Secondary Schools in the City of York Local Authority area Coordinated Admissions Scheme Year 7 entry 2026 - 2027

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Secondary Schools in the City of York Local Authority area Coordinated Admissions Scheme Year 7 entry 2026 - 2027. 1

A: Introduction. 3

B: Making Applications. 4

C: Late Applications. 7

D: Coordinating Applications. 8

E: Decisions on Applications. 9

J: Contact details for correspondence. 15

K: City of York Secondary Schools. 16

A: Introduction

1. This coordinated scheme provides a framework for a fair and open way of determining applications to start secondary school in September 2026.

2. This scheme complies with the requirements of the School Admissions Code 2021 and all current legislation regarding school admissions.

3. This scheme is reviewed each year and subject to a period of consultation amongst schools, governing bodies, admission authorities, neighbouring local authorities, parent/carers and other interested parties. It is considered within this consultation alongside the admission arrangements of all state-funded schools within the City of York area.

4. This scheme applies to all state-funded secondary schools in the City of York area who admit pupils at the start of Year 7 as the normal year of entry. It aims to ensure that within the operation of an equal preference system:

a. each applicant only receives one offer of a school place;

b. each applicant is offered the highest ranked preference school that is available; and

c. a single offer is made for all applicants on the same day.

5. This scheme applies to applications within the secondary admissions round, that is when applying for a place in Year 7 as the normal year of entry to start secondary school for the first time. It does not apply to ‘in-year’ applications for a place at secondary school. In-year admissions are those that are made either during the school year, or for admission into year groups other than the normal year of entry. More information on in-year admissions can be found in the City of York In-Year Admissions Policy.

6. Information regarding applying for a place at secondary school can be found on the City of York School Admissions website at www.york.gov.uk/admissions and in the Guide for Parents at www.york.gov.uk/GuideForParents.

B: Making Applications

The standard way of making applications will be online at www.york.gov.uk/admissions where an online form (‘the form’) can be completed to apply for a school place. It is expected that most applications will be made online, but where applicants cannot apply online, they may request support from the LA, schools, or a paper application form known as the ‘School admissions application for Secondary School in September 2026’.
The form will be used for the purpose of admitting pupils into the first year of secondary education by making one single application.
The form must be used as a means of expressing one or more preferences by applicants who are parent/carers resident in the City of York Local Authority (LA) area wishing to express a preference for their child:

a. to be admitted to a school within the LA area (including Voluntary Aided Schools and Academies); and/or

b. to be admitted to a school located in another LA area (including Voluntary Aided Schools and Academies).

Applicants resident in other Local Authority areas should apply to the Local Authority in which they are resident and consult the coordinated admissions scheme for that Local Authority area.
The form will invite applicants to –

a. express in rank order up to five preferences, including Voluntary Aided schools, Academies and schools outside the City of York area;

b. give their reasons for their preference(s); and

c. provide details of their child’s home address which should be the

d. address at which the child is ordinarily resident. Further information on the address can be found in the Guide for Parents.

Applicants are advised to –

a. consider their ‘catchment’ school when expressing their preferences. Catchment areas are designated by the Local Authority and are made available to applicants in the Guide for Parents, online at www.york.gov.uk/GuideForParents, and upon request from the Education Support Services team;

b. consider the implications of home to school transport when expressing their preferences. The City of York Home to School Transport Policy is made available to applicants online at www.york.gov.uk/SchoolTransport and upon request from the Education Support Services team. Applicants from outside the City of York area are advised to contact the Local Authority in which they are resident regarding transport;

c. inform the LA if they wish to start or to continue to home educate their child from Year 7; and

d. inform the LA if they intend to enrol their child in an independent school from Year 7.

All preferences expressed on the form are valid applications. Voluntary Aided Schools and Academies can require applicants who nominate their school to complete a supplementary information form (SIF) or provide additional information where this is required for the admission authority to apply their oversubscription criteria to the applicant. The SIF, if required, must be returned directly to the school.
Where a Voluntary Aided School or Academy receives a SIF from a City of York resident it will not be regarded as a valid application unless the applicant has also completed the (LA) form and the school is listed as a preference on it.
If the LA receives more than one application, for example both an online and paper application, and they differ, the LA will query this with the applicant. If the LA receives an application from more than one person claiming parental responsibility for the same child, and the content of these applications differ, the LA will inform both applicants. The LA will then not process any preference(s) that differ until the applicants are either in agreement, or until one applicant can show the legal right to have their preference(s) considered over the preference(s) of the other applicant.
The closing date for applications is 31 October 2025. Completed forms must be returned to the LA including those applicants who indicate a school outside the City of York area. Completed forms can be returned to the LA via City of York primary or junior schools. Online applications must be submitted on or before the closing date for applications.

