In-year applications
An application has to be submitted for each child. Use our online form to submit an in-year application.
Alternatively, you can contact the School Admissions Team to be sent a paper application form.
Only use this form if the school you wish to apply for is part of the Bracknell Forest in-year co-ordinated scheme. If you wish to apply for another school, including a school in another borough, then you should contact the relevant admissions authority for information on how to apply for a school place.
Before making an application, you must make sure that your child is able to start at the school within 20 school days from the date that you submit your application.
If you get a place, you'll be told at least 5 school days before your child starts.
Any subsequent applications for the same academic year will supersede the previous ones made.
In-year applications are only accepted up to 2 weeks before the end of the school year you are applying for. This is because there isn't enough time left to process the application and have the child start before the school year ends.
Applications to transfer between Bracknell Forest schools
If your child is currently attending a Bracknell Forest school and you wish to transfer them to another Bracknell Forest school, your child’s current school will be notified of the transfer. If there are reasons why you do not wish this process to be followed, make a note of this on your application or email us.
Moving from abroad
Overseas nationals entering the UK must confirm that they have the right of abode and that the conditions of their visa permit them to access a state funded school. The process in this guide applies to applications made from abroad as well.
Service families
Families must indicate on the application form if they are a service family and wish to be considered under this category.
Where a child of a UK service personnel family is of reception, year 1 or year 2 age, moves into the area and is unable to secure a place at a local school, they may be admitted to that school as an excepted pupil. It is for the admission authority to decide if this exception can be accommodated.
If the decision is made not to admit the child as an excepted pupil, the application will be refused but will not be bound by the infant class size regulations for the purpose of any appeal.
Documents
All addresses for Bracknell Forest residents will be checked through our Revenue Services (council tax) department. If any discrepancies are found it remains the applicant’s responsibility to satisfy the admissions authority that they live at the address that they state.
Non Bracknell Forest residents will be required to provide proof of address at the time of application.
The documents we accept as proof of address are:
- current council tax bill
- current tenancy agreement signed by yourself and the landlord
- solicitor’s confirmation that the purchase of a property has been completed
Depending on circumstances, additional and different proof may be required. If this applies to your application, we will contact you.
For families of service personnel with a confirmed posting order, or crown servants returning from overseas, an official letter declaring a relocation date and a unit postal address or quartering address will be accepted as proof of address. For those who already live in the area, a formal letter from your chain of command verifying your address will be accepted as proof of address.
Birth certificates must be provided after receiving an offer to make sure that your child's education file reflects the correct legal information.
Other documents that may be required, include:
- Supplementary information forms. Check the admissions arrangements for your preferred schools for details.
- Court orders. Sometimes a court order will be required to prove a Looked After Child's status for applying oversubscription criteria. However, if court orders are in place for any other reason, we will not interfere with family disputes unless required by law. More details will be provided at the time of application if required.
Timings
We receive a high volume of applications when the process for the new academic year starts, 20 school days before the start of the new school year, in September 2025. Because of this, applications for the academic year 2025 to 2026 received between 27 June 2025 and 3 July 2025 will be processed from 14 July 2025.
All other applications will normally be processed up to 15 school days of receipt.
If you are applying for academies or voluntary aided schools, these applications have to be approved by the relevant admission authority. Therefore, places may not be offered over the summer and the applications may be processed when the admission authority meets in the new year. Waiting list positions for these schools will be unavailable until the admission authority meets in the new academic year to rank the lists.
If an application is incomplete, it will not be processed further until it is complete which will delay your application.
Outcome of your application
The outcome of your application will be sent to the email address provided on your application. If no email address is provided this will be posted 2nd class to your home address.
The outcome letter will advise if a school place has been offered or if you have been added to a waiting list.
If you have been offered a school place your child will be required to start within 20 school days from the date the application has been submitted. A minimum of 5 school days will be given. If your child does not start by the 20th school day from the date of application, the admission authority has the right to withdraw the offer.
All children's names will be added to the waiting list for any higher preferences than the one we offered a place at.
If you are a Bracknell Forest resident and your child is not already attending a Bracknell Forest school, we will allocate an alternative school which will be the next closest school to your home address with availability. However, if you confirmed on the form that your child will continue to attend their current non Bracknell Forest school, an alternative school will not be offered.
If you are not a Bracknell Forest resident, an alternative school will not be offered. Your home local authority will be notified that we have been unable to offer a school place and they will become responsible for making sure that a school place is sought.
The reason for refusal and your right to appeal will be included in your outcome letter.
Waiting lists
These are made using the names of children whose parents have formally applied for admission to the school using this application process and have been unsuccessful in their application.
The published admissions criteria are used to assess priority order on the lists. For this reason, positions on a waiting list can go up or down. In other words, a child who is at the top of a waiting list one day may not be the next. This can happen, for example, if a child with a higher priority within the published admissions criteria applies for the school. The length of time a child’s name has been on a waiting list is not the deciding factor when a space becomes vacant.
If your child’s name is at the top of a waiting list and a place becomes available, before an offer is made, the details of the application will be checked again to make sure that the application is still ranked accurately at the time of an offer being processed. If we can offer your child a place, you should be prepared to accept or refuse the offer at the time this offer is being made. Your child will be expected to start at the new school within 5 school days from the offer being accepted.
As waiting list information changes frequently, this cannot be published. Therefore, for updates on waiting list positions you need to contact us by email or phone.
The waiting list for the academic year you apply for will close 2 weeks before the end of the school year. If you require your child’s name to be placed on the waiting list for the following academic year you will need to complete the in-year admissions process again. You will not be reminded to do this.
If you no longer require your child’s name to be held on a waiting list, please let us know.
Appeals
If you are not allocated a place at a school that you have named on your application form as a higher preferred school than the one your child has been offered, you can appeal against this decision. For more information, read our school admission appeals page.
Reason for refusal and your right to appeal will also be included in your outcome letter. For more information or advice on the appeals process, contact Democratic Services.
School uniform
We do not have a scheme to help with the purchase of school uniform. However, most schools have a second-hand uniform shop.
School transport
Read our school transport support page to find out whether your child is eligible for help with transport.
Fair Access Protocol (FAP)
The School Admissions Code states that each local authority must have a Fair Access Protocol agreed with the majority of schools in its area to make sure that unplaced in-year applicants, especially the most vulnerable, are offered a place at a suitable school as quickly as possible.
In agreeing a protocol, the local authority must make sure that no school – including those with available places – is asked to take a disproportionate number of children who have been excluded from other schools, who have challenging behaviour or who are placed through the protocol.
When your application is reviewed by the school, they may wish to request a referral for consideration under Fair Access. You will be notified of this and then the Fair Access Officer will contact you with more advice once they have considered the referral.
For more information, read our Fair Access Protocol page.
Special Educational Needs
Information about arrangements for children with special educational needs in Bracknell Forest is available from the Special Educational Needs Team. For contact details, read our useful contacts or special educational needs and disability section.
Admission of children outside their normal age group
Parents may seek a place for their child outside of their normal age group, for example, if the child is gifted and talented or has experienced problems such as ill health. For more information about this process, visit our admission out of the normal year group page.
As the views of the headteacher at the schools concerned must be taken into account, any out of normal year group requests cannot be considered during the summer holidays.