In-year admissions - moving to a different school

Changing school is an important stage in your child’s life. Before making an application, we recommend that you read the parent’s guide to In-year admissions and the local co-ordinated In-year admissions scheme. This contains all statutory information you need to know before applying for a school place.

What is an In Year admission

Each year there are three general transfer rounds when parents typically apply for school places:

• Starting school age 4-5
• Moving from an Infant school to start Junior school
• Starting Secondary School 

If your child’s change of school does not fall into one of the above categories, it is an ‘In-year’ admission. This means that places are being sought for year groups that have already been allocated during the general transfer rounds and some schools may already be full. 

School availability in the borough 

If you are considering moving to Wokingham or moving within Wokingham, there is no guarantee of an immediate school place at a preferred school during an academic year, and you may be offered a school that is not your preference. This is because:

• Most Wokingham schools are fully allocated during the general transfer rounds
• Many year groups in our schools are already full with local children
• We are unable to reserve places at schools for people who are moving

Siblings

You should bear in mind that it is not always possible to offer siblings the same school during an academic year. It is not uncommon for siblings to attend different schools until a place becomes available, and we recommend parents consider how they would manage this. Some schools offer breakfast and/or after school clubs, this information can be found on school websites. 

What happens if all your preferred schools are full 

If you’re a Wokingham resident, and a school that you have requested cannot offer a place and your child/children are out of school, we will offer you a place at the nearest Wokingham school to your home with a vacancy at the time. This may not be the school nearest to your home. 

Your child will automatically be added to the waiting list for all preferred schools that have been unable to offer a place, and you will be given the right of appeal and advised about waiting lists.

The document below shows current availability within the borough, subject to continued availability. We recommend parents use this document to so they can be realistic about the outcome of their application and consider what they would do if they weren’t immediately offered a preferred school.