Draft coordinated admission arrangements timetable 2026

The 1998 Act, as amended by the Education Act 2002, has introduced new statutory requirements for every Local Authority (LA) to draw up a scheme covering every maintained school in its area. Stockton-on-Tees local authority has drawn up a full co-ordinated admissions scheme for the main rounds for Primary and Secondary applications and 'in year' transfer requests for the academic year 2026 to 2027. 

In this scheme:

• "LA" means Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council acting in their capacity as local education authority
• "LA area" means the area in respect of which the local authority is the local education authority
• "CAF" means Common Application Form
• "primary education" has the same meaning as in section 2 (1) of the Education Act 1996
• "secondary education" has the same meaning as in section 2 (2) of the Education Act 1996
• "primary school" has the same meaning as in section 5 (1) of the Education Act 1996
• "secondary school" has the same meaning as in section 5 (2) of the Education Act 1996
• "school" means a community, foundation, or voluntary school (but not a special school) which is maintained by the local authority
• "VA schools" means those schools which are voluntary-aided church schools
• "academy" means a publicly funded state school
• "free school" means a publicly funded state school
• "admission authority" in relation to a community and voluntary controlled school means the LA and, in relation to a VA schools and Academies, means the governing body of that school
• "determination year" means the academic year (for example, the period from 1 August to the following 31 July) immediately preceding the offer year. This is the academic year in which admission authorities determine their admission arrangements
• "admission arrangements" means the overall procedure, practices, criteria, and supplementary information to be used in deciding on the allocation of school places and refers to any device or means used to determine whether a school place is to be offered
• "in-year admission" means any application for a place in a school in any year of education that is received after 1 September except in the case of admission into Reception and year 7 in which case these will be treated as the 'normal' round of admissions up to the end of the Autumn term
• "nearest appropriate school" is defined as the school closest to the home address with places, unless your child is a baptised Catholic then a place would be offered at the nearest Roman Catholic School with places

It is the responsibility of admission authorities to ensure that admission arrangements are compliant with this code. Where a school is their own admission authority, this responsibility falls to the governing body or academy trust.

Section 88P of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 requires local authorities to make reports to the schools adjudicator about such matters connected with relevant school admissions as required by the code.

Objections to the admission arrangements of both maintained schools and academies can be made to the schools adjudicator whose decisions are binding and enforceable.

The Secretary of State may refer the admission arrangements of any school to the schools adjudicator at any time if the Secretary of State considers that they do not or may not comply with the mandatory requirements of this code or the law.

The Schools Adjudicator may investigate the admission arrangements of any school that the adjudicator considers do not or may not comply with the mandatory requirements of this code or the law.

Any decision of the schools adjudicator will be binding on the admission authority. The admission authority must, where necessary, revise their admission arrangements to give effect to the Schools Adjudicator's decision within two months of the decision (or by 28 February following the decision, whichever is sooner), unless an alternative timescale is specified by the adjudicator. An adjudicator's determination is binding and enforceable. Where admission authorities fail to implement decisions of the adjudicator the Secretary of State may direct the admission authority (either the governing body, the local authority, or academy trust) to do so under Section 496 or 497 of the Education Act 1996 or the funding agreement.

The following table sets out the admission authority for each type of school in England.

There will be a standard form known as the common application form (CAF) which will be used for the purpose of admitting pupils into the reception class for primary school and the first year of secondary education in the determination year. In the main rounds for applications for primary and secondary places, an online facility will be set up to enable parents to apply for places online. A separate form known as the 'in-year application for a school place or a change of school place' will be available for any applications made for an "in year transfer" into any year group. There is no online facility yet although a form can be requested by contacting the School Admissions team via email school.admissions@stockton.gov.uk or phone 01642 526605.

