Apply for a school place and information on primary and junior national offer day 19 April 2022
You may be applying for a school place outside of the usual time of entry. This might be because you have moved house, because your child is unhappy at their current school or because they have been excluded.
These are known as transfers or in-year applications. You should not remove your child from their current school before you have made a transfer application and secured a place at another school.
If you wish to apply for an in year transfer to one of the schools below, you must contact the school directly to make an application. Please do not submit your application to Wiltshire Council.
Primary schools
- Amesbury Archer Primary
- Bemerton St John Primary
- Chilton Foliat
- Clarendon Infants and Juniors
- Pembroke Park Primary
- Saint Edmunds Calne
- St Georges RC Warminster
- St John's Trowbridge
- St Joseph's Malmesbury
- The New Forest Primary
- St Nicholas Porton
Secondary schools
- Sarum Academy
- The Trafalgar School
- Wyvern St Edmund's
To apply for your child to transfer to any other Wiltshire school, please apply online using the in year transfer application form below. Alternatively, a copy of the in year transfer application form can be obtained by calling Customer Services on 01225 713 010. All paper applications forms must be posted back to the address on the application form. Email copies will not be accepted.
Applications can only be submitted a term in advance on the required admission date.
If you wish to apply for an in year transfer to a school outside of Wiltshire, please contact the Local Authority for which the school is situated in, for details of how to apply.
It is important to note that you must not double click the log in button or icons when using the Parent Portal.
If you are having issues accessing the Parent Portal the please follow the steps below.
- Close all of your Wiltshire Council browser sessions on every device that you have used. For example phone, tablet and laptop.
- Follow your individual device instructions to clear the cache and cookies
- Ensure that you are using the same email address that you registered with. Please also check that CAPS LOCK is off.
- Turn off any Virtual Private Network (VPN) that you may be using. Some sites will block specific country or place IP addresses.
If you are still unable to access the Parent Portal once you have followed these steps then please click here and provide us with detailed information on the steps you have followed. This information will be passed on to our service provider to investigate and we will respond to you as quickly as possible.
All parents are required to accept or decline the school place they have been offered by the stated deadline using the Parent Portal.
If you have applied for a school place using the Parent Portal then you will need to log back into the portal and select one of the following options:
Accept offer - Accepts the place offered
Hold this place while I pursue Waiting List / Appeal options - If you do not want to accept the offered place because you are choosing to appeal or appeal and go on the waiting list for one of your higher preferences, please use this option.
I no longer require a school place - Please only use this option if you wish the whole application to be completely withdrawn. You will be asked to confirm why the place is no longer required.
If you have applied using a paper application, please follow the guidance in the letter to accept of decline your place.
If you have submitted a paper application, then the outcome will be posted to you second class on national offer day. This is the day it will be posted to you and not the date you will receive it.
Please follow the instuctions in the decision letter to accept or decline your school place by the stated deadline.
Wherever possible we have offered a place at the highest ranked school named on your application form. If any of your preferences have been rejected it will be because the school is oversubscribed, and your child did not have a high enough priority for a place.
If it has not been possible to offer a place at any of the schools named on your application form, a place will have been offered at the nearest school to your home address with available places. If you have not secured a place at your preferred school then you may wish to select the 'waiting list' or 'waiting list and appeal' option from the drop down menu in the parent portal when confirming if you wish to accept or decline the school place that has been offered.
We recommend that you read the 'How to accept or decline your school place via the Parent Portal' section.
Please take the time to read this guidance, which contains some important and useful information.
Terms of acceptance
There is no right of admission to any school. This means that:
- a child's admission to a school does not provide any guarantee that any other children you may have will be admitted to the same school either now or in the future;
- there is no right of admission to the school (or schools) that serve the area in which you live;
- when offered a place at a school, any previous offer of a school place is withdrawn; and
- unless you are entitled to the provision of free school transport (please see below), you are prepared to be responsible for the daily cost and arrangement of your child's travel to and from school until they are due to leave the school.
Transport to and from school
Free transport is normally provided to pupils who attend their designated area school (for the purposes of determining transport entitlement) who live more than three miles from the school or a shorter distance where the route is unsafe. There are other circumstances in which free transport may be provided.
For more advice about school transport please e-mail educationtransport@wiltshire.gov.uk. You will need to include your full postal address including postcode, the school your child will be attending from September 2022 and any additional information that you feel may be relevant.
If you wish to obtain a transport application form, or to speak to an entitlement officer, please contact our education transport team on 01225 712852. Please note that transport application forms are available to download from our website
Accepting a place at the school offered whilst appealing for another school
It is important to note that accepting the place offered will not adversely affect the chances of winning an appeal. We would recommend that you do accept the place offered for the time being.
