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.

For secondary school places in other year groups please visit our in year admissions page to make an application.

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

You must apply for a secondary school 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 you need 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.

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.

Starting Secondary School 2021 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 opened for online applications on 1 September 2020. The closing date was 31 October 2020. If you are applying after this date, your application will be considered as late.

The eAdmissions guide explains how to apply for your child's school place online:

Download the eAdmissions guide

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.

Changing your preferences

If you wish to change your preferences after you have submitted your application for a year 7 place in September 2021, you will need to complete the Change of Preference form (37.8 KB PDF)

Please note that any change of preference forms received will be processed after National Offer Day, 1 March 2021.

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 Offer Day

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

If you applied 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.

The document How school places were offered 2021 provides a breakdown of numbers of places offered under each criteria on National Offer Day for on time applicants for entry to year 7 in September 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.

Please note: We are only able to speak to the applicant regarding their admissions application, so please do not ask a family member or a friend to contact us on your behalf.  We will not be able to discuss an application with a family member or friend unless the applicant has given us their permission to do so in writing.