Applying for a secondary school place

Applying for a secondary place for September 2021

The information on this page relates to those children born between 1 September 2009 and 31 August 2010 who need to apply to start secondary school in September 2021.

If your child is currently in Year 6, they are due to start secondary school in September 2021.

You must apply for a secondary place for your child even if they have an older brother or sister at your preferred school. If your child attends an All Through school and you wish them to automatically transfer to year 7, please contact the school who will advise you what to do.

If you and your child live in Waltham Forest, you must apply through us. If you and your child live outside Waltham Forest, you must apply to the local authority in which you live, even if you are applying for schools in other areas.

Please note: School open evenings

This year we are encouraging all Waltham Forest schools to do a virtual open evening. 
Please see information on school open evenings below  

How to apply

The brochure Starting Secondary School 2021 (10.4MB PDF) contains all the information you need to know about applying for a secondary school place. Please check the latest admissions information below for updates to this brochure.

The best way to apply is online, through the eAdmissions website. This is a secure way to apply for your child’s school place.

The eAdmissions website opens for online applications on 1 September 2020. The closing date is 31 October 2020. If you apply after this date, your application will be considered as late.

You can download the eAdmissions guide which explains how to apply for your child's school place online.

There are also FAQs and guidance sheets to help you complete your online application on the eAdmissions website. If you are having a technical problem completing your application, please email support@eadmissions.org.uk.

If you are unable to apply online you can download the secondary common application form (70KB PDF). Instructions for how to submit your paper application are on the back of the application form.

Applying for grammar/selective schools

You may wish to apply for a grammar and/or selective school for your child.  These are schools which have tests in order to select the children who will attend.  There are no selective schools in Waltham Forest.  However, parents/carers can still apply for selective schools outside Waltham Forest through their application. 

In response to a range of Covid-19 related issues which make early autumn admissions testing undesirable and impractical, many schools which test for a child’s ability or aptitude have decided to postpone admission tests until later in the autumn term. Any revised dates will be confirmed by contacting the school(s) directly.

Despite these changes, parents should still register their child for tests by published deadlines and submit their common application form by the national closing date, 31 October 2020.

For Waltham Forest residents applying for a grammar or selective school, you may wish to add or remove the school once you have received the results of the test. If you receive the results of the test after the closing date, we will accept a change of preference to add or remove a grammar school provided you notify us of the change by 10 December 2020.  You can do this by sending an email to admissions@walthamforest.gov.uk with the subject header ‘Grammar School application change of preference'.

You will be able to add a grammar school or substitute another school for any grammar school removed. 

Any change of preference received after 31 October will be considered after places are offered on 1 March 2021.

Please note that this applies only to change of preferences regarding grammar school applications.

If you have questions about test arrangements, please check relevant school websites, or contact the school(s) directly.

Changing your preferences

If you make an online application, you can change your preferences as many times as you wish before 31 October 2020 by going into your online application.  Please ensure you resubmit the application to save the changes.

After 31 October you will need to complete the Change of Preference form (37.8 KB PDF)

Please note that any change of preference forms received after the closing date (except with regard to grammar/selective schools as above) will be processed after National Offer Day.

Fraudulent applications

The London Borough of Waltham Forest takes very seriously any attempt to gain an advantage in the admissions process by giving false information.

It is really important that the admissions system is fair for everybody. Nobody should be allowed to cheat by using a friend or relative’s address, a business address or by temporarily renting a property near to a popular school. Each year, a number of parents try to get a school place by providing false information, which could result in them taking a place that should have gone to another child.

The Local Authority will investigate all instances where a parent is thought to have provided false or misleading information in order to gain admission to a school. Your address will be checked by reference to various records and, if necessary, by a council officer visiting the application address.

A false application may, in addition to possible prosecution, lead to the withdrawal of your child’s place in the school applied for, even if the child has already started school.

For details on how we use your information for fraud prevention, including sharing with fraud prevention agencies, please see our updated Anti-Fraud Fair Processing Notice.

If you suspect someone has provided false information on a school application form please report fraud online. Alternatively, you can call the fraud hotline anonymously, 24 hours a day on 0300 003 1099 or you can email us at fraud@walthamforest.gov.uk

National Allocation Day

National Allocation Day is on 1 March 2021. This is the day you will receive the results of your application if you apply by the closing date of 31 October 2020.

If you apply online by the closing date, an email with the outcome of your application will be sent to you in the evening on 1 March 2021. For paper applications received by the closing date, a letter will be posted first class on 1 March 2021.

Parental responsibility

If one parent has parental responsibility (as evidenced by documentation) that parent's application is the one that will be accepted. If parents are separated and both have parental responsibility, then they must determine between them who will make the application and if they cannot agree then either parent may seek to have that determined by a Court. In the event of a dispute between parents who do not have this matter resolved by the Court we will accept the application by the parent with whom the child resides the majority of the school week and where that is equal we will determine whose application is progressed with reference to the parent who is in receipt of Child Benefit, and if no one is in receipt of child benefit then we will consider all of the circumstances and make a determination as to the application which will be accepted and provide our reasons for doing so. This will ensure the child has an active application for a school place.

Where a child lives with each of their separated parents for different parts of the week, we will consider the child’s home address on any application to be where the child sleeps for most of the school week. The allocation of school places is determined in accordance with the Admissions Policy and where the criteria of distance is used this will be determined by reference to the child’s ‘home address’ which is determined with reference to where they reside the majority of the time. Where this is an equal time this will be determined by reference to the parent who is in receipt of Child Benefit. In the event the recipient of child benefit is clearly not a main carer of the child, or no Child Benefit is received, we will consider all of the circumstances and make a determination as to the ‘home’ address which will be used.

You will not be able to change to the other parent’s address mid-year unless the current arrangements as set out in any Court Order have changed. You must also provide a copy of any custody or residence order.