School Admissions
How do I apply for a School Place?
Online applications
You can make your application online for the normal round Reception and Secondary Transfer applications. Online applications will be introduced for Junior Transfer and In-Year applications.
In 2010-11, over 95% of applications for Reception and Secondary transfer were submitted online. You should find that applying online will be a straight-forward process. Applications online are acknowledged automatically when you submit them and you will find out the school your child has been offered electronically on the date the offers are made, without having to wait for a letter to be delivered.
Common Application Forms
You can apply by contacting one body – the local authority where your child lives. There is a Common Application Form to enable you do apply. In Devon we have four different Common Application Forms, depending on your child’s circumstances:
D-CAF – in-year applications. Every child must have an application on a D-CAF
D-CAF1 – applications for the normal round Reception intake
D-CAF2 – applications for the normal round Junior Transfer
D-CAF3 – applications for the normal round Secondary Transfer
While every child must have a Common Application Form, you may want to complete a Supplementary Information Form if a school you prefer asks you to provide further information so your application can be considered against the school’s oversubscription criteria. This is the case with a number of faith schools. You should check to see whether a Supplementary Information Form is available – if you satisfy faith or other criteria for a school but don’t tell them about it, your child will not be prioritised and you may not get the offer you could have. Some schools request a letter from a priest rather than provide a Supplementary Information Form.
Common Application Forms and Supplementary information Forms are available at the admission arrangements for each academic year through the Devon school admission arrangements page or by contacting the Education Helpline on 0845 155 1019. Supplementary Information Forms are also available direct from the school.
Forms will not be sent to you unless you request them.
Your Responsibility to Apply
If you are the parent of a child in Year 6 of a Primary or Junior School in Devon, we will write to you at the beginning of September to prompt you to apply. If you are the parent of a child in Year 2 of an Infant School in Devon, we will write to you at the beginning of November to prompt you to apply. If we have been informed that you have a child who is due to start in Reception in the following academic year you may receive a letter from us if your child is registered at an Early Years setting, or you may see literature and posters at Nurseries and Schools from the beginning of November to prompt you to apply. We will not send you an application form unless you can’t apply online and tell us that you want a paper application form - by calling the Education Helpline on 0845 155 1019.
It is important that you keep your school or early years setting informed of your child’s home address as the address we hold on file is the address the prompt will be sent to. We will publicise the need to apply but the responsibility to apply lies with you as a parent. We will not assume that you want to take a place at a school if you do not apply.
You should not wait to receive a letter from us before applying as we cannot guarantee that every letter will reach the intended recipient.
If you are thinking of making an In-Year application, it will be for you to contact the local authority to apply – a form for In-Year applications is available here 
(193KB - pdf help) or by calling the Education Helpline on 0845 155 1019.
