School Admissions Policy 2026 -27
In this section
- Meeting Additional Learning Needs (ALN)
- Normal Admissions Arrangements
- Admissions Outside the Normal Admissions Arrangements (Transferring between schools)
- Making an Application
- Over Subscription Criteria
- Appeals Regarding Admission of Pupils to Community / Voluntary Controlled Primary or Secondary Schools
- Schedule of Events Timetable for Normal Admissions Arrangements to Schools 2026-27
- Appendix A
Choosing a School
Parental Preference
Parents have a right to express a preference for their school(s) choice, which will be considered and complied with wherever possible. Expressing a preference for a school does not guarantee a place at the preferred school. Parents are advised to consider 3 preferences when applying for a school place. The parent’s highest preference will be offered. Lower preference will only be offered if a higher preference(s) is unsuccessful.
While, in practice, most parents send their child to their local catchment area school, parents have a right to state a preference for different schools. If you wish to do so, it is recommended that you contact the school you are considering before making a final choice.
Where you choose a school which is not your designated catchment area school or the nearest school to your home, there are some practical issues which you need to consider fully prior to making a decision.
The first is that if a child does not attend the catchment area school or the nearest school to the home address and this decision is based on parental preference, then the responsibility, as well as the cost, of transporting the pupil to and from school, rests entirely with the parents/guardian.
Parents indicate that this can be a particular problem if they then subsequently have a younger sibling who is not admitted to the same primary school. It is prudent, therefore, to consider and plan for this possibility prior to making an application for admission to an out-of-catchment school.
The second issue relates to the stage at which pupils move from the primary school to the secondary sector. Admission to secondary schools is based on whether or not your home address is in the secondary school’s catchment area and not the primary school attended. Where a pupil has attended a primary school which is not their designated catchment area school, there is an increased probability that they may not be able to transfer to the same secondary school as their peers and fellow pupils.
These issues will not apply in many instances but as they have caused difficulties for parents in the past it is recommended that you consider and have planned for such eventualities before making your final choice.
The Authority and school governors will lawfully comply with any preference for a particular school which is expressed. As with all applications, a preference for a particular school will need to be considered and assessed as part of the admission process to ensure that the Authority does not exceed the limit for admission of pupils to that school for the relevant year group.
Parental Preference -Twice Excluded Pupils
Parents may express a preference for a school at which they wish their child to be educated. However, the Admission Authority does not have to comply with that preference for a period of two years from the date of the latest exclusion if a pupil has been permanently excluded from two or more schools.
This does not apply to students with statements of Special Educational Needs (SEN), children below compulsory school age, children who have been reinstated or who would have been reinstated had it been practical to do so, or Children Looked After where the application for admission is made by the corporate parent.
