Apply for a secondary school place

If your child is in year 6 then you must apply for a place at secondary school. Each year applications are open between September and October.

You can apply to a secondary school between 1 September and 31 October, applying later than this is considered a late application unless in Kirklees judgement there are significant and exceptional reasons for it not being received on time.

Late applications

If you apply after the deadline of 31 October 2023, your application will be considered as late. Late applications are not considered until all on-time applicants have been allocated school places.

Late applications received after 30 November 2023 will be processed as part of the re-allocation period. This is a 'two-week window' after national offer day when Kirklees parents and carers can write to Kirklees Pupil Admissions and change the school preference(s).

Late applications severely reduce your applications' success.

Before applying, research the schools in your area. Search for a school. It's also advisable to:

• Visit secondary school open evenings
• Read the school's most recent Ofsted reports
• Check the school league tables

It is strongly advised that you apply for a school in your priority admission area (PAA). It is called this because children living there normally have priority admission over children who live elsewhere. It is also referred to as the catchment area.

All community and controlled schools have a PAA. Academies, free schools, trust schools, voluntary aided schools have their own admissions policy which is made by the governing body of each school. Their policy may or may not include a PAA. You can view these schools using Where's my nearest. This will show all the schools in your location.

Find a school and your priority admission area

Parents/carers are strongly advised to apply for three secondary schools, these are your first, second and third secondary school preferences. This is in case a place is not available at the first preference.

If your child qualifies at more than once school you will be offered a place at the higher preference school.

The allocation of a school place MUST be based on the child's permanent address.

A child cannot be 'lodged' with a friend or relation to gain a place at a school.

Only one parent can submit a school application. The parent/carer who applies must have legal parental responsibility for the child.
It must be agreed which parent/carer will apply. When you apply, you are confirming that you have the consent of all those with parental responsibility for the child.

If there are fewer applicants than there are places available, everyone who applies will be offered a place. When there are more applicants than there are places available children are offered places by using the admission criteria which are considered in order. These criteria can also be called oversubscription criteria.

In Kirklees the admission criteria for community and voluntary controlled schools are:

1. children in public care (looked after children) and all previously looked after children, including those children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be as a result of being adopted.
2. children who live in the school's Priority Admission Area (PAA) who have a brother or sister attending from the same address at the date of admission (the sibling rule).
3. children who live in the school's PAA.
4. children who live outside the school's PAA who have a brother or sister attending from the same address at the date of admission (the sibling rule).
5. children who live outside the school's PAA.

Community and voluntary controlled schools will admit a child with Special Educational Needs where the school is named on the Education Health and Care Plan.

The three stages of your application on Kirklees Parent Portal

If you do not complete all three stages, your application is not complete and cannot be processed.

Stage 1 Create an account (if you have not already created one in a previous year). If you are the legal parent/carer, enter your details and follow the link that will be sent to the email address you have used. The process will verify your account and provide you with a link that will take you to the login page of the Kirklees Parent Portal.

Stage 2 Add your child's details (if you have not already added them in a previous year)

Stage 3 Add your three preference schools. Check the application and then submit the application.

Up to the closing date of 31 October 2023, you may change your preferences in the parent portal if you have not received an email to say Kirklees local authority has downloaded your application.

If you have received an email to say the local authority has downloaded your application you can only change your school preferences by sending your changes in an email to: pupiladmissions@kirklees.gov.uk.

After the closing date you cannot change your preferences without a genuine reason for doing so, such as a significant change of address. We will require proof of a change of circumstances. Learning that your child is suitable or not suitable for a selective school will not be considered reason to allow you to change your preference.

If you name any of the following academies, free schools, voluntary aided Catholic or voluntary aided Church of England schools amongst your preferences, you should ensure that you complete the school's Supplementary Information Form (SIF).

You must return your completed SIF to the school and also complete an online Kirklees application.

• All Saints Catholic College
• Batley Grammar School
• St John Fisher Catholic High School

Previously looked after child (PLAC) SIF

If you are requesting admission to school under the previously looked after child (PLAC) criteria you need to complete this online form:

Provide supplementary information for a previously looked after child

Fill in our simple online form

Clock Completing this form takes around 5 minutes

Provide supplementary information

After you've applied

Your completed form will be sent to Pupil Admissions.

In most cases, foreign national children in the UK have the right to attend schools in England. School admission authorities must not refuse to admit a child on the basis of their nationality or immigration status nor remove them from roll on this basis. It is the responsibility of parents to check that their children have a right, under their visa entry conditions, to study at a school.

To help parents, we recommend that local authorities advise foreign nationals, who wish to apply for a state-funded school place, to check that they have a right of abode or that the conditions of their immigration status otherwise permit them to access a state-funded school. Further information can be found at: School admissions: applications for overseas children