Applying for a school place

Online applications for students applying for reception, moving from infant to junior, transfer to secondary or upper school will open on 12 September 2020.

Applications for transferring to secondary or upper school close at 11.59pm on 31 October 2020.

Applications for reception and moving from an infant to a junior school close at 11.59pm on 15 January 2021.

If you miss the deadline for applying for a school place, you can still apply. Late applications will be processed later in the year and you will be much less likely to get a place at your preferred school.

You cannot apply online – you will need to send us a paper application instead.

If you live outside of North Somerset and would like to apply for schools in the area, you must apply through your home council.

You can apply for up to three schools.

Use our maps to find schools in your area.

Most schools will have open days and evenings before the application closing dates. 

Find out which schools have been oversubscribed over the last few years and see how those schools allocated their places.

Our parent guides explain the application process in more detail. Please read the relevant guide before you apply.

The quickest and easiest way to apply for a school place is online.

You will need to set up an account on the Citizens Portal, our online admissions system.

It will take you up to 20 minutes to apply and you can make changes to your application right up until the deadline. You’ll receive a confirmation email once you have submitted your application.

Alternatively, you can send us a paper application form.

If you have applied online, you will be able to view your allocated school place on the Citizens Portal on the national offer day. We will also email you on the same day.

If you applied by post, we will post you a letter on the national offer day. This will be sent second class so may take a few days to get to you.

The national offer day for reception and junior places is Friday 16 April 2021. For secondary and upper school places it is on Monday 1 March 2021.

If you are happy with your allocated school place, you will need to accept it. If you applied online you can accept it through the Citizens Portal. If you applied by post you can accept it by filling in the response form, that will be included in your outcome letter, and posting it back to us.

If you do not get the school place you want, you can be put on a waiting list for your preferred school and you can appeal. You can also withdraw your application and make a new one with new school preferences. You will find more information in the statement of options document that will be available once you receive your offer.

You can appeal the refused school place by following our appeal procedure.