The online application or common application form and 'in-year application for a school place or a change of school place' form must be used as a means of expressing one or more preferences for the purposes of section 86 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, by parents permanently resident in the local authority area who wish to express a preference for their child:

• to be admitted to a school within the local authority area (including voluntary aided schools, academies and free school)
• to be admitted to a school located in another local authority's area (including voluntary aided schools and academies)

The online application or common application form and 'in-year application for a school place' or a change of school place form will:

• invite parents to express up to three preferences with secondary only providing the option to apply for four preferences by completing the form including, where relevant, any schools outside the local authority's area, in rank order of preference
• invite parents to give their reasons for each preference

The common application form will:

• specify a closing date (for the determination year) and where it must be returned

The local authority will make appropriate arrangements to ensure:

• that the online application or common application form is available on request from the local authority and the 'in-year application for a school place' or a change of school place form will be available from the local authority
• that a written explanation of the scheme is available from the local authority and on their website

All preferences expressed on the online application or common application form are valid applications. The governing body of a voluntary aided school or academy can require parents who wish to nominate, or who have nominated their school on the common application form, to provide additional information on a supplementary form only where the additional information is required for the governing body to apply their oversubscription criteria to the application. Where a supplementary form is required, this will be requested after the voluntary aided schools or academies have received information from the local authority about who has applied for their schools. Information requested on the supplementary form should be returned by the parent to the individual school by the due date specified by the school.

Where a school receives a supplementary form, it will not be regarded as a valid application unless the parent has also completed either the Stockton-on-Tees online application or common application form or, if resident in another area which has a common application form, their home area's common application form, and the school is nominated on it. Where supplementary forms are received directly by voluntary aided schools or academy, the school must inform the local authority immediately so it can verify whether a common application form or neighbouring area's common application form has been received from the parent and, if not, contact the parent and ask them to complete one. In these circumstances, the school should also send the local authority a copy of the supplementary form if so requested. Under the requirements of the scheme, parents will not be under any obligation to complete an individual school's supplementary form where this is not strictly required for the governing body to apply their oversubscription criteria.

Very few voluntary aided schools or academies governing bodies have opted out of the co-ordinated admissions scheme for in year transfers, a list of these schools will be made available for parents by September 2026 on the Stockton website. Parents are still required to complete an application form from the local authority and schools need to inform the parents and the local authority of the outcome of the request.

Completed common application forms (online or paper) should be returned to the local authority:

• for secondary schools by the 31 October 2025 - the local authority will enter information for all the schools within the Borough onto their system and forward information for applications to academy trust or  schools and other local authority's during the week commencing the 10 November 2025
• primary schools by the 15 January 2026 - the local authority will enter information for all the schools within the Borough onto their system and forward information for applications to academy trust or voluntary aided schools and other local authority's during the week commencing 26 January 2026
• online applications - the facility to apply for a school place online will be open during the time for application - 8 September 2025 to midnight on the 31 October 2025 for secondary and for primary 10 November 2025 to midnight on the 15 January 2026

If the closing date falls on a Saturday or Sunday, any applications received through the post, which includes the post box in the Municipal Buildings, on the Monday morning after that date, will be classed as on time. Any others received after this will be classed as late.

Places will be allocated using the Equal Ranking Scheme for primary and secondary by all admission authorities within Stockton-on-Tees.

Equal ranking means that all the preferences written on the common application form or online form will be considered as a separate application for each school.

The local authority will act as a clearing house for the allocation of places by the relevant admission authorities in response to the common application forms. The local authority will only make any decision with respect to the offer or refusal of a place in response to any preference expressed on the common application form where:

(a)    it is acting in its separate capacity as an admission authority, or

(b)    an applicant is eligible for a place at more than one school, or

(c)    an applicant is not eligible for a place at any school that the parent has nominated

The local authority's system for online applications will become 'live' from the 8 September 2025 to midnight on the 31 October 2025 with the closing date for return of common application forms also the 31 October 2025.

During the week commencing 10 November 2025 the local authority will notify the admission authority for each of the schools of every application that has been made for that school. Where parents have requested a place at a school outside of the local authority area, the information will be forwarded to the relevant admission authority or authorities. All voluntary aided schools and academies should plan to gather information required from parents and set up admission committees for allocation of places.

During the first two weeks of January 2026, voluntary aided schools, other local authorities and academies, should aim to inform local authority of the allocation of places for all applications received in the priority order of their admission policy. Any applications which are refused also need to be listed in order of priority.

The local authority compares lists and considers all preferences from the parent and if first preference is refused then will look to see where 2, 3 or 4 preferences can be accommodated. The lists will be sent back to the voluntary aided schools and academies for their approval before finalising allocations. Liaison will take place with voluntary aided, other local authorities and academies until the allocation of places is resolved for each application, as required. 

