The person applying should be the person with parental responsibility for the child.

If you are unsure of your status, you should submit your application with a covering letter explaining your situation.

• We will only accept one application for each child. If multiple applications are made by different individuals with parental responsibility and no court order is provided stipulating who should apply, we will accept the application of the person with whom the child lives the majority of the time.
• Where a child spends their time equally between their parents/carers and they cannot agree on the address to be used, we will use the address of the parent/carer who is registered for child benefit (where applicable)
• If neither parent/carer is registered for child benefit we will use the address of the parent/carer whose address is registered with the child's current school as the child's main address.
• We urge parents to work together in the best interests of their child and they should inform all other persons with parental responsibility before submitting an application.
• If parents believe that there may be disagreements over which school preferences should be named, we recommend starting discussions as early as possible so they might be resolved before making an application and to prevent an application from being submitted late.
• We will not mediate between parents if there is a dispute or when multiple applications are submitted. If parents are unable to reach agreement, then both parents should seek their own legal advice or recourse through the Family Court.
• The final decision on which application to accept will rest with the local authority after all submitted evidence has been considered.

The address on the application must be the child's current permanent place of residence, usually the parents' address.

• Where the child is subject to a child arrangements order and that order stipulates that the child will live with one parent/carer more than the other, the address to be used will be the one where the child is expected to live for the majority of the time.
• In other cases where the parents do not live together, the address to be used will be the one where the child spends most of their time. In cases, where the child spends an equal time between their parents/carers, it will be up to the parent/carers to agree which address to use.
• Where a child spends their time equally between their parents/carers and they cannot agree on the address to be used, we will use the address of the parent/carer who is registered for child benefit (where applicable). If neither parent/carer is registered for child benefit we will use the address of the parent/carer whose address is registered with the child's current school as the child's main address.
• You must not use a business or childminder's address.
• You must also not use a relative's address unless the child lives at that address as their normal place of residence.
• We will not normally accept a temporary address if the main carer of the child still owns or rents a property that has previously been used as a home address, nor if we believe it has been used to obtain a school place when an alternative address is still available to that child.
• Where a temporary address is used to secure a school place and the agreement to reside there is due to expire before the allocation of places, we may contact you for an update on your plans to secure a more permanent address.

Proof of address

We will need proof of where your child lives, usually your council tax number, or if you are not responsible for council tax, two forms of alternative evidence, such as a copy of your signed tenancy agreement and a utility bill or driving licence.

We will check the address on your application against the records we hold for your child's current school and we may also check council tax records or write to ask you to provide proof of your address.

We will investigate any applications where there is doubt about the address being given. Use of false information may lead us to withdraw an offer of a place.

More information on how we will investigate applications is available in our Address of Convenience Assessment Protocol (PDF)

If you believe a parent or carer has used an address that the child does not live at to obtain a school place or used a temporary address while retaining a property elsewhere, please complete our Address of Convenience Referral Form (PDF) and we will investigate your referral.

You can name up to six schools

• You must name the schools in order of your preference (this information is not shared with schools so does not disadvantage your application). If your child can be offered a place at more than one of your named schools, the offer will be for the one that is listed highest on your preferences.
• Do not include any private or independent schools. You should apply to these schools directly.
• If you are applying for schools outside Surrey but your child lives in Surrey, you must still name these schools on your Surrey application form. For details of schools outside Surrey contact the relevant local authority.

Whilst we have a responsibility to make a school place available to each Surrey child, it may not be at one of your named preferences or at your closest school

Our recommendation

• name six schools if you can;
• name schools that your child is most likely to be offered a place at.

This will increase your chances of being offered a place at one of your named schools.

Naming fewer schools on your list of preferences does not increase the chance of you being offered a place at one of those schools.

Places are allocated according to the admission criteria of the schools, not how many schools you have named. If you name fewer than six, you increase the risk of being offered a place at a school that you have not named, which may be further away.

Admissions criteria

Check each school's website or our admissions booklet for the admission criteria of each school to see how places are allocated, and how many children applied and were offered a place last year.

Many children will be offered a place under the distance criteria (based on how far they live from the school). You can see the maximum distance that schools offered to last year in our admissions booklet (but note this is only an indication, the maximum distance will be different this year depending on how many children apply to each school).

Your reasons for preference

The application form has space for you to give a reason for naming a school as a preference, but you do not have to complete this. Any information included will be considered but reasons given will not usually affect how places are prioritised.

