In-year applications
- Any parent/carer can apply, at any time and from any location, for an in-year school place in Warwickshire.
- In-year applications apply from Reception and up to/including Year 11 (up to 6 weeks before the end of the Summer term).
- We must lawfully provide a response to every application within 10-15 days.
- If the child lives in Warwickshire and has no existing school place, we must provide an offer of a school place.
More information on in-year applications (for parents/carers) can be found on the main WCC website.
How we work
We download applications from the Parent Portal (the online admissions system) every Monday morning and Friday afternoon and process them immediately. We also take applications over the phone or receive them by email/post every day.
For parents/carers who want their child to change schools at the start of September, we ask them to apply only from the end of June onwards. This is because any offer of a school place must be taken up within three weeks. The summer holidays mean we cannot process applications outside of term time.
School place offers are sent out via email (and sometimes also via the Parent Portal) each Friday.
Making and withdrawing offers
Any parent/carer can apply for any school and at any time. If there is a vacancy, we will offer this place to the child.
If there are no vacancies at the selected school, Fair Access will apply and in the first instance, they may be placed in their most recent Warwickshire School.
Find out more about Fair Access Protocol (FAP)
We can refuse an application for two reasons:
- There are no vacancies.
- The child has challenging behaviour (evidence will be required).
We can withdraw a school place offer for three reasons (see page 23 of the Admissions Code (GOV.UK) for more information):
- It was offered in error
- It was offered due to fraudulent or misleading information
- The offer was not taken up within a reasonable timeframe (usually 3 weeks).
In-year application checks
We carry out the following checks on in-year applications:
- FSM/Pupil Premium
- Looked after status
- Challenging behaviour/exclusions
- Siblings
- EHCP
Where possible, and when parents/carers have not provided the information, we’ll also check for details on current attendance. We check the DfE system to ascertain the last known attendance and UPN. This is recorded from the last Census data and covers schools in England (maintained and Academies only, not independent schools). We may also contact the parent/carer for more information.
If we don’t find any information, or if the child is moving to Warwickshire from outside the UK, we will record the attendance as “Educated out of area / details not provided”. If the child is in Warwickshire and not attending any school currently (i.e. missing education), the attendance will be blank.
We also request proof of address.