Waiting lists are held for oversubscribed schools. In addition, you have the right of appeal to an independent panel if you have not received an offer of a place at any school for which you applied. Please note that voluntary aided and foundation schools and academies manage their own waiting lists and appeals, and you should contact these schools directly for more information. Waiting lists and appeals for community or voluntary controlled schools are managed by the local authority in which the school is situated. For more information you should contact the relevant local authority.
For details on how to appeal if your child has been refused a place at your preferred school, visit Appealing against a decision.
Whenever a child is refused admission to a school their name is automatically added to a waiting list for any voluntary controlled or community school.
If a child has been refused admission to a voluntary aided foundation school or to an academy you must contact the school directly to place the child's name on the waiting list.
It is important to understand that only one offer of a school place for each child can be held at any one time. This means that if you submit a new application for your child, your new preferences will automatically supersede any preferences named on your earlier application. Please note that if any of your new preferences are agreed, the place previously offered will automatically be taken away.
Late YR7 secondary applications
Applications received between 1 November 2021 and 9 March 2022 are late applications. Decisions on late applications are sent out on 29 April 2022.
If you have applied using the Parent Portal you will be able to view the outcome of your application on 29 April 2022 using the portal after 10am. If you have applied using a paper application the outcome of your application will be posted out to you on the 29 April 2022.
It is important to be aware that only one offer of a school place for each child can be held at any one time. This means that if you submit a new application for your child, your new preferences will automatically supersede any preferences named on your earlier application. If any of your new preferences are agreed, the place originally offered will then automatically be taken away.
How to submit an application between the 9 March -30 April 2022
If you wish to apply for a secondary school place after the 9 March 2022 then you will need to complete a paper application form which can be obtained by calling Customer Services on 01225 713010. This will need to be posted back to Wiltshire Council. Applications received after the 9 March 2022 will be considered in date order of receipt and will not be processed until after the 18 May 2022.
It is important to be aware that only one offer of a school place for each child can be held at any one time. This means that if you submit a new application for your child, your new preferences will automatically supersede any preferences named on your earlier application. If any of your new preferences are agreed, the place originally offered will then automatically be taken away.
How to submit an application after 1 May 2022
Please submit your application using the Parent Portal below.
It is important to be aware that only one offer of a school place for each child can be held at any one time. This means that if you submit a new application for your child, your new preferences will automatically supersede any preferences named on your earlier application. If any of your new preferences are agreed, the place originally offered will then automatically be taken away.
Late primary and infant to junior applications
Applications received between 16 January 2022 and 26 April 2022 are late applications. Decisions on late applications are sent out on 27 May 2022.
If you have applied using the Parent Portal you will be able to view the outcome of your application on 27 May 2022 using the portal. If you have applied using a paper application the outcome of your application will be posted out to you on the 27 May 2022.
It is important to be aware that only one offer of a school place for each child can be held at any one time. This means that if you submit a new application for your child, your new preferences will automatically supersede any preferences named on your earlier application. If any of your new preferences are agreed, the place originally offered will then automatically be taken away.
How to submit an application between the 27 April - 27 May 2022
If you wish to apply for a primary school place or an infant to junior transfer after the 27 April 2022 then you will need to complete a paper application form which can be obtained by calling Customer Services on 01225 713010. This will need to be posted back to Wiltshire Council. Applications received after the 27 April 2022 will be considered in date order of receipt and will not be processed until after the 29 June 2022.
It is important to be aware that only one offer of a school place for each child can be held at any one time. This means that if you submit a new application for your child, your new preferences will automatically supersede any preferences named on your earlier application. If any of your new preferences are agreed, the place originally offered will then automatically be taken away.
How to submit an application after 28 May 2022
Please submit your application using the Parent Portal below.
It is important to be aware that only one offer of a school place for each child can be held at any one time. This means that if you submit a new application for your child, your new preferences will automatically supersede any preferences named on your earlier application. If any of your new preferences are agreed, the place originally offered will then automatically be taken away.
Previously Looked After Children (England)
A previously 'looked after child' is a child who is no longer looked after by the local authority because they are the subject of an adoption, child arrangements, or special guardianship order.
If you are applying for a school place under this criteria, the documentary evidence required is:
- a copy of the relevant order
- a letter / document confirming the child was in the care of the local authority
Evidence must be provided by the relevant deadline date.
Internationally Adopted Previously Looked After Children (including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland)
The definition of previously looked after children includes children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased
to be in state care as a result of being adopted.
If you are applying for a school place under this criteria, the documentary evidence required is stated in the attachment below. Please note it is the parents responsibly to ensure that the relevant documentation is provided by the deadline date.
Internationally adopted Previously Looked After Children (PDF) [231KB] (opens new window)
