Choosing a School When You Are Moving House

Sorting out school places when moving house is a scheduling problem before it is an education problem. The house move runs on a chain that can shift by weeks. The school system runs on statutory deadlines counted in school days, which stop counting during the holidays. Get the order of operations wrong and you end up either commuting across a county for a term or accepting whichever school still has room.

The rules that govern moving house school places sit in two documents: the School Admissions Code 2021 and the School Admission Appeals Code 2022. What you are using is the in-year admissions route, which is different from the annual round most parents know, and both codes are worth reading in outline because the deadlines are the part councils will not bend.

Start with which schools actually have space

Before you commit to a street, find out where the vacancies are. Most local authorities publish a list of schools with places in each year group, updated regularly, and it is the single most useful document in this process. A school with an outstanding reputation and no Year 4 vacancy is not an option, however good its results are.

Check the year group, not the school. Places move around: a school can be full in Year 3 and have four spaces in Year 5. If you have two or three children, check every relevant year group before you decide anything, because the case where one child gets in and the other does not is the one that quietly costs families an hour a day.

How the address rule works

Oversubscription criteria are applied to the address where the child will live. Paragraph 2.5 of the Code allows admission authorities to ask for proof of address where it is unclear whether a child meets the published criteria, and in practice most councils will want documentary evidence before they will use a future address: exchanged contracts, a completion statement, or a signed tenancy agreement of a stated minimum length.

Three things follow from that. Applying from your current address may put you outside the catchment of the school you are moving next to. Applying from the new address before you have the paperwork usually stalls. And councils do check: withdrawing a place obtained with a false address is expressly contemplated by the Code, and paragraph 2.14 notes that it might be appropriate to withdraw where the child has been at the school for less than one term.

There is one important exception. Paragraph 2.21 covers families of service personnel with a confirmed posting and crown servants returning from overseas. Where the application comes with an official letter declaring a relocation date, the admission authority must allocate a place in advance of the family arriving if one is available, must not refuse to process the application, and must not refuse a place solely because you do not yet have an address in the area.

Making the application

You can make an in-year application at any time in the school year. Paragraph 2.30 is blunt about your right to do so: parents must not be refused the opportunity to apply, and must not be told they can only go on a waiting list instead of making a formal application.

Where the application goes depends on the area. Local authorities are not required to co-ordinate in-year applications, so some schools handle their own. The council must publish, every year, how in-year applications can be made in its area and the contact details for any admission authority that runs its own. Read that page for the new area before you fill anything in.

Then the clock starts. The admission authority should aim to notify you in writing within 10 school days, and must notify you within 15. If it refuses, the letter has to give the reason, tell you about the right of appeal, give the deadline for lodging it, and give the contact details for making one.

Waiting lists are not a queue

This surprises almost everyone. Each admission authority must keep a waiting list until at least 31 December of the school year of admission, and each time a child is added the whole list has to be re-ranked against the published oversubscription criteria. Priority must not be given by how long you have been waiting.

Practically, that means moving closer to a school can move you up its waiting list overnight, and a family arriving after you can go above you. It also means asking to be added to the list at every school you would accept, and telling each one when your address changes. Our guide to how school waiting lists work goes through the ranking in detail.

If you are refused

Every refusal carries a right of appeal, and admission authorities must not limit the grounds on which an appeal can be made. The timetable has to give you at least 20 school days from the date of notification to prepare and lodge a written appeal. You must get at least 10 school days' notice of the hearing, and an in-year appeal must be heard within 30 school days of being lodged. Decision letters should be sent within five school days of the hearing where possible.

The exception that catches families with young children is infant class size. Regulations limit an infant class, one where most children turn 5, 6 or 7 during the year, to 30 pupils per school teacher. Where a refusal is on those grounds, the panel can only uphold the appeal in narrow circumstances, so realistically the waiting list and a second-choice school matter more than the hearing. See infant class size appeals and grounds for a school appeal for what a panel can and cannot do.

A workable order of operations

1. Check the new council's list of schools with vacancies, by year group, before you narrow down streets.
2. Read the new area's in-year admissions page and note which schools run their own admissions.
3. Get the address evidence the council asks for, exchanged contracts or a signed tenancy, as early in the chain as you can.
4. Apply as soon as you have that evidence, and count 15 school days from then, ignoring holidays.
5. Join the waiting list at every acceptable school, and tell them when your address changes.
6. Tell the current school your leaving date only once a new place is confirmed.
7. If refused, diarise the appeal deadline the day the letter arrives.

For the rest of the decision, our guides to choosing a school, comparing schools and school admissions in England cover the ground, and everything else is on the Schools Insight homepage.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I apply for a school place when moving house?

You make an in-year application, which you can do at any point in the school year. Depending on the area and the school, the application goes either to the local authority for the new address or direct to the school. The council's website has to say which, and it has to publish that information every year.

How long does a council take to decide an in-year school application?

The School Admissions Code 2021 says admission authorities should aim to notify parents in writing within 10 school days and must notify them within 15 school days. If the application is refused, the letter must give the reason, the right of appeal, the deadline for appealing and the contact details.

Can I apply for a school before I move?

You can apply, but the address is the sticking point. Oversubscription criteria are applied to the address where the child will actually live, and admission authorities may ask for proof of that address. Most councils want evidence such as exchanged contracts or a signed tenancy before they will use the new address.

What if my child is in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2?

Infant classes are limited to 30 pupils per school teacher by regulations under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. If a refusal is on infant class size grounds, the appeal panel can only allow it in narrow circumstances, so the practical route is usually the waiting list and other schools rather than an appeal.

How long do I have to appeal a refusal?

The School Admission Appeals Code 2022 says the timetable must give appellants at least 20 school days from the date of notification to prepare and lodge a written appeal. You must then receive at least 10 school days' notice of the hearing, and in-year appeals must be heard within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged.

Do waiting lists work on a first come, first served basis?

No, and this is the most misunderstood rule in the system. Each admission authority must keep a waiting list until at least 31 December of the school year of admission, and every time a child is added the list must be re-ranked against the published oversubscription criteria. Priority must not be given by the date you joined.

What if we are a service family or returning from a posting abroad?

Paragraph 2.21 of the Code gives you specific protection. Where an application is accompanied by an official letter declaring a relocation date, an admission authority must allocate a place in advance of the family arriving if one is available, and must not refuse to process the application or refuse a place solely because you do not yet have an address in the area.

Sources

• Department for Education, School Admissions Code 2021, paragraphs 2.5, 2.14, 2.15, 2.21 and 2.30: gov.uk
• Department for Education, School Admission Appeals Code 2022, paragraphs 2.1, 2.3 and section 4: gov.uk

Code paragraphs checked on 22 August 2026. Local in-year arrangements differ between councils, so read the published scheme for the area you are moving to.