Admissions and entrance exams

Updated 29 October 2026

Moving back to the UK: getting a school place

For families in the UAE planning a move to England: how to apply for a state school place before you arrive, the deadlines, the address rules and which year group your child will join.

This page covers state schools in England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own systems. For private (independent) schools, and for sixth form places, you apply to the school or college directly.

Who to apply to

You apply through the local council (local authority), even for schools in another council area. If you are applying from another country, GOV.UK says to contact the council where you are going to live. You list schools in order of preference; listing only one school does not improve your chances of getting it.

Deadlines: the normal round and in-year

If an offer date falls on a weekend or bank holiday, offers go out the next working day. In the normal round, if your child is not offered any of the schools you listed, the council must offer a place at another school, usually the nearest with space. After an in-year offer, children usually start at the beginning of the next term.

Selective state schools (grammar schools) test in September of Year 6, before the 31 October deadline, and registration for the test is usually in Year 5. See the 11+ from abroad.

Applying without a UK address yet

Department for Education guidance is clear that families moving or returning to England must have their applications considered. Admission authorities cannot require you to have a permanent address, in the UK or overseas, before processing an application, and cannot require immigration documents first.

But an address still matters where schools give priority by catchment or distance. Admission authorities can ask for evidence that you are moving to the area, for example:

• a rental agreement or mortgage for a property in the area
• the deeds to a property in the area
• a letter from an employer showing a transfer date to the area

If you cannot show evidence by the start of the school year (or, for in-year applications, by the start of the next term), the school can apply its distance or catchment rules using your address at the time you applied. If that is in the UAE, your child may get lower priority at an oversubscribed school.

UK crown servants and military families have extra protection: their applications must be processed using evidence from their employer or commanding officer, and a unit or quartering address must be used if the parent asks.

Which year group your child will join

In England the school year runs from 1 September to 31 August, and children normally join the year group for their age. Parents can ask for a place outside the normal age group (the School Admissions Code gives examples such as a gifted child or one who has had ill health). The admission authority decides case by case. It must take into account the parents' views, the child's academic, social and emotional development, whether they have already been taught outside their normal age group, and the head teacher's view, and it must explain its decision.

This matters for some UAE families. From 2026-27, UAE schools use a 31 December cut-off for new admissions, so a child born between September and December who started school in the UAE under that rule can be a year ahead of where England would put them. Our UAE school age cut-off guide shows both systems side by side. If your child is affected, raise it with the council when you apply.

Curriculum, records and documents

State schools with places (other than designated grammar schools) must offer a place to every child who applies, unless admitting them would prejudice the efficient provision of education or use of resources (for example, the year group is full). They must not refuse a child just because:

• they applied later than others
• they followed a different curriculum at their previous school
• information has not yet arrived from their previous school

Schools must not ask for passports or immigration documents as a condition of admission. It is the parents' responsibility to check that a child who is not a British or Irish citizen has the right to live in the UK and attend a state school. Bring your child's reports and test results anyway: they help the new school understand what your child has learned. For UAE leaving documents, see transfer certificates in the UAE.

If you do not get the school you want

• Waiting lists: you can ask to join the waiting list of any school, even after accepting another place. Admission authorities must keep waiting lists for at least the first term of the school year.
• Appeals: every refusal comes with the right to appeal to an independent panel. You must be given at least 20 school days to lodge an appeal.