Transfer to secondary school

Secondary school applications opened on 11 September 2024 and will close on 31 October 2024.

If your child is due to transfer to secondary school in September 2025, you need to apply for a secondary school place.

If you cannot apply online, you can request a paper application form using our general enquiry form.

When children transfer to secondary school

Secondary schools are for 11 to 16-year-olds (years 7 to 11). Some secondary schools also have sixth forms for 16 to 18 year olds (years 12 and 13).

Your child is due to transfer to secondary school when they are in their last year (year 6) at primary or junior school.

You need to apply for a secondary school place for September 2025 if:

Your child currently goes to a primary or junior school, and
They were born between 1 September 2013 and 31 August 2014

When you get your school offer

If you apply for transfer to secondary school for September 2025, we will offer you a school place on 3 March 2025.

If you apply online, you will be able to see the offer in your admissions account online from 8.30am on 3 March 2025. We will also send you the offer by email.
If you complete a paper application form, we will send your school offer by post. We will send offer letters by second-class post on 3 March 2025.
You need to either accept or decline the offered school place.

The first day of autumn term 2025 is Wednesday 3 September. Your child should go to school on that day unless the school tells you otherwise.

If you are not offered a place at one of your preferred schools

If we are unable to offer your child a place at one of your preferred schools, we will offer a place at an alternative school. This will be at the nearest school to your home address with an available place. You need to either accept or decline the offered school place.

Waiting lists

If we don't offer your child a place at one of your preferred schools, we will add their name to waiting list for that school in case a place becomes available. We will keep their name on the waiting list until 31 December 2025.

Appealing the decision

You have the right to appeal the decision if we do not offer your child a place at one of your preferred schools.

Please note that not all appeals are successful. Only 55 of the 192 appeals heard in Norfolk for the September 2024 secondary transfer round were successful.

How to appeal the decision

Transport and free school meals

We will tell the transport team which school we have offered your child a place at. The transport team will contact you if your child is entitled to home to school transport.

Find out more about school transport

If your child gets free school meals at their current school, this entitlement will automatically transfer to their new school from September.

Find out more about free school meals

The admissions process in Norfolk

You can find full information and answers to frequently asked questions in the parent's guide to admissions in Norfolk (PDF) [399KB].

Contact the admissions team

If you need to contact us, you can use the general enquiry form.

Secondary school admissions timetable

Important dates for secondary school admissions for September 2025:

Applications open - 11 September 2024
Applications close - 31 October 2024
National offer day (when you get your school offer) - 3 March 2025
Appeals closing date - 28 March 2025
Mini admission round starts (when we consider changes parents have made to their applications since the closing date) - 3 April 2025
Appeals hearings take place - May/June 2025
We maintain waiting lists for oversubscribed schools until 31 December 2025