School admissions and transfers

Whether your child is starting at nursery, reception or secondary school, it is an important time in their school career; you and they are probably looking forward to it with a mixture of excitement and worry. We aim to help make the move a smooth and simple one.

These pages include information on school admissions and may answer questions you have regarding the appeals process and 'in year' school transfers. Our School Admissions and Transfers Team help parents and carers through the school admissions process.

You may also find the following guidance useful:

Admission to Primary Schools 2017 booklet

Admission to Secondary Schools 2017 booklet

Visit the Schools Admissions section on the GOV.UK website.

Applying for a school place

Admission to primary school in 2017

If your child was born between 1 September 2012 and 31 August 2013, he or she will start primary school in September 2017.

Letters explaining how to apply will be distributed through the school nursery or if your child attends a private nursery through the post mid-November 2016.

If you have any queries please ring the Schools Admissions Team on 01642 526605 or email school.admissions@stockton.gov.uk.

• Visit the Applying for a Primary School Place page for further information.

Admission to secondary school in 2017

If your child was born between 1 September 2005 and 31 August 2006, he or she will start secondary school in September 2017.

Letters to apply will be distributed through school in early September 2016.

Apply online for your child’s Secondary School place here

If you have any queries please ring the Schools Admissions Team on 01642 526605 or email: school.admissions@stockton.gov.uk.

Visit the Applying to secondary schools page for further information.

Admission Zones

It is important to note that Stockton-On-Tees adopts an ‘admission zone’ policy where each school has its own defined area. This means that your registered home address (i.e. the one you pay Council Tax for and have your Child’s Benefit listed for) generally identifies that you are ‘in-zone’ for at least two schools. Therefore your child (in terms of allocating places, if you choose them as your preferred schools) is ‘in-zone’ for at least one community and one faith school.

Therefore in terms of school places the concept of ‘feeder’ primary schools does not apply. However, we do understand that secondary schools do work closely with local primaries to support transition and while this is good practice, it does not automatically mean that children from those primary schools will be offered a place within a specific secondary school. In addition some Roman Catholic or Church of England schools may, as part of their admission policy, also identify Catholic ‘feeder’ or ‘partner’ schools and if your child attends one of these, at the point of application this may further aid your chances of securing a school place for your child.

All faith schools policies will include definitions with regards what ‘Catholic’ means and membership of the Church as well as referring to ‘parish zones’. If you are seeking a ‘church place’ for your child then you will be required to provide some form of evidence at the point of application.

You can use the following Maps@Stockton link to view the admissions zones. We have also provided a useful 'how to guide' to help you navigate the interactive map.