Stay informed

Local events, initiatives, and news

Your Community

Across the borough

Find out what's on in Southwark

Southwark Presents

News in Southwark

Read the latest news

News in Southwark
Back

In-year admissions

How to make an in-year admission application for your child.

In-year admission applications can be made for school places at any time of year.

An in-year application for a school place is usually for children who:

  • do not currently have a school place 
  • have recently moved to Southwark or arrived from another country


If you express a preference for a school and there is a place available, it will be offered to your child.

If your preferred school does not have a place available, our school admissions officer can tell you if any local schools have a place.

If it is still not possible to offer you a school place, our school admissions officer will allocate an appropriate alternative school that has vacancies. 

Your child’s name will be put on the waiting list at your preferred school if a place is not offered. 

What happens next

After submitting your application, you’ll find out if you've got the place within 15 school days.

If the school cannot offer you a place, they’ll let you know why. You have the right to appeal against the decision. 
 

If a school place is offered

If a school offers you a place, they’ll contact you to invite you and your child to a meeting to agree on a start date.

Your child should start at the school within 15 school days of the meeting.

In-year applications will not be processed during school holiday periods.

Appeals against in-year decisions

You can appeal if the school you have applied to does not offer your child a place. You can contact the school directly. 

If the school is a community school, you must contact Southwark Council's school admissions team.

You can contact us by:

Fair access protocol 

The purpose of a fair access protocol for primary and secondary schools is to ensure that children, especially the most vulnerable who don't have access to education, are offered a place at an appropriate school as quickly as possible.

All schools and academies within Southwark participate in Southwark's fair access protocol.  

For further information, view the:

How to apply for an in-year place

In Southwark, there are 4 ways to apply for an in-year place.

If you have any questions about the 4 ways to make an in-year application, contact our school admissions team by email: inyear.admissions@southwark.gov.uk
 

Route 1: schools that manage their own in-year applications

Academies, foundations, voluntary aided and free schools manage admissions through their governing bodies and academies’ trusts. These are also called non-community schools.

Contact the individual school to check if you need to complete a Supplementary Information Form (SIF). 

For example, voluntary-aided schools with a faith-based criteria may ask for evidence of your commitment to the faith, such as if you attend church regularly.

Completed SIFs must be returned to the individual schools.

If you're applying for an in-year place at any of the Southwark schools listed below, you must apply to them directly. 

If you have any questions about the status of your application, contact the school directly.

For further details on how to apply please visit each school’s website. 

Primary

The following schools will contact you directly with an outcome:

Secondary

 

Route 2: in-year applications managed by Southwark Council

If your child is currently not attending a Southwark school and you'd like to apply for an in-year place at a Southwark school that is not listed at Route 1 above, you must complete Southwark Council's online in-year application using the Citizen Portal. 

You’ll receive an outcome to your child's application directly from Southwark Council within 15 school days. 

If you have any questions about your child's in-year application, you can also contact our school admissions team by email at inyear.admissions@southwark.gov.uk. 

Route 3: if you're a Southwark resident and applying to a school outside of Southwark

Contact the council the school is in to ask about their in-year application arrangements.

If you apply for an in-year place in this way, you should receive an outcome to your child's application directly from the council that you submitted the application to.

If you have any questions, contact the local authority that you submitted the application to directly.

Route 4: Southwark school-to-school transfers

Speak to your child’s current headteacher. 

They will give you information on the school to school transfer process.

Moving house and in-year admissions

If you're moving home during the current academic year and need information on where the nearest Southwark schools are to your new home address, see the brochures on:

You can also contact our school admissions team by email at: inyear.admissions@southwark.gov.uk.