Secondary Year 7 Intake

• You must apply for a school place through your home Local Authority (i.e. the authority that bill you for your council tax).
• The application must be made from the child's legal address. However, if you are moving or intending to move during the process please see address information.
• You are strongly advised to make more than one preference. Failure to do so could have repercussions for the distance your child will have to travel to school. Also you will not gain an advantage by only listing one.
• You are able to submit up to 6 preferences on your application.
• You can apply for any Dudley school as well as schools outside the Local Authority, including Grammar/Free Schools. However, be realistic about the schools you apply for.
• There are no 'catchment' areas within Dudley. However, places are offered according to the admissions criteria detailed within the booklet 'A parents' guide to secondary admissions'.
• If you are applying for an Academy, Trust or Voluntary Aided school you may need to provide extra information or submit a supplementary form.
• It is your responsibility to provide any supportive information eg baptism certificate or medical evidence. The Local Authority will not seek to obtain this information on your behalf.
• We consider all applications at the same time. Priority is not given to those who put the school as a first preference, or on a 'first come first served basis'.
• Late applications will be considered after all those received on time.

Child's Date of Birth - 1 September 2014 – 31 August 2015

• 1 September 2025 – 31 October 2025
• For September 2026

Child's Date of Birth - 1 September 2015 – 31 August 2016

• 1 September 2026 – 31 October 2026
• For September 2027

Child's Date of Birth - 1 September 2016 – 31 August 2017

• 1 September 2027 – 31 October 2027
• For September 2028

• Online application available - 1 September 2025
• Information to parents and school open evenings - Autumn Term 2025
• Return date for paper application forms - 31 October 2025 by 5pm*
• Return date for online applications - 31 October 2025 by midnight*
• Decision emails to parents - 2 March 2026 by 2pm
• Decision letters to parents who have not given an email address - will be posted on 2 March 2026 by 2nd class post
• Appeals to be heard - May/June 2026

*Failure to return your form/apply by this date may affect the outcome of your application.

School admission arrangements set out how schools will admit pupils.

The arrangements include the published admission number (the maximum number of pupils intended to be admitted to the relevant year group), the over-subscription criteria and information on the waiting list for the school.

Dudley MBC is the admission authority for all community and voluntary controlled schools in the borough.

Admission arrangements

If you have been offered a Dudley School you are not required to accept this. The school offered will contact you at a later date. If you have been offered a school outside Dudley Authority, please contact the relevant Authority.

We recommend you seriously consider the implications of your child being without a school place. If you have obtained a school elsewhere, please advise the admissions service. All refusals must be in writing.

If you refuse the school offered, please also consider the fact that this school may not be available at a later stage. Accepting this place will not affect any waiting list positions or be prejudicial to any appeal you may lodge.

Please note that we do not hold all waiting lists for all Dudley Schools. If you are a Dudley resident, the letter from the Admissions Service will advise you on what you need to do. If you reside outside the Dudley Local authority please contact the Admissions Service.

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 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 from the date given in your letter.

If your child has been refused a place in your preferred school(s), you have the right to appeal against this decision. 

Statistics on the number of Appeals

2025 - heard 101 - refused 95, allowed 6
2024 - heard 115 - refused 95, allowed 20
2023 - heard 128 - refused 106, allowed 22

Appeals timetable for admission to secondary school for the 2026/27 academic year:

• Deadline for lodging appeals: 17 April 2026
• Appeals lodged by the above date will be heard between - May through to July
• Appeals received after the deadline may not be heard until - Mid September onwards

Information relating to moving house during the application process, and children living at more than one address.

Children Living at more than one address

• Where a child lives with each of their parents at separate addresses, the address used for allocating a school place will be the one where the child spends (i.e. sleeps) the majority of the school week.
• If the child spends exactly equal amounts of time at the two addresses you will be asked to nominate which address you wish to be the child's main address for school admission purposes. Should you fail to do so by the published closing date we have the right to nominate the address that is considered appropriate.
• In the case of disputes between parents, there is an expectation that parents will resolve these amongst themselves and make a single application which both parents are in agreement with.

Moving house when applying

• If you are moving into Dudley or moving within the borough, you must provide proof of your new address by 13 February 2026. If the admissions service does not receive sufficient proof by this date, your original address will be used for admission purposes.
• If the move is related to a purchase, proof should be in the form of a letter from your solicitor confirming the exchange of contracts and completion date. For a rental, proof should be a copy of a rental agreement for at least six months, signed by both the tenant and the landlord.
• If your move involves you returning to a property that you already own, you will need to provide appropriate written evidence of the date that you will resume living in the property and that you intend to remain living there for the foreseeable future. If you have rented this property out please provide evidence that you have given your tenants notice to leave.

Please note that unless the written evidence provided proves, to the satisfaction of the Authority, that you have moved or will move to the address that you have indicated, we will not be able to consider your application from your new address.

There are a number of schools that require Supplementary Information Forms (SIF's).

Supplementary Information Forms