If you believe your child is eligible for sibling priority at one of your preferred schools, you must include the sibling's details on your application. If you do not, your child may be given lower priority for a place at the school.

Community schools

For community schools we define a sibling as:

• brother or sister with the same parents whether living at the same address or not.
• half brother or sister living as part of the same family unit at the same address.
• adopted or fostered brother or sister living as part of the same family unit at the same address.
• stepbrother or sister living as part of the same family unit at the same address.

Siblings must already be on roll at the school you are applying for and be expected to still be on roll at that school on the date of the child's admission.

If a sibling leaves the school concerned or a linked school after the application but before the national offer day, the applicant must let the School Admissions team know as this may affect the child's sibling priority.

We reserve the right to withdraw an offer of a place that has been made on the basis of sibling priority if information comes to light that the applicant had claimed that priority in the knowledge that the child's sibling would have left the school or linked school by the time of the child's admission; or if the applicant failed to tell us of a change that took place prior to the national offer day that would affect the child's sibling priority.

Academies and foundation, free and voluntary aided schools

Academies and foundation, free and voluntary aided schools may have different definitions of siblings. Contact these schools for details of their sibling criteria.

You can find the contact details for Surrey schools on our Directory of Surrey schools.

If you wish to apply under a school's exceptional medical or social criteria, you must indicate which school you are requesting this for on the application form and provide relevant information, including medical evidence, where appropriate, to support your case at the time of your application.

However, please first check whether the school does have this criteria as part of its published admission arrangements, because not all schools give priority on this basis. You can do this by checking our booklet, Information on secondary schools or by checking the school's own website.

Complete a supplementary form

If you are applying for a community school, you should also complete a supplementary information form to confirm that you wish to be considered under the exceptional medical or social criterion and to help you provide all the information that is needed to consider a request.

A supplementary information form may also apply to some academies and foundation, free and voluntary aided schools.

Please ensure you complete the form and submit it with your evidence when completing your application.

Evidence to support your application

• Evidence to support an application under exceptional medical or social criteria must be provided with your application by 31 October 2024.
• Evidence received after that date may be considered only if it could not reasonably have been provided by 31 October 2024 but will not be accepted beyond 12 December 2024.
• Evidence received after 12 December 2024 will not be considered until after the initial allocation of places.

The exceptional social or medical circumstances might relate to either the child or the parent/carer. Supporting evidence from a professional is required such as:

• a doctor and/or consultant for medical cases
• social worker
• health visitor
• housing officer
• the police, or
• probation officer for other social circumstances.

This evidence must confirm the circumstances of the case and must demonstrate why the child should attend a particular school and why no other school could meet the child's needs. If you are applying for exceptional priority for a school that is not your nearest, you must explain why nearer schools cannot meet your child's needs.

Providing evidence does not guarantee that a child will be given priority at a particular school. In each case, a decision will be made based on the merits of the case and whether the evidence demonstrates that a placement should be made at one particular school above any other.

Common medical conditions and allergies can usually be supported in all mainstream schools, therefore priority under a school's exceptional medical criteria would not normally be given for these. Some mainstream schools have units attached which provide specialist provision for children with an Education, Health and Care Plan which names the school. The facilities in these units are not normally available to children in the mainstream school and, as such, priority under a school's exceptional social or medical criteria would not normally be agreed for a mainstream place on the basis of a specialist unit being attached to the school.

In addition, routine child-minding arrangements would not normally be considered to be an exceptional social reason for placement at a particular school.

Children who are looked after or were previously looked after by a local authority, receive top priority for a school place. If your child meets one of the following definitions, please indicate this on your application and include supporting evidence:

• Looked after children are those who are in the care of a local authority or provided with accommodation by a local authority in accordance with section 22 of the Children Act 1989 at the time an application for a school is made, for example, children who are fostered or living in a children's home.
• Previously looked after children are those who have previously been in the care of a local authority in accordance with Section 22 of the Children Act 1989 and who have left that care through adoption, a child arrangement order (in accordance with section 8 of the Children Act 1989 and as amended by the Children and Families Act 2014) or special guardianship order (in accordance with section 14A of the Children Act 1989).
• Children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. A child will be regarded as having been in state care outside England if they were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation, or any other provider of care whose sole or main purpose is to benefit society. The parent/carer will need to provide evidence to demonstrate that the child was in state care outside England and left that care as a result of being adopted.

