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Secondary school application deadline for September 2027

Most councils close secondary applications for September 2027 on Saturday 31 October 2026; Kent closes on Monday 2 November 2026. Offers come on Monday 1 March 2027.

Secondary application deadline

Choose your council

Your result

The order puts the schools you want most first. It does not predict which school your child will be offered.

Questions people ask

When is the deadline to apply for secondary school for September 2027?

GOV.UK says you must apply by 31 October. For September 2027 entry that is Saturday 31 October 2026, and you apply through the council where you live, even for schools in another area.

Is the Kent secondary deadline different?

Yes. Kent County Council gives Monday 2 November 2026 as its closing date for Kent residents.

Does the order of my school preferences matter?

Only when more than one school could offer a place: then you get the one you ranked highest. Schools rank applications by their own rules without seeing your order, and the School Admissions Code bans extra priority for ranking a school first. So put the school you want most at number 1.

Should a grammar school go first if my child passed?

Put it where it really belongs. Kingston's guide shows the rule: if a school you ranked higher can also offer a place, the grammar school offer is withdrawn.

Can I name a grammar school if my child did not pass?

Yes, but it can only be offered after a successful review or appeal. Buckinghamshire ignores grammar preferences for a child who has not qualified and looks at your other schools, and you can only appeal for a school that was on your form.

Should I include my catchment school?

Most families should. Sutton says 87 of its children last year got none of their preferences when a Sutton school they had not named would have taken them, and advises using all six.

How many schools can I name?

It depends on your council: six in the London boroughs, Birmingham, Buckinghamshire, Medway, Slough and Essex; five in Trafford, Wirral, Gloucestershire and Southend-on-Sea; four in Kent and Reading.

What happens if I miss the deadline?

Your application is late and is looked at only after the on-time ones. Birmingham, for example, processes late secondary applications after offers on 1 March 2027.

Keep going

How we work this out

What it does

Pick your council for its deadline, then add your schools to put them in the right order.

Year 7 applications for September 2027 in 16 councils: Kent, Medway, Buckinghamshire, Slough, Bexley, Redbridge, Barnet, Kingston upon Thames, Sutton, Birmingham, Trafford, Wirral, Gloucestershire, Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Reading. Any other council in England gets the GOV.UK date.

Method

  1. The deadline and the number of preferences come from your council's own admissions page or published scheme, read on 12 October 2026.
  2. You add each school and say how much you want it. We list them from the school you want most to the one you want least, keeping your own order between schools you rate the same.
  3. We never move a school up because it is easier to get. Councils use equal preference: schools rank applications by their own rules without seeing your order (School Admissions Code, paragraph 1.9(c)), so your order only decides which offer you get when more than one school could take your child.
  4. For a grammar school we use your child's result: a school they did not qualify for is flagged with your council's rule, and one still waiting for a result stays on the form.
  5. We check that the list has a school your child would very likely get, because councils that cannot meet any preference offer the nearest school with a place left.

Sources

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