.
You should discuss your application with your preferred secondary schools. You will need to get agreement from each admission authority for your child to continue their education outside of their normal age group. Decisions are made on a case by case basis and in the best interests of the child. For more information and advice, contact the school you wish to apply for or the Pupil Admissions Team.
Planning for your child to attend an independent school
If you have received an offer of a school place for your child at an independent school, you should send written confirmation of the details to the Pupil Admissions Team. If you do not have confirmation of a place at the independent school, we recommend you complete this application to make sure your child has a school place.
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.
2 About applying and choosing your preference schools
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.
About making your application
You must read the:
- Information for parents: Admission to secondary school booklet 2027 (available soon)
- relevant appendices
- guidance in these pages
We can only accept one application per child. If you have shared parental responsibility for your child, you should agree preferences with the other parent before making an application. If you change your preferences or make a new application, whether online or on paper, it will invalidate any previous application.
Make sure you are aware of the key dates for applying. If you apply after the deadline, we will consider your preferences after all of those that we received on time. This may mean you are less likely to get a place at your preferred schools.
You can apply for up to 3 different schools. Find school details using our search for a school page.
Rank the schools in order of your preference - you should list the one you would most like your child to go to first.
We advise you to:
- attend open events or arrange school visits if you can before you complete your application
- use all 3 preferences
- enter your catchment school as one of your preferences - find your catchment area school
Admission numbers and oversubscription
Each school has a published admissions number (PAN). This is the number of places they have available. will take different numbers of pupils. You can find the PAN for each West Sussex school in the starting school booklet.
A school is 'oversubscribed' when it gets more applications than it has places available. There are 'oversubscription criteria' for when this happens. These are rules we use to decide who gets a place.
You can find the oversubscription criteria for each school in the main booklet above and the appendix below:
- Information for parents: Admission to secondary school booklet 2027 - Appendix 1 (available soon)
Things to think about when choosing your preference schools
Be realistic
When applying for schools that are oversubscribed, the further away you live the less likely you will receive an offer of a place there.
Check last year's allocation statistics before you apply. They can help you understand how likely your child is to get a place at a particular school. You can find the statistics in the information for parents booklet above.
Personal circumstances, such as child care arrangements, are not part of any oversubscription criteria. We will not consider these when we allocate a place.
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.
Check if any of your preferred schools require a supplementary information form
Find out whether any of your preferred schools requires a supplementary information form (SIF). The documents below show which schools require one. They also include copies of the forms. Use the document for your area of the county.
SIFs include additional information that is relevant to a particular school's oversubscription criteria, such as church attendance.
Complete the form if you are applying under any of the school's criteria. Return it directly to the school before the application deadline. If you do not, we cannot consider this information when allocating places.
Application checklist
Follow our checklist to make sure you have done everything before you apply:
3 Apply for a place
We will publish information about how to make an application and a link to the online admissions system at 9am on 7 September 2026.
4 Apply for a place (for publication on 7 September)
You can apply for a school place from 9am on Monday 7 September 2026 until 11.59pm on Saturday 31 October 2026.
We encourage you to apply online as it is the quickest and easiest way to apply for a place.
Making an online application
To make an online application you will need an email address.
If you do not have access to the internet, you can get free internet access at West Sussex libraries or our family hubs to apply for a school place.
All applications require you to set up a new account on the parent portal. If you have already set up an account, you will need to log in.
Make sure that you know the username and password for your account so that you can access your account again later if you need to.
Apply online (external link)Saving your application is not the same as submitting it. We will only receive your application when you submit it.
Returning to a saved or submitted application
You can save your application and return to it to make changes if you want to.
Once you have submitted the application, you can go back to it to change your child's details or make other changes. You must remember to resubmit it before the deadline.
Return to a saved or submitted application (external link)Other ways to apply
If you cannot use the online application system, we will email an application form to you.
You can also ask us to send you a printed paper form by post.
To request either of these methods, contact the Pupil Admissions Team.
Returning your application form
It is your responsibility to make sure we receive your application.
You must have proof that we have received your application. We cannot investigate missing forms unless you can provide evidence that the Pupil Admissions Team received it.
If your form arrives after the deadline, we will consider your preferences after allocating all of the applications that arrived on time.
If you are sending your form to us by email or post, we recommend that you keep a copy of your completed application form.
If we have sent you an application form by email, you should return it by email.
To return a paper form that we sent you by post, you should:
- send it by recorded delivery
- check that we have received it
- make sure that you keep proof that we have received it
If you don't put an email address on your application form, the admissions office will contact you to request one.
5 Offer dates
National offer day is 1 March 2027.
Your application is 'on time' if we received it before 11.59pm on 31 October 2026.
Your application is 'out of time' if we received after 11.59pm on 31 October 2026 and up to 27 November 2026.
We consider out of time application preferences after reviewing all applications we received on time.
How we will inform you of the outcome
Online applications
For both on time and out of time online applications, on national offer day you can:
- log into your account on the parent portal after 7am to view your offer
- see the email we will send you with a link to your offer letter, note that:
- we send emails throughout the day - we cannot give you an exact time that your email will arrive
- we will send it to the email address you gave in your application
- you will need the name and details of the child as given in your application to access the letter
Paper applications
If you applied by paper form we will email the result later on national offer day, if you gave us an email address either on the form or when an admissions officer contacted you to request one. You will need the name and details of the child as given in your application to access the letter.
If you do not have an email address we will send you a letter by second class post on national offer day.
We cannot give you any information over the phone.
Late applications
If we received your application on or after Friday 27 November 2026 it is late and outside the normal admissions round. We process these applications after 12 April 2027. We will contact you after this date.
If you live outside West Sussex
If you live outside West Sussex, contact your local council for advice about how they will tell you the outcome of your application.
6 After you get your school offer
You do not need to contact the Pupil Admissions Team to accept a place at a West Sussex school.
For West Sussex schools, the headteacher will contact you to confirm induction and starting arrangements. Accepting a place does not affect your right to appeal or have a place on the wait list for any other school.
If your school place is outside of West Sussex, contact the school for advice about how to accept it.
If you do not require your allocated place
If you do not require the offered place, you must contact the Pupil Admissions Team. You should include:
- your child's name and date of birth
- a phone number we can contact you on
- the school place we offered you
- the alternative arrangements you have made for your child's education
This is very important as it means we can offer the place to another child that needs it.
If you don't get one of your preferred schools
We aim to meet your preference. If we could not offer your child a place at one of your preferred schools, you can find information to help you understand why in the allocation statistics document. The document is available shortly after the national offer day of 1 March 2027.
Use the document to find information about the 2027 intake for each school in West Sussex including the:
- total number of places we offered
- last criteria or category
- furthest distance offered within that criteria or category
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 these pages.
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: