Starting at a secondary or upper school in September

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Please note that King Alfred School, Highbridge, converted to an Academy with the Priory Learning Trust on 1 October 2018 and is now known as ‘The King Alfred School an Academy’. If you applied for a place at the school before 1 October 2018, your application has automatically been transferred to the new school name. You may notice that the school’s name has been changed on any correspondence you receive.

If you want to apply for your child to start secondary school at the beginning of Year 7 or Upper school at the beginning of Year 9, please select Apply.

If you want to apply for your child to start school or transfer to a junior or middle school in September 2019, please visit

Apply to start school

Starting at a Junior or Middle school

Pupils start at a Secondary school at the beginning of Year 7

Pupils start at an Upper school at the beginning of Year 9

Apply

The closing date for secondary and upper school applications was 31 October 2018. Please click the button below to make a late application.

Make a late application

The information on this page also applies to applications for University Technical Colleges (UTC) and studio schools which take pupils from Year 10. Normally, you apply through your home local authority or directly to the school for a place. If the studio school or UTC you are interested in requires you to make an application through your local authority please use the online form on this page and we will tell you the outcome of your application.

There are no UTC or studio schools in Somerset, only in neighbouring authorities. We send information every year to parents of Year 8 and 9 pupils about these schools.

Who to apply to

All applications for a secondary or upper school place in September 2019 must be made to your home authority – this is who you pay your council tax to. If you are unsure if your child lives in Somerset, you can check whether we are your local authority for school admissions.

How to get more information

If your child is due to start at a secondary or upper school in September 2019 we advise you to carefully read the Secondary Admissions Guide before making your application. This contains everything you need to know to make your school place application, including information about the different types of school, published admission numbers and the criteria used to allocate places at schools and academies.

For the criteria used to allocate places at schools and academies please see the Admission policies page

If you would like information on how places were allocated at your preferred schools in previous years please see our School Place Allocation Summaries page.

How you find out which school you’ve been offered

If you applied online by 31 October 2018 you will receive an email with the outcome of your application on 1 March 2019. If you applied using a paper application form your outcome will be sent out by second class post on 1 March 2019.

Outcomes will not be given out over the phone or in person at the Council offices.

From 1 March 2019 you can view the outcome of your application by logging into the online application system.

What happens if you miss the deadline or want to change your preferences after the closing date

Please note, it is the parent or carer’s responsibility to make an on-time school place application. If you are making an application after the closing date, it will be classed as late and your application will be considered according to the dates below.

For applications received by 22 March 2019 we will send outcomes on 3 May 2019.

Applications received after 22 March 2019 will be processed in strict date order of receipt.

Important information

We would strongly advise that you carefully consider the following when making your school place application.

It is strongly advised you put three school preferences on your form especially if you live in an urban area. You are not given a higher priority for any school by stating it as your only preference and may be more likely to be allocated a school you have not chosen. This could also be some distance from your home address. Although it is unlikely it could even be the case that it is not possible to allocate your child a school place and you need to make a further application in the second round.
All preferences are considered equally and a place is offered at the highest preference possible.
If you wish to be considered for your catchment school you must include it as one of your preferences. You can check your school catchment area on a map on the School Catchment page. The map is a representation of the catchment areas and cannot be relied upon for purchasing a property. If you are considering purchasing a property or if you live near a school border then please contact us.
There are no guarantees that siblings will be allocated the same school when the school is over-subscribed so you are advised to put other preferences, especially if you live outside the catchment area.
Carefully read the over-subscription criteria for the schools you have chosen. This can be found further up this page under the heading How to get more information
If your preferred school(s) requires a Supplementary Information Form (SIF) or further proof (for example, proof of regular church attendance), it is essential that this is sent in with your application form if you would like your child to be considered under the appropriate criterion. All SIFs can be found on the school website. For VC schools only the religious proof SIF can be downloaded from the right hand side of this page.
If you have recently moved address or are due to move please provide proof of your new address. This can be the ‘exchange of contracts’ letter from the solicitors on a house purchase or a minimum six month tenancy agreement.
You will be responsible for transporting your child to any school you name as a preference unless you have a statutory entitlement.
Please ensure you fully complete the applicant details section of the application form including supplying a phone number. School Transport use a texting service to notify parents of changes to transport arrangements and require accurate and up to date details.

Fraudulent school place applications

We thoroughly investigate all potentially fraudulent or misleading applications we are made aware of and welcome information from schools and the public. For the 2018/19 academic year one home address claimed by the parent carer was not used to allocate a school place, and one school place was withdrawn as a result of information received about potentially fraudulent or misleading home addresses.

If you know or suspect that someone is trying to or has gained a school place fraudulently please let us know. You can send us this information anonymously if you prefer and rest assured that your details will remain completely confidential.