We treat applications for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities in the same way as all other applications, unless they have an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP). If your child has an EHCP, please do not complete the mainstream application as you must follow the procedure for applying for a school place for a child with an EHCP.

If your child has special educational needs and/or disabilities but no EHCP, you are not required to send us copies of any assessment reports as part of your mainstream application, unless you wish to apply for a place under a school's exceptional medical or social criteria (see above).

It is expected that all schools can provide the necessary support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities who do not have an EHCP.

Other local authorities in England

Each local authority has its own application form. You must complete the application form for the local authority where your child lives by the closing date, regardless of which schools you are applying for.

Applying for children living in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales

If you live in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales and wish to apply for a Surrey school, you need to provide evidence of a planned return or arrival to Surrey in time for the start of the academic year and evidence of an established residential link in Surrey that indicates your child will be living in Surrey when they are due to start school.

If these conditions are met, you may use the following address to apply online, but you must also upload evidence with your application: Woodhatch Place, 11 Cockshot Hill, Reigate, RH2 8EF. This address should not be used for correspondence. You must apply by the deadline of 31 October 2024. We will initially consider the application based on your child's address in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales and any subsequent change will be considered in line with our change of address policy. See our changes of address web page for information.

If you have not yet established a residential link to Surrey, you will not normally be able to apply until this has been established or until the child has returned to/arrived in Surrey. However, exceptions may apply to families wishing to apply for a boarding place at Gordon's School or Royal Alexandra and Albert School, and you should contact these schools directly for further details.

Children who are not due to return to/arrive in Surrey until after the start of the academic year should submit an in-year application.

Applying for children from abroad

When making an application for a school place, it is the responsibility of the parent to ensure that their child has a right, under their nationality or their visa entry conditions, to study at a school in the United Kingdom and that they will not be contravening the conditions of any visa or United Kingdom immigration law if they take up the school place. School admission authorities must not refuse to accept an application or refuse to admit a child on the basis of their nationality or immigration status, nor remove them from the school roll on this basis.

If you have a property in the United Kingdom you should apply to the local authority for that address. If you do not have a United Kingdom property and wish to apply to Surrey, you need to provide evidence of a planned return/arrival to the United Kingdom in time for the start of the academic year and evidence of an established residential link in Surrey that indicates your child will be living in Surrey when they are due to start school.

If these conditions are met, you may use the following address to apply online, but you must also upload evidence with your application: Woodhatch Place, 11 Cockshot Hill, Reigate, RH2 8EF. This address should not be used for correspondence. You must apply by the deadline of 31 October 2024. We will initially consider the application based on your child's address abroad and any subsequent change will be considered in line with our change of address policy. See our advice above about changes of address.

If you have not yet established a residential link to Surrey, you will not normally be able to apply until this has been established or until the child has returned to/arrived in Surrey. However, exceptions may apply to families wishing to apply for a boarding place at Gordon's School or Royal Alexandra and Albert School, and you should contact these schools directly for further details.

Children who are not due to return to/arrive in Surrey until after the start of the academic year should submit an in-year application.

For more information please read our guidance on admission of children overseas (PDF).

Members of His Majesty's 9HM) Armed Forces and Crown Servants may apply for a school place ahead of a move if the following circumstances are met:

• Members of HM Armed Forces who are able to provide official evidence of a confirmed posting
• Crown Servants with automatic right of entry to the United Kingdom, who are able to provide evidence from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) that they are returning from overseas.

Address to use

• For HM Armed Forces applications we will use the unit posting address when considering the application, unless the child's new address is known, and the parent wishes us to use this.
• For Crown Servants returning from overseas, the child's new address will be used when considering the application, but only once evidence has been received of the address. Until that time, the overseas address will be used.

If the unit or postal address is not yet known, you may use the following address to apply online, but you will be asked to provide evidence of the unit or postal address when it is known: Woodhatch Place, 11 Cockshot Hill, Reigate, RH2 8EF.

There is no guarantee that a place will be available at a preferred school. Each application will be considered in line with the school's admissions criteria.

If you would like your child to be educated outside their normal age group, the admission authority for each school will consider your request based on your child's circumstances and what is in your child's best interests.

You must state clearly why you feel admission to a different year group is in your child's best interests and, if you wish, provide evidence to support this.

More information is available in Surrey's guidance on the education of children out of their chronological year group (PDF).