Please read these in-year application guidance notes carefully before completing each section of the application form and keep for your reference.

1. Parent/carer and child details:

You and your child must be resident at the application address before submitting the application form. Future or temporary addresses will not be taken into account. The address must be the child’s permanent address.

The applicant parent must have parental responsibility for the child. Where both parents share responsibility we would accept that the child lives with the parent who is entitled to register for child benefit. Recent change of parental responsibility will only be accepted under exceptional circumstances or the change is supported by a court order. Custody issues cannot be resolved by the local authority and it will not enter into discussions about this.

If you are not the parent but you are a close relative, i.e grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle or step-parent you will need to provide proof of your relationship to the child and that you have delegated parental responsibility.

If you are not the parent or a close relative, you must provide legal documentation to confirm the arrangement. You are also required to register with London Borough of Bexley Children’s Social Care on 0208 303 5440 or via the reporting concerns about a child page on the Bexley website

2. Applications for foreign national children and children resident outside England

Parents’ responsibility to check eligibility for a school place

It is the responsibility of the parents of foreign national children to check that their children have a right under their UK entry conditions to study at a school before applying for a place. It is not the role of state-funded schools or local authorities to ask for proof of eligibility before offering a place. More information can be found on the government website.

Local authority responsibilities

Foreign nationals who do not normally reside in the UK but who wish to apply for a state-funded school place, must check that their children have an immigration status which permits them to enter the UK to access a state-funded school.

Checking is the parents’ responsibility, not the local authority’s responsibility. Children may be breaching their UK entry conditions by entering the country in order to attend a state funded school if they do not have an immigration status that permits such study.

3. Documents required to support your application

When submitting the form please ensure that you have provided copies of ALL the documents listed below. Failure to do so will delay your child’s admission to school.
Please do not send originals. We can accept a PDF attachment or scan of the document. We can also accept a photo or screenshot of the document as long as it clearly shows the applicant’s name and address on it:

If you are unable to produce one of the above documents please provide a brief explanation as to why you cannot supply this.

We reserve the right to request further evidence documents if required. 

4. A child looked after, or a child who was previously looked after

A Child looked after, or a child who was previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, child arrangements, or special guardianship order is a child who is in the care of a local authority or being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989. Confirmation must be supplied by the social worker or Local Authority.

5. London Borough of Bexley School preferences

You can list up to six primary schools on the London Borough of Bexley’s in year primary application.

You can list up to four secondary schools on the London Borough of Bexley’s in year secondary application.

Please do not list schools in other boroughs. Applications must be made to the relevant local authority.

We advise you to list more than one preference as most classes will already be full. Places only become available if children leave.

6. Child with an EHCP

Children with an EHCP plan will need to apply for a change of school through the SEN team, not through Bexley admissions team.

7. In-Year Test For Grammar Schools (Secondary)

The Bexley in-year test is for children who are currently in Years 7 to 9 at secondary school who want to apply for admission to a grammar school in the Bexley borough. There are four in-year tests held per academic year (Autumn, Winter, Spring & Summer) For each test, one of the four grammar schools will host the test at their school. The in-year test can only be taken once per year.

In order to apply for the Bexley in-year test, you will need to complete an in-year secondary application on the Bexley Council website. You list the schools you prefer and attach the relevant documents that are requested.

Your child would be required to sit the in-year test and pass before they can be added to the schools waiting list. (If they already passed their Bexley selection test in Year 6, then they do not need to resit the test) However there is still no guarantee of a place being offered, even if your child is added to the waiting list.

Please note that if your child is currently in Year 7 and they did not pass their Bexley selection test in Year 6, they are not eligible to sit the in-year test until the following Summer in Year 7.

Please see the links below to the grammar schools websites for further information regarding the in-year test (Such as deadlines for applications and testing dates):

• Bexley Grammar School
• Beths Grammar School (For boys)
• Chislehurst & Sidcup Grammar School
• Townley Grammar School (For girls)

8. Fair Access Protocol

Every local authority is required to have in place a Fair Access Protocol, developed in partnership with London Borough of Bexley schools. The purpose of the Protocol is to ensure that – outside the normal admissions round – unplaced children, especially the most vulnerable, are found and offered a place quickly, so that the amount of time any child is out of education is kept to the minimum.

There is no duty to comply with parental preference when allocating places through the Fair Access Protocol and it should not be used as a means to circumvent the normal in-year admissions process.

Outcome of application

• All your preferences will be considered at the same time and available places will be offered according to the schools’ published admissions criteria
• School transfers will be processed according to availability. If we are unable to offer a place at your preferred schools, an email will be sent within 15 school days of the date we received your application to advise you of the outcome

London Borough of Bexley residents

If your child is not on roll at a school, or is attending a school that is outside a reasonable travel distance (DFE guidance – 45 mins for primary & 75 mins for secondary) and it is not possible to offer a place at one of your preferred schools, you will be offered an alternative school within a reasonable travel distance from the application address, where there is a vacancy.

Out-borough residents

If you do not reside in London Borough of Bexley and your child is without a school place, if London Borough of Bexley LA are unable to offer a place at one of your preferred schools, then you must apply to your home authority. They have the responsibility to ensure your child has a school place, where London Borough of Bexley cannot offer a place at a preferred school.

Waiting lists are held in oversubscription criteria order and will be maintained until the end of the academic year in which the application was submitted.

Please note: Schools are closed during the school holidays, so the process may take longer during these times.