Moving mid-year: how to get a school place when the main round closed months ago

A family moves in October, or February, or May, and finds that every discussion of school applications turns on dates in January and October. Those belong to the normal admissions round. A move mid-year has a separate route.

What it is called and where to go

An application outside the normal round is an in-year application. GOV.UK is direct about it: contact your local council to find out about applying for a school place once the school year has started. The council can say which schools still have places and how to apply.

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That is the key difference from the familiar process: rather than approaching schools one by one, you start with the council, which holds the picture of vacancies across the area.

How the normal round differs

For contrast, the normal round runs like this:

• Primary. Applications open in September and close on 15 January.
• Secondary. Applications usually open on 1 September, and you must apply by 31 October.
• Opening dates vary between councils.

In both cases the application goes through the council. You apply directly to the institution in only two cases: a sixth form place at a school or college, and a place at a private school.

The preference list, and a rule worth knowing

You are asked to list schools in order of preference. Here GOV.UK dismantles a common belief in plain words: listing only one school will not increase your chances of getting a place there. The page sets no maximum number — that is for the council to set.

So the tactic of naming a single school to signal commitment does nothing except leave the family without fallbacks.

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A child with an EHC plan

One separate and powerful rule: a school named in the EHC (education, health and care) plan must give your child a place. That is not a preference or a queue, but an obligation on the school.

If there are no places

Then waiting lists and appeals remain; GOV.UK covers both on their own pages, and the procedure depends on the council. The starting point is still the council: it keeps the record of vacancies and explains how to join a waiting list and how to appeal.

A practical note for anyone moving: ring the new council before the move rather than after. The map of school vacancies sometimes shapes the choice of area itself.