Apply for a secondary school place

National offer day was Tuesday 1 March 2022

Offer emails were sent in the evening on 1 March 2022.

The online application system is updated with offers and applicants can respond from the evening of 1 March 2022.

Responding to offers (accepting/rejecting)

You must accept or decline the offer by Tuesday 15 March 2022. If you applied using a paper form the offer letter explains how to respond.

If you applied online you must respond to the offer through the eAdmissions website. You will need the username and password you used when you made your application. If you can't remember this information, you can use the 'Forgotten your username or password?' option.

Once you have logged in, go to the 'My school admissions' page then select 'View outcome and respond.'

• We strongly advise applicants to accept the place offered. Accepting the offer secures the school for your child, so you have a back up, in case you’re unsuccessful in the second or third rounds or your appeal is not upheld
• Accepting the place does not affect your waiting list position or appeals
• If you do not accept the offer the place may be offered to another applicant, and subsequent offers may be further away from your home.

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 live close enough to get a place?

• Find out your home to school distance.
• Compare with cut-off distances from last year.
• Find the distance to your preferred schools using the Direct Gov schools finder
• How places were allocated

Remember that although this information can be used to give you an idea of how likely it is that you 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.

Types of schools

Visit the Gov.uk website for an explanation of the types of schools.

Visit schools

Find out open evening events. Open evening dates for a 2022 start have now passed.

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?

A long 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.

You should read the admission criteria for your preferred schools to figure out the criterion under which your application will 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 2021

Brent Council is the Admission Authority for its Community Primary Schools, and is responsible for formally agreeing the admissions criteria for these schools. We also publish a 'Scheme of Co-ordination' which explains how the council will co-ordinate all applications received for children applying to start primary or secondary school at the beginning of September. Admission arrangements and oversubscription criteria for voluntary aided (faith), foundation schools and academies are also available on this page.

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

Important note about varied admission arrangements for 2021/22 and 2022/23

In response to the publication of the new School Admissions Code on 1st September 2021, all admission authorities in Brent were required to vary their admission arrangements to include children adopted from state care abroad within their definition of previously looked after children, so that these children were given equal priority with Looked After Children and other Previously Looked After Children.

Please note that, due to coronavirus restrictions, secondary school open events are subject to change or cancellation. They may be also be held virtually online. You are strongly encouraged to check each school's website for the latest information about their open events. 

• September / October - Visit schools during their open day or evening events
• 1 September 2021 - Applications open
• 31 October 2021 Applications deadline
• 1 March 2022 - National offer day
• 15 March 2022 Response deadline

Second round of offers

• 15 March 2022 -  Deadline for applications and changes
• Week ending 25 March 2022 - Second round of offers are made
• 1 April 2022 - Second round response deadline

Third round of offers

• 2 May 2022 - Deadline for applications and changes 
• Week ending 20 May 2022 - Third round offers
• 27 May 2022 - Third round response deadline

• September 2022 - Children start school

Apply for children born between 1 September 2010 and 31 August 2011 who will start secondary school in September 2022.

The deadline for on-time applications for starting secondary school in September 2022 has passed, but you can still submit a 'late' application using the link below. Your application will be considered from the second round of offers .

Important information about how to apply

Your address

• Use your child’s permanent home address on 31 October 2021
• 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 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 school 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, PO Box 1057, Wembley, HA9 1HJ.
• 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.
• Evidence of social/medical reasons must be provided directly to school.