Apply for a place at a primary or secondary school

If you are transferring to a secondary school in September 2023, you will no longer be able to apply online from 18 December 2022. You will need to complete the common application form.

Contact us for a form.

If you are starting in reception in September 2023, from 19 February 2023 you can no longer apply online. You will need to complete the common application form.

Contact us for a form.

If you are applying to start primary or secondary school at the normal entry point but you have missed the normal deadlines, your application is late.

Late applications or late changes with a genuine reason that is acceptable to the admission authority maybe considered, up to a certain deadline, usually in December for secondary admissions and mid February for primary admissions. You must contact us in writing to tell us your reason.

Any late application, received after the December and February deadline, will be considered after the National Offer Day has passed. All the on-time applications, including those from out of the catchment area, are processed before late applications.

You may still be allocated a place at your preferred school, if the school is undersubscribed and there are still places available. Otherwise the normal oversubscription criteria will apply. Remember to fill in several preferences in case this happens.

If you are not sure what these terms mean, please read the information about types of school.

Parents must be aware that attendance at a nursery or pre-reception class attached to a primary school neither guarantees nor gives priority to a place at that school. To prioritise children attending the nursery would discriminate against:

• younger children
• children who are attending a nursery class in another school or setting
• children whose parents choose not to use any of the pre-school provision available

Parents of children who attend a pre-reception or nursery class must submit an application form if they want their child to be given a place in the school's reception class. That application will be considered alongside all other applications. We will apply our normal admissions criteria and policies, and appeal arrangements.

If your children will both be attending the same primary school, meaning a school that covers Reception until year 6, and it is a school for which we are the admissions authority, our normal oversubscription criteria and admission arrangements apply.

However, if your children will be attending an infant school and a junior school, these are two entirely separate schools, even if they are linked by name or location. Just because your child attends an infant school there is no guarantee they will be allocated a place at the linked junior school when they transfer at the end of year 2. They are treated like any other applicant.

For this reason, having a sibling at the junior school does not give any priority to a younger child applying for a place at the infant school.  We will apply our normal oversubscription criteria and admission arrangements.

Please view information about deferred entry, summer-born children and other guidance about starting school age here.

Find out about how to apply to the selective grammar schools in Ripon and Skipton here.

We do not deal with admissions to sixth form colleges or to the sixth forms of schools which have an integrated sixth form. Please apply directly to the school you are interested in for post 16 education.

You can find some admissions policies and contact details for sixth forms here.

You may also be interested in:

• transport to sixth form or college
• SEND young people and preparing for adulthood 
• young people's local offer (SEND)

You can also contact the post-16 support team.

You can:

• view our catchment area map and information here
• consult detailed policies and lists of village parishes for each secondary school, arranged by area