You do not have a right to choose which school your child will go to. You only have a right to express a preference for a school.

Wherever possible Surrey will try to satisfy your preferences, however our ability to do so will depend not only on the demand for places at individual schools but also on the total number of school places available in the area.

If a school is oversubscribed (i.e. does not have enough places to offer all children who apply) the admissions criteria detailed in the Information booklets for parents will be used to work out which pupils will be offered places.

Before you make a decision on which schools to apply for, you should consider the following:

• Make sure you are familiar with Surrey's admission procedures
• Find out which is your nearest school
• Find out as much as possible about the schools you wish to apply for

Make sure you are familiar with Surrey's admission procedures

• Read the relevant information for parents booklets carefully.
• Find out about the admission requirements of the schools you are interested in. Remember that Academies and Foundation, Trust and Voluntary Aided schools may have different requirements to those of the Local Education Authority.
• It is important that you make a realistic assessment of your chances of getting a place at the schools you name on your form as many schools get more applications than they have places available.
• It is important that you rank the maximum number of preferences allowed to increase your chance of getting one of your preferences if we cannot meet your first. Your child is not given a higher priority if you name only one school. By giving only one preference, you may reduce your chance of getting a local school, if it is popular and oversubscribed.
• The law on home to school transport is complicated and may affect your preferences. Please read the relevant section of the Information for parents booklets for primary and secondary schools carefully. Further information and advice is available in the School Transport section of the website or from the contact centre.

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Find out which is your nearest school

• Children who apply to their nearest community or voluntary controlled school will usually take priority over those for whom it is not. Use our Surrey Smart Online system to search for your nearest school.

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Find out as much as possible about the schools you wish to apply to

• Visit the schools that you are applying for. It is helpful to visit as many schools as you can.
• For primary, infant and junior schools contact the schools in which you are interested to arrange the date and time of your visit. Some schools hold open days or evenings at certain times of the year. Contact the schools directly to find out if and when they do this.
• Secondary schools hold open days and open evenings during the autumn term each year. These dates are listed in the Information on secondary schools 2012/13.
• Surrey's school directory has links to the OFSTED website which lists the latest inspection reports and to the Department for Education (DfE) website for the latest published performance statistics.
• Every school produces a brochure or prospectus every year. These are available free at open days or evenings, or by calling the school direct.

Remember, any decision as important as deciding your child’s school should always be based on your own judgement, with as much information as you are able to get to help you make that decision.

Further useful information on selecting a school for your child can be found at www.direct.gov.uk.