By the 31 January 2026, the local authority will match ranked lists for all schools and:

(a)   where the child is eligible for a place at only one of the nominated schools, that school will be allocated to the child

(b)   where the child is eligible for a place at two or more of the nominated schools, they will be allocated a place at whichever of these is the highest ranked preference

(c)   where the child is not eligible for a place at any of the nominated schools, they will be offered a place at the nearest appropriate school with a vacancy or asked to contact school admissions for an alternative school

On 1 March 2026 (or the next working day) the local authority will post letters (2nd class post) to parents to let them know which school has been allocated to their child. If they have applied online, they will receive an email on the 1 March or the next working day. The letter will also tell them of their statutory right to appeal if they have been refused a place at their preferred school. 

Parents will need to complete an appeal form online on the appeal a school place decision webpage or request a paper appeal form and return to Appeals Service, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, Dunedin House, Columbia Drive, Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees, TS17 6BJ within 20 school days upon receipt of the form.

The local authority will act as a clearing house for the allocation of places by the relevant admission authorities in response to the common application forms. The local authority will only make any decision with respect to the offer or refusal of a place in response to any preference expressed on the common application form where:

(a)    it is acting in its separate capacity as an admission authority, or

(b)    an applicant is eligible for a place at more than one school, or

(c)    an applicant is not eligible for a place at any school that the parents have nominated

The local authority's system for online applications will become 'live' from the10 November 2025 to midnight on the 15 January 2026 with the closing date for return of common application forms also the 15 January 2026. Packs for admission to primary school will be distributed to all parents. Applications are to be made on common application form and all applications returned to local authority. 

During the week commencing the 26 January 2026 - the local authority will notify the admission authority for each of the schools of every application that has been made for that school. Where parents have requested a place at a school outside of the local authority area, the information will be forwarded to the relevant local authority. After this date all voluntary aided schools and academies plan to gather information required from parents and set up admission committees for allocation of places.

During the week ending the 2 March 2026, voluntary aided schools, academies and other local authorities inform the home local authority of allocation of places for all applications received in the priority order of their admission policy. Any applications which are refused also need to be listed in order of priority.

The local authority compares lists and considers all preferences from the parent and if first preference is refused, look to see where 2 or 3 preferences can be accommodated. The lists will be sent back to the voluntary aided schools and academies for their approval before finalising allocations.

Liaison will take place with voluntary aided, academies and other local authorities schools until the allocation of places is resolved for each application, as required.   

By week commencing the 16 March 2026 the local authority will match ranked lists for all schools and:

(a)   where the child is eligible for a place at only one of the nominated schools, that school will be allocated to the child

(b)   where the child is eligible for a place at two or more of the nominated schools, they will be allocated a place at whichever of these is the highest ranked preference

(c)   where the child is not eligible for a place at any of the nominated schools, they will be offered a place at the nearest appropriate school with a vacancy or asked to contact school admissions for an alternative school

On the 16 April 2026 (or the next working day) the local authority will post out a letter (2nd class) to parents informing them of their child's allocated school. If they have applied online, they will receive an email on the 16 April or next working day. The letter will tell them which school has been allocated and their statutory right to appeal if they have been refused a place at their preferred school.

Parents will need to complete an appeal form online on the appeal a school place decision webpage or request a paper appeal form and return to Appeals Service, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, Dunedin House, Columbia Drive, Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees, TS17 6BJ within 20 school days upon receipt of the form.

Secondary

Week commencing 8 September 2025

Online applications become live and common application forms and other information to parents.

31 October 2025

Closing date for online applications and for return of common application forms.

Week commencing 10 November 2025

List of applications sent to voluntary-aided schools, academics and free schools and other local authorities.

Week ending 12 January 2026

Voluntary-aided schools, academies and free school(s) return full list of applications ranked according to their oversubscription criteria. Other local authorities inform local authorities of preferences they can allocate.

Liaison between admission authorities to resolve offers.

31 January 2026

Finalise allocations and further liaison as necessary.

1 March 2026 or next working day

Allocation letters sent out from local authority to all parents via 2 class post offering places and giving reasons for refusals and right of appeal. Email sent to parents who applied online.

May and June 2026

Appeal hearings held.

Primary

Week commencing 10 November 2025

Online applications become live and common application forms and other information to parents.

15 January 2026

Closing date for online applications and for return of common application forms.

