Moving schools during the school year

The following guidance is for families who want to move a child to a different school, at any time other than the usual transfer or admission points which are:

Admission to reception classes
Transfer to junior school
Transfer to secondary school

This type of request is known as an 'in-year transfer'. 

You should note that places cannot be saved for children moving to a catchment area.

We may not offer a local school place if the school is over-subscribed. A school is over-subscribed if it receives more applications than the number of available school places.

If you are moving house

If you are moving to Norfolk you can apply to change schools. You can also apply if you are moving house within Norfolk and travelling to your child's current school will become unreasonable. The application will be considered as near as possible to your house move.

We advise making an application before you move house, but only when you have confirmation of your move date. You must provide evidence to confirm your new address before we can offer a school place.

If you are not moving house

If you are not moving house but want to change your child's school, it is important that you read the following information to understand how we will deal with your application.

We expect children to start at a new school at the start of a new term. We process applications to the following timetable:

If we receive an application between:

5 July - 31 October, the new school start date is Spring term in January (after Christmas)
1 November - 28/29 February, the new school start date is Summer term (after Easter)
1 March - 31 May, the new school start date is Autumn term in September (after the summer holidays)

We will send out decisions on applications made between 1 March and 31 May before the end of the Summer term.

If we receive an application between 1 June - 4 July, we treat it as a late application. It will only be considered after all the applications we received before 31 May.

A place may not be available for your child at your local, or preferred, school if the school is over-subscribed. If your local or preferred school is over-subscribed, we may offer a place at another school instead.

How to apply

Please complete one application for each child. For example: if three children need a new school place, you would complete a total of three applications.

Apply online

Or you can complete and return a paper application/s. Contact our Customer Service team to request a paper application form.

If you are not moving house, you should not withdraw your child from their current school before an alternative school place has been offered.

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

You will receive an acknowledgement of the submitted application. All applications will be dealt with as quickly as possible and a decision will be made:

Within 15 school days if you are moving house
All other applications will be processed in line with the timetable under 'If you are not moving house'

Please note

Within a school year, we will only consider one in-year application for your child. The school year begins in September.

However, if your circumstances change significantly we may consider another application for your child. An example of a significant change would be a house move which makes travel to your child's current school unreasonable.

If your child has an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan

You should not complete an 'in-year transfer' application. You should discuss a change of schools with your EHC plan co-ordinator.

If your child is on the SEN register at their current school

If your child is on the special educational needs (SEN) register at their current school, but does not have an EHC plan, you should apply online or complete a paper application form.

If you have concerns about your child's current schooling

If you want to move your child because you are concerned about their current schooling, you should raise the issue with:

The class teacher (primary school)
Head of year or member of the pastoral care team (secondary school)

If the matter remains unresolved, you should approach the headteacher. They may wish to discuss your reasons for requesting a school transfer and be given the opportunity to put matters right.

Find a school

Find schools in Norfolk

The following schools do not take part in the 'in-year transfer' scheme. Contact the school direct to apply for a place:

Contact us

If you have questions about moving schools please use our general enquiry form to get in touch.