C: Late Applications

1. Applications received after the closing date may be treated as ‘late’ applications by the coordinating LA and/or the admission authority.

2. Admission Authorities may decide to accept late applications and treat them as ‘on-time’ applications if this is accompanied by a satisfactory reason provided at the time of application.

3. After 15 January 2026, the LA will not accept any late applications or changes of preference or changes of circumstances and treat them as ‘on-time’ applications or preferences, as to do so later would jeopardise the process of timely LA coordination.

4. Late applications received between the closing date for applications and the date places are offered may be applied a lower priority when determining to whom places can be offered.

5. Late applications received after the offer day, but before the start of the school year will be coordinated using the same arrangements and criteria as ‘on-time’ applications, although the availability of places will depend on where places are still available as well as the preferences of applicants.

6. Late applications received after the first day of the school year may be considered as ‘in-year’ applications, although these preferences, if unsuccessful, will be held on a waiting list until the end of the first term in line with ‘on-time’ applications as set out in Section G of this scheme.

D: Coordinating Applications

The LA will act as a clearing house for the allocation of places by the relevant admission authorities in response to preferences received via either an online application or the form.
Each admission authority operating within the scheme will have published and determined their own admissions policy for their school(s). All preferences expressed for a school will be determined in line with the relevant admissions policy.
The LA will provide information about applicants resident in the City of York area expressing preferences for schools outside the City of York area to other Local Authorities for their consideration.
The LA will receive information about applicants resident outside the City of York area expressing preferences for schools within the City of York area from other Local Authorities. These preferences will be processed alongside preferences from applicants from the City of York.
The LA will provide details of all preferences expressed for Voluntary Aided and Academy schools within the City of York area to those schools for their consideration.
The LA will receive completed ranked lists of all preferences from Voluntary Aided and Academy schools within the City of York area.
The LA will provide information on all preferences, including to whom offers can be made, to other coordinating Local Authorities for applicants resident outside the City of York area.
The LA will receive information on all preferences, including to whom offers can be made, from other coordinating Local Authorities for applicants resident in the City of York area.

E: Decisions on Applications

The decision on which applicants are offered places at a school named as a preference on an application is the responsibility for the admission authority for that school.
The LA will only make a decision with respect to the offer or refusal of a place in response to any preference expressed on an application where:

a. it is acting in its separate capacity as an admission authority, or

b. an applicant is eligible for a place at more than one school, or

c. an applicant is not eligible for a place at any school that the applicant has named as a preference.

Those schools that are their own admission authority will rank all applicants according to the oversubscription criteria contained within their own admissions policies. These ranked lists will be made available to the LA for the purposes of determining where a place will be offered, and be provided in accordance with the timetable laid out in this scheme.
The LA will, for those schools for which the LA is also the admission authority, rank all applicants according to the oversubscription criteria for those schools.

F: Allocations

The LA will compare the ranked lists of all schools that are named as a preference by the applicant. Where the pupil is eligible for a place at only one of the nominated schools, that school will be allocated to the pupil.

Where the pupil is eligible for a place at two or more of the nominated schools, they will be allocated a place at whichever of these schools is the highest ranked preference.

Each applicant will receive no more than one allocation of a school place. A place will be allocated at the highest ranking school named as a preference for which they are eligible for a place.
The LA, as the coordinating Local Authority for all applicants resident in the City of York area, will allocate school places on behalf of all admission authorities operating within the coordinated scheme.
The LA will provide all City of York secondary schools with a provisional list of the pupils to be allocated a place at their schools before the date on which allocations are made. This list may be amended by the LA at a later date. Schools should not contact parent/carers until after allocations have been made by the LA.
Allocations will be made on the National Offer Day, 1 March 2026 or next working day if it falls on a weekend or bank holiday.
If a place cannot be allocated at a school named as a preference, a place will be allocated at an alternative school where places are still available. This will be after all those preferencing a school have first been allocated a place. This may be a school some distance from the home address of the applicant.
No places will be held in reserve for any school.
Allocations will be made to all City of York pupils even if parent/carers have not applied for a school place as the LA has a responsibility to ensure a school place is available for every pupil. Allocations will not be made where a parent/carer has informed the LA that they intend to either continue or start to –

a. educate their child at home; or

b. educate their child at an independent school.

