Apply for a secondary school place

It is important to plan and prepare before you start your application. Read our top tips to help you decide which schools to apply for.

Are your preferences realistic?

• Consider how likely it is that your child will be offered a place at your preferred schools.
• Read the admissions criteria for each school and look to see which criteria apply to your child.
• Visit the website of the school you are interested in to see their admissions criteria.

Do you meet the school's admissions criteria 

• You can view the information about how places were allocated in the previous admissions window to work out if your child is likely to qualify for a place.

Remember that although this information can be used to give an idea of how likely it is that your child will be offered a place, the ‘last distance’ will change every year. We can never guarantee any child will be offered a place at any school. 

Visit schools

Each school holds an open day for parents of children in Year 6. Please check the list of open evening dates. You can also contact the school at other times to see if they can offer a tour or information about the school.

Read Ofsted reports

Brent has many ‘Good’ and Outstanding schools. You can view reports on the Ofsted website.

How will your child travel to school?

Secondary aged children can access free transport for TfL buses and trams. A journey time of up to 75 minutes is considered reasonable, however a longer journey to school on public transport may not be the best choice for a child.

Talk to your child and other parents

Remember that the right school for your friend’s child may not be the right school for your child. Don’t judge a school based on what others say – visit the school and see for yourself.

What are admissions criteria?

All schools must determine a set of rules - known as oversubscription or admissions criteria - which are used to determine the applications that will have priority for the available places. Oversubscription criteria are only used if a school has more applications than places available. If a school is undersubscribed then all children must be offered a place where the school is their highest available preference.

You should read the admission criteria for your preferred schools to understand the criterion under which your application may be considered. It can be useful to look at statistics (like the furthest distance from school that a place was last offered) to determine how likely your application is to be successful.

• See information about offers in 2023

You can see the admissions criteria for every state school in Brent by visiting the school's website or on our admissions criteria page.

Application dates

• 1 September 2023 – applications open at eAdmissions
• 31 October 2023 -  applications deadline
• 1 March 2024 - national offer day
• 15 March 2024 - response deadline

Second round of offers

• 15 March 2024 - deadline for applications and changes
• Week ending 29 March 2024 - second round of offers are made
• 5 April 2024 - second round response deadline

Third round of offers

• 3 May 2024 - deadline for applications and changes 
• Week ending 24 May 2024 - third round offers
• 31 May 2024 - third round response deadline
• September 2024 - children start school

The deadline to submit your on-time application is Tuesday 31 October 2023.

This is for parents who need to apply for a child born between:

• 1 September 2012 and 31 August 2013 and will start secondary school in September 2024.

Applications received after 31 October 2023 will be considered as 'late' and will not be considered until the second round of offers.

Important information about how to apply

Your address

• Use your child’s permanent home address on 31 October 2023
• Do not use the address of a relative or someone who provides temporary care for your child, a business address, a childminders address or any address other than the child’s permanent home address
• We will check internal databases to confirm your address and will write to you if you need to submit further evidence of your address
• If you submit a late application, use your child's permanent home address at the time you submit the application.

Your preferred schools

• List up to 6 preferences. List the school you want the most as your first preference
• Include your local schools amongst your preferences
• You can include schools outside Brent
• Listing only one or two schools does not increase your chances of being offered a place.

Additional information and evidence

• Attach additional information to your application online or post it to School Admissions, Brent Civic Centre, Engineers Way, Wembley, HA9 0FJ.
•  A supplementary information form (SIF) is required for some schools. The online application form will advise you if a SIF is required. You should send SIFs direct to the school
• Evidence is required for looked after and previously looked after children. The social worker involved must provide a letter confirming that the child is in care. If the child was adopted immediately after being in care please provide a copy of the child arrangements order, special guardianship order or proof of adoption from your child’s home authority. If the child was adopted from state care abroad, please provide any relevant paperwork.
• We can only accept applications for children living in Brent. If your child lives in a different local authority area, but you would still like to be considered for a Brent school, you should make your application to your home local authority.

There are two further rounds of offers after National Offer Day.

We strongly encourage you to make your application on time. Applications received after 23:59 on 31 October 2023 will be processed as a late application and you will not find out what school you have been offered until the second or third round of offers.

You may be less likely to receive an offer at one of your preference schools if all places have already been offered, however we will still make an offer of a place at the highest available preference school

Late applications will be considered alongside the existing applications of on-time applications who did not receive an offer at their highest preferences schools and who have remained on the waiting list.