- Overview
- Step 1: Research and choose schools
- Step 2: Complete the application form
- Step 3: Complete any supplementary forms
- Step 4: Applications are assessed
- Step 5: We offer you a place
- Step 6: You accept or decline the place
- Step 7: If you don't get a place at your preferred school
Summary of this step
The admission authority (either us or the school) will rank all applications, and we will then determine the place that can be offered to you.
How places are allocated and offers made
After 31 October 2023 the admission authority for each school will rank applications according to its admission criteria. The criteria are used to work out who is eligible for a place if the school is over-subscribed. We will then check each school's ranked list to determine which school will be offered to each child.
- If your child is only eligible for one school from your preferences, you will be offered that place.
- If your child is ranked high enough to receive an offer from two or more schools, you will be offered a place at the highest of those schools in your list of preferences and offers of a place at the other schools will be withdrawn.
- If you have applied to schools in more than one local authority, we will liaise with them to offer you the highest available preference.
- If we cannot offer you a place at any of your preferred schools and other Surrey schools have vacancies, we will allocate you a place at one of these schools based on distance. Applicants who applied on time will be considered before those who applied late.
You can see how school places were allocated in previous years.
During the main admissions round, it is common practice for Surrey to over offer above the published admission number at some schools in order to allocate more pupils a preferred school and prevent unnecessary appeals. A decision to over offer is normally agreed following discussions between Surrey officers and with head teachers. Places may be offered in this way where there has been an historic fall out of school places and where it is anticipated that numbers will drop back to the published admission number by the start of term.