G: Waiting Lists

A waiting list will be compiled for all oversubscribed schools and kept until at least 31 December 2026.
Each waiting list will contain all the unsuccessful preferences, whether from ‘on-time’ or ‘late’ applications, and ranked in accordance with the relevant oversubscription criteria for that school according to the applicants current circumstances.
Applicants may request to be added to a waiting list for a school, even if they did not originally express a preference for that school. Requests should be provided in writing from the original applicant to the LA, who will communicate this to the admission authority for the school.
Each additional applicant, or change in circumstances of an applicant, will require the waiting list to be reordered in accordance with the relevant oversubscription criteria for that school.
The admission authority for each school shall, should a place become available whilst the waiting list is in operation, make available a place to the applicant on the top of the waiting list on the day the place became available.
The LA shall, as the coordinating Local Authority, oversee these waiting lists in partnership with schools that are their own admission authority and other Local Authorities. The LA requires other admission authorities to inform the LA when places may become available, so that a coordinated allocation may be made by the LA on behalf of all schools within this coordinated scheme, and to ensure that each pupil is only allocated one school place.

H: Appeals

Where an applicant has been refused a place at a school of their preference, the applicant will be offered the statutory right of appeal against the decision of the admission authority for the preference school.
Applicants may appeal for a school, even if they did not originally express a preference for that school.
The refusal letter will contain the reason why the preference was refused by the admission authority for the preference school and what steps the applicant needs to take in order to appeal against this decision.
Where there is more than one applicant appealing for a school these will be ‘grouped appeals’ for the first stage wherever possible.
Where the appeal is for a school in another Local Authority area, where local appeal arrangements may differ from the above, the applicant will be advised to contact that Local Authority to further discuss the appeals process.
The outcome of the appeals process may mean there are further variations to the allocation of places at all schools. All changes will be communicated between the various admission authorities operating within this scheme, including the LA, schools that are their own admission authority, and other Local Authorities.

I: Timetable

By 12 September 2025: Guide for Parents published online at www.york.gov.uk/GuideForParents.

By 12 September 2025: Opening date for applications. ‘School admissions application for Secondary School in September 2026’ form made available and online applications start to be accepted at www.york.gov.uk/SchoolAdmissions.

By 14 September 2025: Letter to parent/carers of Year 6 pupils in City of York primary schools informing parent/carers of dates of secondary school open evenings and that applications should be made online by 31 October 2025. Parent/carers without access to the internet will be informed they should contact the School Services team for a paper copy of the ‘School admissions application for Secondary School in September 2026’ form.

September 2025 to October 2025: Secondary school open evenings.

31 October 2025: Closing date for ‘on-time’ applications (both online and by paper ‘School admissions application for Secondary School in September 2026’ form).

From 1 November 2025: Applications received may be treated as ‘late’.

By 15 November 2025: Communicate the total number of first preferences expressed to each City of York secondary school.

By 15 November 2025: Receive information about applicants resident outside the City of York area expressing preferences for schools within the City of York area from other Local Authorities.

By 15 November 2025: Provide information about applicants resident in the City of York area expressing preferences for schools outside the City of York area to other Local Authorities for their consideration.

By 4 December 2025: Provide details of all preferences expressed for Voluntary Aided and Academy schools within the City of York area to those schools for their consideration.

By 11 January 2026: Receive completed ranked lists of all preferences from Voluntary Aided and Academy schools within the City of York area.

By 11 January 2026: Last date by which Voluntary Aided and Academy schools can notify the Local Authority of an increase in the number of places to be allocated on National Offer Day. This is to allow the Local Authority good time to deliver its co-ordination responsibilities effectively. The number of places cannot be decreased below the PAN.

By 18 January 2026: First exchange of information, including to whom allocations can be made, to other coordinating Local Authorities for applicants resident outside the City of York area.

By 18 January 2026: First exchange of information, including to whom allocations can be made, from other coordinating Local Authorities for applicants resident in the City of York area.

By 15 February 2026: Final exchange of information, including to whom allocations can be made, to other coordinating Local Authorities for applicants resident outside the City of York area.

By 15 February 2026: Final exchange of information, including to whom allocations can be made, from other coordinating Local Authorities for applicants resident in the City of York area.

By 26 February 2026: Provide all City of York secondary schools with a provisional list of the pupils to be allocated a place at their schools.

1 March 2026 or next working day: Allocations communicated to City of York resident applicants by email and/or by letter.

12 March 2026 to 31 August 2026: Communicate adjustments to allocations to schools and other admission authorities.

13 April 2026: Deadline for return of appeal papers for ‘on-time’ applicants.

27 April 2026 to 16 June 2026: Admission appeals for ‘on-time’ applicants.

September 2026: Start of the school year.

31 December 2026: Earliest date waiting lists may close – the exact date for each admission authority may vary according to their admission arrangements.