Apply for a secondary place

Applications for your child to start in year 7 at secondary school in September 2025 opened on 1 September 2024 and will close on 31 October 2024.

Applications for your child to start in year 10 at a studio school or university technical college (UTC) or at a middle or high school elsewhere in the country and for transfer into a new sixth form at year 12 also open between these dates.

The date that all allocations of school places are announced in England is known as ‘Offer day’. For September 2025 secondary school starters this will be on 3 March 2025.

Before you apply

Before you apply we encourage you to:

read our step-by-step guide to normal round admissions for the type of school you are applying to, including:
- year 7 secondary school applications
- year 10 studio school or university technical college applications
- middle or high school applications elsewhere in the country
- transfer to a sixth form at a new school

read the guidance on using the citizens portal
view information about schools on our school information pages
Check with the schools you are interested in to see if they are holding open days/evenings/tours. Many schools hold these events while the application window is open during September and October. The proposed open day dates are available here.
find out what different schools have to offer your child (please be aware that given the current coronavirus situation, open events at schools that have previously been held in September/October may be subject to change – please check individual school websites for up-to-date information)
know which school is designated for your child’s address
understand what equally ranked preferences mean – it enables you to apply for the schools you most want without affecting your chances of a place at other schools
be aware of the school transport policy – it is important that you understand who will be responsible for transport before applying to a school and before accepting a place
view frequently asked questions about what happened in previous admissions rounds

You can apply for any state-funded school in Devon.

You must apply to the local authority where your child lives. Residents of Plymouth, Torbay, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset should apply to their local authority.

We will not assume that you want a place at a particular school – even if you have an older child who already attends or you live nearby.

The Admissions Team can be contacted at admissions@devon.gov.uk.

Apply now

The application system to apply for year 7 in September 2025 opened on 1 September 2024. Please apply online at the Citizens Portal.

The closing date is on 31 October each year. You can apply after this date, but applications made after this date will be considered late and may be at a disadvantage. Please see the ‘Late applications’ tab for more information.

If you cannot apply online, please contact the Education helpline on 0345 155 1019 and ask for a paper copy of the form to be sent to you.

Late applications

Applications close on 31 October each year. If you apply after this date, the application will be considered late unless you can demonstrate that you were unable to apply on time, for example, because of illness or a house move. For illness to be taken into account, it must have prevented an application being made.

If the reason you give is accepted and you are able to apply by the date when applications are processed by us, your application will be considered to have been made on time.

Remember:

you cannot apply online after the closing date. To apply after this time please contact us on 0345 155 1019
if your application is late, places at the schools you prefer may already have been filled – no places are held in reserve
if your application is late you may be responsible for transport to and from a school further away from your home

Offer day

We will email your child’s offer of a school place on Monday 3 March 2025. Please make sure that your email address is kept up to date.

If you applied online, you can also log into your online account from 10am on 3 March 2025 to view the school allocated.

Please note, if your child has an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and your preference was for a special or independent school, your named Case Officer should have made contact to confirm the placement agreed for September. The allocated school should also be named in Section 1 of the most recent EHCP, and you can view this by logging on to the EHC Hub. If you have any queries regarding placement for your child with an EHCP, please contact your named Case Officer, or email specialeducation0-25mailbox@devon.gov.uk and someone will contact you.

We will offer your child one secondary school place. If a place was available at more than one of your preferences, the offer will be for the school that can offer a place which was your highest preference.

If none of your preferred schools could offer a place, we will make an offer at another school. This may be the school designated for your address if it has a vacancy remaining or the closest school to your child’s home with a vacancy.

View our frequently asked questions here. You can also view an allocation breakdown for each secondary school here, which details how the oversubscription criteria has been applied to each school and also where the cut off point for admission came.

What happens next

If you are happy with the school place offered to your child, you do not need to do anything else other than confirm that you want the place to the school itself.

If you are not happy with the offer, find out how to appeal.