Apply for a secondary school place

Timetable for secondary school admissions in September 2025

Late applications

If you miss the closing date for applications, you must still apply.

You’re less likely to get a place at one of your preferred schools if you apply late.

Late applications received by 8 December 2025

If we receive your late application by 8 December 2025, we’ll assess whether there’s good cause for the delay. If there is, we’ll treat it in the same way as applications received by the closing date. If we assess that there’s no good cause for the delay, we’ll process it from April 2026.

In your application, state the reasons why it’s late and provide evidence where possible. You’ll need to demonstrate that family or other circumstances made it impossible for you to apply by the closing date.

Examples of good cause include when a:

• single parent or carer has been ill for some time
• single parent or carer has been dealing with the death of a close relative
• family has just moved into the area or is returning from abroad

Late applications received after 8 December 2025

We’ll consider all late applications received after 8 December 2025, from April 2026 onwards.

If you’re moving into Royal Greenwich after the application closing date

If you move into Royal Greenwich from another area before 8 December 2025, your previous local authority will send us your application. We’ll take over responsibility for processing it.

If you move into Royal Greenwich from another area after 8 December 2025, your previous local authority will remain responsible for processing your application. We’ll take over responsibility after the offers are made on 2 March 2026.

If you want your child to be in a different year group than usual

If you're thinking about whether your child should start school later, move up a year, or stay in a lower year group, read our guide on how this works: