Parents and carers in North Yorkshire are being asked to apply for school places online and on time.
Applications are now open and any child transferring from primary school to secondary school next year must apply for a place by Friday 31 October.
In North Yorkshire, parents can list up to five schools in order of preference on their common application form. National Offer Day when parents find out about secondary school places is 2 March 2026.
Last year’s school admission figures revealed a total of 90% of families in North Yorkshire secured their first preference. A total of 96% of all families in the county who requested a school place received an offer from the authority for one of their top three preferences of secondary school.
Our assistant director for inclusion, Amanda Fielding, said: “There is always a high demand for school places and we do our utmost to ensure that children are offered a place at their preferred secondary school.
“If parents apply online it will help with the efficiency of the process.”
Parents are being reminded to review the implications of our home to school travel policy, particularly considering the main eligibility criteria that transport is provided to the nearest suitable school with available places to their home address where it is over the statutory walking distance. Parents are reminded that the catchment school for admissions may not be their nearest suitable school for travel purposes.
If transport is an important factor when choosing a school, please go to our travel support page. Here, you can see the eligibility criteria for home to school travel and also use the online tool to find your nearest school to your home address.
You can find out more about school admissions and how to apply at our starting secondary school page.