Applying for secondary school
Applying for secondary school
If your child was born between 1 September 2014 and 31 August 2015, they will transfer to secondary school in September 2026.
If your child lives in Sheffield, a personalised letter will be sent to you inviting you to apply and providing information to support you through the process.
When you can apply
You can apply from July when your child is in Y5.
The deadline for submitting your application online is midday Tuesday 14 October 2025. You'll still be able to complete a paper form until 31 October.
For more information about the process, you can refer to the Guide for Parents under Supporting information.
To help you decide what school to apply for, you may want to know what schools were oversubscribed last year, which you can find in the Oversubscribed secondary schools attachment.
You can also download the application from.
When you'll hear back from us
The national allocation date is 1 March each year, unless this falls at the weekend or on a bank holiday, in which case it will be the next working day.
If you have applied online, you'll be sent an email notifying you of the outcome of your application.
Parents who apply on a paper form or email their application to Admissions will be sent a letter on allocation day.
Schools with their own admissions policy
For Schools that are Trust or Foundation Schools and Academies, the School is the Admission Authority. Some of these still operate the same admission policy as Community and Voluntary Controlled schools, but there are some that operate different.
These schools have their own policy and oversubscription criteria, which are different to that used for Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools.
You can go to the school's website to view the school policy and criteria:
- All Saints Catholic High School
- Astrea Academy
- E-Act Parkwood Academy
- Hinde House
- Meadowhead School
- Notre Dame High School
- Oasis Academy Don Valley
- Outwood Academy City
- Tapton School
Some of the above schools require additional information to consider your application. This must be provided on the relevant supplementary information form and returned directly to the school.
Please refer to the school's website for more information and to obtain the form.
Secondary school open evenings
Every public secondary school in Sheffield has an open event. You can find out when it is in the attached list.
Secondary schools and our Admissions Policy
Sheffield Local Authority is the Admission Authority for community and voluntary controlled secondary schools.
Where a school of this type is oversubscribed, we use a criteria to determine priority.