Apply for a secondary school place (11-year olds)

Page updated on: 04/10/2023

At the age of 11 your child will move to Secondary school. You must make an application for the Secondary School of your choice, there is no automatic transfer from a primary to a secondary school. When your child is in the last year of primary school, you will receive a notification during the Autumn term with information on all Secondary schools in the county and how to apply.

There is no link between the Primary and Secondary schools. You can apply for any Secondary school in the County. The application is based on your home address and not the primary school attended. Your primary school may organise taster days at the local Secondary school, but we would recommend you contact any school that you are applying for. A copy of the school's prospectus can be found on the school's website or by contacting the school.

Find your catchment area school here

School Transport is only provided to the nearest or catchment area school for pupils living more than 3 miles away from the Secondary school. Free school transport is not provided to preferred school choices that do not meet the criteria and it will be your responsibility to transport your child, including any costs occurred - see more information on the School Transport pages. 

Your children have the opportunity to learn through either Welsh or English and each school has its own language category. Please refer to the Information for Parents Handbook on the ‘Information and Guidance for Parents’ page for additional guidance.

Find a secondary school.

If you are considering sending your child to St. John Lloyd Catholic School in Llanelli, in addition to applying via this website, parents are asked to complete the school paper application form as well.

When to apply

Provision

Born between

School start date

Application deadline

Notification date
Secondary education 1 September 2012 to 31 August 2013 September 2024 20 December 2023 1 March 2024 or the next working day

Late applications

If you've missed the deadline, you can still make a late application. However, it may affect your chances of getting a place.

How to apply

We only accept applications for Carmarthenshire schools, and you can only apply online. You will need to provide the following information:

  • Parent/guardians name* and address
  • Parent/guardians email**
  • Childs name, address and date of birth
  • Choice of school – you can choose up to three schools in order of preference

* Anyone with parental responsibility must agree to this application before you submit it.
** If you don’t have an e-mail address you cannot apply online. Please visit your local school and they will assist you with your application.

What happens next?

You will receive an e-mail acknowledgement of your application where you can print a copy of the completed form for your records. All correspondence about your application will be sent via e-mail.

If your application is submitted on time, you will be notified on the 1st March 2024 or the next working day. If your application was late, it reduces your chances of getting a place. We will notify you as soon as possible but the application process takes up to eight weeks.

If you are offered a place, you must accept or decline the place you’ve been offered by the date noted on the e-mail. If you don’t, your place may be withdrawn. Once you’ve accepted your child’s place you MUST contact the school to agree a start date and for most children this would be in September.

We only refuse a child’s school place if the year you are applying for is full. However, if your child is refused a school place to any of your chosen secondary schools, there is a right to appeal against this decision. You will also need to inform us in writing if you wish your child's name to be kept on a waiting list until 30th September and if a place becomes available, we’ll let you know. You can make a late application for other schools.

Apply for a secondary school place (11-year olds)

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