Applying for a secondary school place

Before you apply, research the schools in your area. You could visit school open evenings, read the school's most recent Ofsted reports or check school league tables on GOV.UK.

You need to list three different schools - your first, second and third school preferences. Think carefully about your preferences, if you need advice, contact your local area education office.

Each preference is considered equally. If you name the same school or academy two or three times, this will only limit your chances of receiving a place. The online system will not accept duplicate preferences.

You should name your three preferences in priority order. Your application for a place at each will then be considered separately and equally in order to decide the pupil's priority for a place within the relevant published admission criteria.

It is always best to include a school near to where you live as one of your preferred options. Demand for school places is high, in some areas greater than others, and this helps towards you being offered a local school.

Where more than one secondary offer is possible, the order of priority as stated on your application will be considered. The highest named preference at which there is an available place, will be the single offer.

Priority order is only used in a tie-break situation and not for initial allocations.

Think about how your child will get to school

Not all children are eligible for free school transport, and there is no guarantee of a space on a school bus.

If travel cost is an important factor in your school preference, or you are in any doubt over the distance between your home and a school, please check with the area education office.

Visit the transport page for more information.

Chances of getting into your preferred school

The best way to assess the chances of your child getting into the school you want is to study that school's oversubscription criteria.

Before applying on-line or filling in an application form, please make sure that you have read and understood the oversubscription criteria for the schools you are listing.  You need to think carefully about whether your child is likely to meet these criteria.

One of the most important criteria for many schools is the distance you live from the school. The distances from which schools allocate places change from year to year, depending on demand. You may need to check with the school whether they have been able to admit children from your address in recent years. When deciding your preferences, be realistic about how likely you are to be offered a place there.

Some schools have entrance exams. Please check the school websites for entrance examination details.

Some third party websites offer parents an indication of their chances of securing a school place.  Lancashire County Council does not validate the information on these websites and so parents should exercise caution when making decisions based on the data that they provide.

Having considered all these matters, rank the schools you want in order of preference.

Remember that other people will choose the same schools as you. If their children meet the criteria of a particular school better than yours, they will be offered a place ahead of your child.

What happens if you are not offered a place at your preferred option

When a place cannot be offered at one your preferred schools or academies, you will receive an alternative school offer. This is usually the school nearest to your home with an available place after allocations have been made.

Regardless of which school you are offered, you will be given the opportunity to place your child on the waiting list for any establishment and to appeal for places at any school.

Admissions criteria are the rules for who is given priority for places in each school. They are applied when a school is oversubscribed (has more requests than there are places available).

School places are not allocated on a first come, first served basis.

You can view a summary of the admission policy for each school which includes oversubscription criteria.

The full admissions criteria for community and voluntary controlled secondary schools is published on our website.

For each voluntary aided, foundation, free school and academy the full policy is described on the school's website.

How admission arrangements differ

There are several types of publicly funded schools and academies. They have different admission arrangements.

• Community and voluntary controlled schools - for these schools Lancashire County Council is the admission authority, sets the admissions policy and allocates places.

• Voluntary aided and foundation schools - these are Lancashire maintained schools where it is the Governors who are the admission authority. The Governors set the admission policy and decide which children to admit.

• Academies and free schools - these are independent state schools not maintained by the local authority. It is the governing body who are the admissions authority, set the admissions policy and decide which children to admit. Admissions are, however, co-ordinated by the County Council. Free Schools may be exempt from co-ordination in the first year that they open.

Most secondary schools in Lancashire are comprehensive, but there are a small number of schools which select pupils, and applicants must firstly take an entrance examination. Most schools cater for pupils aged 11 - 16 and some have sixth forms where pupils can continue their education until 18+. 

Admission number

The published admission number (PAN), is how many children can be admitted each year. This is published together with the summary of the admission policy for each school.

Supplementary information forms (SIF)

Some church schools and academies may require you to complete a supplementary information form (SIF). Arrangements relating to the SIF will vary. Contact schools and academies directly if you need further information about their form.

Failure to complete a SIF may disadvantage your child and they may be ranked under an incorrect category.

Medical, social and welfare

Please note that not all schools have a medical, social and welfare criterion within their admission policy. This can only be applied where it is part of the determined policy for a particular school or academy.

Geographical priority area GPA mapping

Some schools are subject to a geographical priority area (GPA) in which children have priority for a school place. 

These are described in the above area supplements where you can find information about previous year's admissions under the GPA criteria. 

You can also view GPA maps online and find out more about GPA mapping.