Key admissions dates: a year-by-year timeline

The admissions calendar runs on a fixed annual rhythm, but the primary and secondary timelines are offset from each other — and the gap between them catches a lot of parents out. Here's the full year, in order.

September — the year before your child starts

• Applications open through your local authority's website for both primary (Reception) and secondary (Year 7) places.
• Open days and school tours typically run through September and October — this is your main window to visit schools in person before deadlines hit.
• If you're applying to a grammar school, entrance test registration usually opens around now, with tests themselves often sitting in September, well before the main application deadline.

Mid-to-late September

• Grammar school / selective entrance tests are typically sat around this time — before you submit your main application, and before you'll have results back in most cases. Registration deadlines for these tests are usually in the summer, so this is really a "should have already happened" checkpoint rather than a start point.

31 October — secondary school deadline

This is the **national closing date for secondary (Year 7) applications**. It's easy to mix up with the primary deadline, which is nearly three months later — a genuinely common source of missed deadlines. Late applications are generally processed after all on-time applications have been allocated, which can significantly reduce your realistic chances at oversubscribed schools.

October — grammar school results

If you sat an 11-plus or equivalent selective test, results are typically released around this point — in time to inform how you rank your preferences before the secondary deadline, or shortly after, depending on your local authority's exact timetable.

15 January — primary school deadline

The national closing date for primary (Reception) and junior school applications. As with secondary, late submissions are given lower priority in the allocation process.

1 March (or the nearest working day) — secondary National Offer Day

All local authorities in England release **secondary school offers simultaneously** on this date. You'll typically be notified by email and can log into your council's online admissions portal from midnight.

Two weeks after secondary offer day — acceptance deadline

Most local authorities ask you to accept (or decline) your offered place within about two weeks. Accepting doesn't affect your right to appeal or remain on waiting lists for a higher preference.

16 April — primary National Offer Day

The equivalent release date for **Reception and primary places.** Same process: notification by email, online portal access, and a similar roughly-two-week window to respond.

Late March through July — appeal hearings

If you've lodged an appeal following either offer day, hearings are typically scheduled across the spring and into early summer, with secondary appeals generally required to be heard by early July.

Ongoing through the summer — waiting list movement

Waiting lists for both primary and secondary schools can continue to move right up until the start of the new school year in September, as other families relocate, change plans, or decline offered places.

The one thing worth doing right now: put the 31 October and 15 January deadlines directly into your calendar, with a reminder at least a few weeks before each — missing either one is one of the most avoidable ways to lose out on a preferred school place.