Apply for a secondary school place 2026/2027

Find out if your child is eligible to start school during the 2026/2027 school year.

You must apply for a secondary school place for the 2026/2027 school year by the closing date of 31 October 2025. 

This will give you the best chance of your child being offered a place at one of your preferred schools.

Moving house

If you're moving house, it is still important that you make an application by the closing date.

If your new address cannot be confirmed by the closing date, we recommend you apply for schools based on your current address in case your proposed move falls through.

We will need evidence to show that you are legally committed to your move if you want your new address to be used in the on time allocation process. You must send this written evidence to the Admissions Team by the closing date. If this is not possible, then by 17 December 2025 at the very latest.

Find your nearest schools

We strongly recommend that you check which school is your child's nearest suitable school on our Nearest School Checker.

You can find out which are your child's three nearest Suffolk schools (based on the statutory walking distance including Public Rights of Way) by putting their postcode into the Nearest School Checker.

We update this each year to include new roads and developments.

Check if there is a catchment area school for your child's home address

A catchment area is the geographical area served by a school. The catchment area school may not be the nearest school to your child’s home address.

Some voluntary aided, free schools and academies do not operate catchment areas. Please check the school's admissions policy for details.

Use the school catchment area lists and maps to find out if your child's address has a catchment area school.

Finding information about schools

You can find information about schools in Suffolk and other counties from their website, prospectus and open days.

View the schools' details, admissions policies and Supplementary Information Forms or read the Directory of Schools in Suffolk found at the top of the page. This will help you to understand how places are offered for each school you are interested in, as they may be different from one another.

The list of schools and the Directory includes:

• contact details for each school
• the number of places in the year group, known as the Published Admission Number (PAN), and information relating to last year’s on time applications
• a link to the admissions policy which includes the oversubscription criteria used to rank applications

Choosing your school preferences

You can apply for up to three schools, putting them in order of preference.

Each of your preferences will be considered equally and separately.

Your preferences and the order you put them on your admissions application could affect your child’s eligibility for SCC funded school travel. Please see Step 4 for further information.

Listing second and third preferences will not affect your child’s chance of being offered their first preference. Your first preference will be offered above your second or third preferences where possible.

We cannot guarantee your child a place at any school.

Choosing a school for a child with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

Read advice and tips for parents choosing a school for a child with SEND.

Suffolk County Council (SCC) Funded School Travel

Please be aware: You must consider how your child will travel to and from school before you apply for a school place.

The following information is very important:

1. We will provide SCC funded school travel to the Nearest Suitable School that would have had a place available for your child when they are: a) aged under 8 and live more than two miles from the school; or b) aged 8 or older and live more than three miles from the school. This would be whether or not an application was made for a place at that school. The distance in a) and b) above is called the statutory walking distance.
2. We will only provide SCC funded school travel to your child’s catchment area school when it is the nearest suitable school to their home that would have had a place available for them and they meet the distance criteria.
3. It is important that you check which school is your child’s nearest suitable school on our Nearest School Checker for the 2026/2027 school year. You can find out which are the three nearest Suffolk schools (based on the statutory walking distance including Public Rights of Way) by putting your child’s postcode into the Checker which can be found at Nearest School Checker. We update this each year to include new roads and developments.
4. Your School Preferences and the order in which you put them on your admissions application could affect your child’s eligibility for SCC funded school travel. Our School Travel Scenarios can help you work out when your child might be eligible for SCC funded school travel to their school when the age and distance criteria are met.

You must apply for a secondary school place for the 2026/2027 school year by the closing date of 31 October 2025. 

How to apply

Apply online

Most parents in Suffolk apply for a school place online.

By completing and submitting your application online you:

• will receive confirmation of your application by email
• can check or change your application right up to midnight on the closing date
• can view the outcome of your application online on the offer day
• will receive an email with details of your school offer on the offer day

Read the following guides to help you to make an online application. These files may not be suitable for users of assistive technology. Request an accessible format.

If you applied online

You'll be able to view the outcome of your application on 2 March 2026, the National Offer Day.

You can view your school place offer by logging into the online service you used to apply.

You'll also receive an email with details of your child’s offer of a school place.

If you have not been offered a place at your preferred school(s), this email will give you more information about what to do next. This will include details of how to make an appeal.

If you applied on a paper application form

We'll send you a letter by second class post on 2 March 2026 with the offer of a school place.

You'll receive this letter after 2 March 2026.

If you have not been offered a place at your preferred school(s), you will be given information about what to do next. This will include details of how to make an appeal.

You can read more about this in the Admissions to Schools in Suffolk 2026/2027 guide found at the top of the page.

You can read more about this in the Admissions to Schools in Suffolk 2026/2027 guide found at the top of the page.

If you're happy with the school your child has been offered

We will assume you have accepted the school place offered to your child if we have not heard from you by 16 March 2026.

This will not affect your chances of getting a place at a higher preference school either:

• from the waiting list
• through an appeal (for any of your preferred schools that your child has been refused a place at)

If your child has been offered a school in another county, you may be required to formally accept the place. Please contact the school directly for details.

If you're not happy with the school your child has been offered

Waiting lists

If we are unable to offer your child a place at any of your preferred school(s), we will automatically add their name to the waiting list for that school(s).

Names are placed on the waiting list in priority order. This is set out in the school’s admissions oversubscription criteria.

The order of the waiting list can change when:

• a new child’s name is added
• the circumstances of a child already on the list changes

This means a child’s place on the waiting list can go up or down, for example, due to withdrawals or late applications.

The waiting lists will close on 31 December 2026 for:

• community and voluntary controlled schools
• voluntary aided schools and academies who have agreed to operate the same policy as Suffolk County Council

You can find out when the waiting lists close for voluntary aided, free schools and academies who do not follow the same policy as Suffolk County Council from the schools directly.

Appealing the decision

You have the right of appeal if your child has been refused a place at any of your preferred school(s).

Find out about the appeals process and download an appeal form.

If you applied on time, you should submit your appeal form to the Education Appeals Office by 27 March 2026.

Appeal forms received by the Education Appeals Office on or before 27 March 2026 will be heard by 15 June 2026.

If they are received after these dates they may be heard later. In some cases, appeals may not be heard until after the beginning of the new school year.

If you want to apply for a different school(s)

You must submit a paper application (CAF1) if you wish to apply for a different school(s) after receiving an offer of a school place. Please see Step 5 'Apply for a school place' for further information.

However, the new application will supercede your previous application.

This means that you must include any schools from your first application above your new preferences on your second or subsequent application if you would like them to remain as a live preference and you still want:

• the right to appeal
• your child’s name to remain on the waiting list

Suffolk County Council’s Determined Admission Arrangements for the 2026/2027 school year include:

• The oversubscription criteria for community and voluntary controlled schools
• Published Admission Numbers for Suffolk schools