Apply for a secondary school place

For children born between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016, you can now apply for them to start secondary school in September 2027.

Plan and prepare

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 offered 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 on 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.

Consider what is best for your child

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 – do your research, visit the school and see for yourself.

Admissions criteria

What are admissions criteria?

All schools must determine a set of rules - known as admissions criteria. These are used to determine the applications that will have priority for the available places. Admissions 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 Brent 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 previous years

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

Brent Council also publish a 'Scheme of Co-ordination' which explains how the council will co-ordinate all applications received for children applying to transfer to secondary school at the beginning of September 2027.

Important admission dates

If you do not live in Brent but you want a place in a Brent school, you need to apply to the council where you live.

Application dates

1 September 2026 - Applications open at eAdmissions
31 October 2026 - Applications deadline
1 March 2027 - National offer day
15 March 2027 - Response deadline

Second round of offers

15 March 2027 - Deadline for applications and changes
Week ending 26 March 2027 - Second round of offers are made
2 April 2027 - Second round response deadline

Third round of offers

30 April 2027 - Deadline for applications and changes
Week ending 21 May 2027 - Third round offers
28 May 2027 - Third round response deadline
September 2027 - Children start school

How to apply for a secondary school place

Apply for children born between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016 who will start secondary school in September 2027.

The deadline to submit your on-time application is Saturday, 31 October 2026.

Applications received after this date will only be considered after all the other applications that were received on time have been offered a place. Late applicants may be less likely to be offered one of their preference schools, especially if the school is normally oversubscribed.

Applications open from 1st September 2026 – you cannot start an application before this date

Important information about how to apply

Your address

Use your child’s permanent home address on 31 October 2026
Do not use the address of a relative or someone who provides temporary care for your child, a business address, a childminder’s address or any address other than the child’s permanent home address
We will check internal databases to confirm your address and may 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 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, 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 the SIF 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.

Apply for a school place

Late applications

We strongly encourage you to make an on-time application.

Applications received after 23:59 on 31 October 2026 will be considered as late applications.

If there are exceptional circumstances why your application was received after the deadline, please email independent written evidence explaining why the application was late to school.admissions@brent.gov.uk by 7 December 2026 (from someone who is impartial). Evidence for lateness received after this date can not be taken into consideration.

Late applications will only be considered after all the other applications that were received on-time have been offered a place. Late applicants may be less likely to be offered one of their preference schools.

If all the places have been offered to on-time applicants we will still make an offer of a place at the highest available preference school where we can.

After National Offer Day (1 March 2027) all applications, including those received late, will be considered equally.

Last updated 01/09/26