Sometimes your child may need to start or change school at a different time of year. Here you will find helpful information on what to do if your child needs to move schools during the school year.
We are responsible for coordinating applications for all school places in the Dudley borough with the exception of children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). In this instance you will need to contact our Special Educational Needs Team.
If you wish to apply for your child to transfer to a School outside the Dudley Local Authority, you will need to contact that authority direct.
If you have recently arrived in the UK, and require a school within Dudley, you will need to visit Dudley Council Plus together with your children and all the passports for an application to be issued.
If you wish to apply for your child to transfer to a Dudley School, following a house move, please contact Dudley Council Plus on 0300 555 2345. They will then send out the relevant transfer form to you.
If you are requesting a change of school that is not as a result of a house move, before making a definite decision to transfer to another school, you should think very carefully and talk through the issue with your child’s present school. Consider the following:
Pastoral Care – the child will need to build new friendships and get used to a new teacher.
Curriculum – although there is a National Curriculum, each school will deliver a part of this curriculum at different stages and times during the school year.
Years 10 & 11 – you should be aware that moving a child in these particular year groups may not always be in the best interest of the child. Not all schools offer the same subjects at examination level and may use different exam boards and offer different syllabuses.
Transport – Dudley Council may not provide a travel pass for your child if you live outside the travel limits of the new school. Click here to review Transport Criteria
Costs – All Dudley schools have a school uniform which all pupils will be expected to wear.
You are encouraged to consider the above points, decide whether a transfer is really the best option and discuss your concerns with staff at the child’s current school. A change in school does not always lead to improvements in a pupil’s behaviour. Moving your child to another school is a very serious step, it will not always solve the problem and can sometimes be more detrimental than helpful.
If you still feel that a school transfer is required you will need to contact Dudley Council Plus and request a school admissions in-year transfer form. You should discuss your wishes with the headteacher or a senior member of staff at the current school.
In accordance with Government Legislation we have a Fair Access Protocol in place to ensure that unplaced children, especially the most vulnerable, who it has not been possible to secure a place through the normal in year admissions process, are offered a place at a school as quickly as possible. This includes admitting children to schools that are already full.
We ensure that no school is asked to take a disproportional number of children who have been excluded from other schools or who may have challenging behaviour. We also ensure that the protocol covers children who arrive in the area outside of the normal admissions round and may have difficulty securing a place.
You may be required to accept a school place, your offer letter sent by the Admissions Service will advise if this is the case.
If you refuse the school offered, please also consider the fact that this school may not be available at a later stage.All refusals must be in writing.
Accepting this place will not affect any waiting list positions or be prejudicial to any appeal you may lodge.
Please note we do not hold all waiting lists for all Dudley Schools. If you are refused a school, the letter the Admissions Service send will advise you on what you need to do to add your child to the waiting list(s).
You can request to go onto a waiting list for any school that you have been refused. Children on the waiting list will be ranked in accordance with the published admission criteria and the list will operate until the end of the academic year (31 August). After which time you will need to contact the Admissions Service to reapply. Inclusion on a school's waiting list does not mean that a place will eventually become available. A child's position on a waiting list is not static and is subject to change during the school year. If you would like to know your child's position on the waiting list, you will need to contact Dudley Council Plus.
If your child has been refused a place in your preferred school(s) you have the right to appeal to an independent appeal panel. We advise you check your refusal letter and understand the reason for the refusal. If your child has been refused due to the year group being oversubscribed, your letter will advise whether the refusal is also on the grounds of Infant Class Size Legislation.
If you appeal against a refusal where admitting further pupils would be prejudicial to the Infant Class Size legislation, you should note that the Appeal Panel can only offer a place to a child where it is satisfied that :-
it finds that the admission of additional children would not breach the infant class size limit; or
it finds that the admission arrangements did not comply with admissions law or were not correctly and impartially applied and the child would have been offered a place if the arrangements had complied or had been correctly and impartially applied; or
it decides that the decision to refuse admission was not one which a reasonable admission authority would have made in the circumstances of the case.
Please refer to the statistics below, given the limited nature of the possible grounds on which an appeal may be allowed under Infant Class Size.
Statistics for Appeals
In-year Infant Class Size Appeals (Reception - Year 2)
2023/24 - heard 11 - refused 10, allowed 1
2022/23 - heard 25 - all refused
2021/22 - heard 4 - all refused
In-year Non-infant Class Size Appeals (Reception - Year 11)