Week commencing 19 January 2026

Lists of applications sent to Voluntary-aided schools, academies and free school(s) and other local authorities.

Week ending 2 March 2026

Voluntary-aided schools, academies and free school(s) return full list of applications ranked according to their oversubscription criteria. Other local authorities inform local authorities of preferences they can allocate.

Liaison between admission authorities to resolve offers.

Week commencing 16 March 2026

Finalise allocations and further liaison as necessary.

16 April 2025 or next working day

Allocation letters sent out from local authority to all parents via 2 class post offering places and giving reasons for refusals and right of appeal. Email sent to parents who applied online.

June and July 2026

Appeal hearings held.

Where no common application form is submitted for primary or secondary school, the child will be offered a place at the nearest appropriate school with a vacancy or will receive a letter from the local authority requesting that they make contact to discuss further.

Common application forms received after the closing date will be dealt with after all the other applications have been looked at unless there is a good reason, for example, if a family moves into the area. If that is the case, the application can be considered along with all of those that came in on time if the allocations have not been started.

The local authority will continue to coordinate applications for admission in September 2026 for any late applications for primary or secondary, received for example after the closing date and post offer date up until the start of that school year.

The local authority will maintain a waiting list for all oversubscribed maintained Stockton-on-Tees schools. The waiting list will be open for all Primary and Secondary schools for the duration of the next academic term (1 September to 31 December). Places will be allocated, if they become available, in accordance with the local authority published oversubscription criteria.

Voluntary-aided schools, academies and free schools are required to keep a waiting list for at least the autumn term of 2026, if places become available at their school, the governing body will allocate places from their own oversubscription criteria and inform the local authority. The local authority will write to parents informing them of the decision. 

Where the local authority can offer a place to a non-Stockton-on-Tees child from the waiting list, we will liaise with the home local authority, who will write to the parent to confirm the place.

Applications for either a primary or a secondary school place outside the normal admissions round are treated as 'in-year' admissions.

Requests are regularly received from parents to transfer their child to an alternative school, and it can be for a variety of reasons. In certain cases, it does not always benefit the child or the school and so the local authority has laid out procedures which are followed upon receipt of such a request.

If you pay your Council Tax to Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council and you want to change your child's school you will need to complete an 'In-Year Application for a school place or a change of school place' form for each child who you want to transfer if you are:

(a) moving away from Stockton to another local authority you still need to complete a Stockton transfer form and we will liaise with the other authority. Once they have considered your application, we will contact you with the decision

(b) moving into the Stockton area you will need to contact your local authority for their application form unless you are moving from abroad where, if you contact school admissions on 01642 526605 or email school.admissions@stockton.gov.uk then a form can be posted or emailed to you

School transfers can take between 10 and 15 school days to complete (were possible) but if there are any issues with the request this can make the process longer, for instance:

(a) we will send your transfer form and any other information that you send us to both your current school and your preferred school

(b) if we receive more than one application on the same day for the same school (that is still maintained by the local authority) and year group, we will apply our own over-subscription criteria

(c) it may be if you have not discussed any concerns with your current school that the head teacher requests you attend a meeting before we can process your application any further, as it is not always in your child's best interest to change schools. It is your responsibility to ensure that your child attends their current school until a new school place has been agreed

If you are applying for a voluntary aided school or an academy then their governing body or academy admissions panel will consider your application and let us know the decision. They may apply their own admissions policy to any applications that they have received. We will contact you on their behalf.

The School Admissions Code (1 September 2021) added that all 'admission authorities must inform the local authority whether they intend to be part of the local authority in-year co-ordination scheme. Almost all schools in Stockton have chosen to this. 

The local authorities will, on request provide information to prospective parents about the places still available in all schools within the borough.

The code also states that, apart from designated grammar schools, all maintained schools, and academies, including schools designated with a religious character, that have places available must offer a place to every child who has applied for one, without condition or the use of any over subscription criteria, unless admitting the child would prejudice the efficient provision of education or use of resources. For example, admission authorities must not refuse to admit a child solely because:

(a) they have applied later than other applicants

(b) they are not of the faith of the school in the case of a school designated with a religious character

(c) they have followed a different curriculum at their previous school

(d)  information has not been received from their previous school

Where an applicant is offered a school place following an in-year application, and the offer is accepted, arrangements should be made for the child to start school as soon as possible, particularly where the child is out of school.