A date of birth between 01/09/2020 and 31/08/2021 is considered to be in the correct chronological year for making a Starting School application for the Reception year group in September 2025.

Summer born delayed applications

A date of birth between 01/04/2020 and 31/08/2020 is considered to be a summer born delayed application. If your child is summer born and is chronologically in the Reception year group but they did not start school, for example they are being taught in a nursery setting and your child is not holding a school place to commence this academic year, please complete and submit your application to start school in September 2025. The Admissions Team will undertake checks for all such applications to ensure a child has not already started school.

Please note that not all own admitting authority schools automatically permit summer born delayed applications to be processed. A list of those schools will be available on the website in November under the summer born page. If you want to list any of those schools as a preference, you would need to contact them direct.

Any other application out of year group

To make an out-of-year group starting school application, you must complete a paper application form.

Please email transfer.admissions@hertfordshire.gov.uk to request one.

Please check the school’s entry in the ‘School directory’ to find out if your out-of-year group application for your preferred school(s) will be considered by the Local Authority or the school.

If the Local Authority consider the request, please provide professional evidence with your paper application form to explain why your child is currently educated out of year group. This could be a letter from your child’s current nursery/pre-school setting.

If the school’s Governing Body/Trust Board consider the request, please provide the above evidence directly to the school you are applying to.

If you already have a decision on an out-of-year group application, please attach it to the paper application form.

If you have any queries, please email transfer.admissions@hertfordshire.gov.uk

Your own (parent/carer) address is automatically used as the child's address. If the child lives at a different address, you can change this when creating your child's account.

The child’s permanent address is crucial for processing your application, so it must be accurate. It should be the permanent home address where the child resides at the time of application and must be located in Hertfordshire. If your child does not live in Hertfordshire, you will not be able to proceed with the application and will need to apply through your home Local Authority.

For the full definition of what constitutes your child’s permanent home address according to Hertfordshire County Council, please refer to the ‘Explanatory Notes and Definitions 2025-26’.

Please enter your child’s current school/nursery name into the school search field and select it from the provided list. Since some schools have very similar names, ensure you choose the correct one if multiple options appear. If the school is outside Hertfordshire, use the Local Authority (LA) box to find and select the correct LA, then search for the school in the school search field.

If you can’t find the school, type * into the search box to display the following options:

• Educated abroad
• Home educated
• Independent school
• Not in education
• School not in list

Select the relevant option, and the Admissions & Transport team will contact you for further information once your application has been downloaded.

Please complete this section only if the child meets one of the definitions listed below:

• The child is currently looked after in state care within England.
• The child was previously looked after in state care within England but was immediately adopted or became subject to a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order.
• The child was looked after in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care because of immediately being adopted.

If the child is currently or was previously looked after (i.e., in care to social services), you should search for the Local Authority where this care is or was provided.

If the child is subject to a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order but was not previously in state care, you should not complete this section. You might want to consider applying under the medical/social rule if the preferred school offers this option. Additional information about the medical/social rule is provided separately in this guidance.

To view the complete definition according to Hertfordshire County Council, please refer to the ‘Explanatory Notes and Definitions 2025-26’.

If you complete this section, you must upload professional supporting evidence such as a letter from the child's social worker, advisory teacher or other relevant professional, for your claim to be verified. There is an option to attach supporting documents at the bottom of the Applicant Details page.

Alternatively, you can send the supporting evidence to the Admissions & Transport Team at transfer.admissions@hertfordshire.gov.uk

Please select “Yes” to this question only if the child meets the criteria outlined below.

An Education, Health & Care Plan (EHCP) is a legal document that specifies the additional support required to meet the specific needs of the child or young person. A child with an EHCP will be known to the Hertfordshire Special Needs Department, which oversees the plan.

If your child has an EHCP, while the details of your application will be uploaded, the Admissions Team will not offer a school place. Instead, your child will automatically be allocated a place at the school named in their plan. The Hertfordshire Special Educational Needs Team will handle this process, including any communication with parents/carers and schools.

If your child does not have an EHCP, you should select “No” to this question.

If your child does not have an EHCP but is receiving additional support at their current school/nursery, you might consider applying under the social/medical rule if the preferred school offers this option. Additional information about the medical/social rule is provided separately in this guidance.

If you are applying for more than one child, such as twins, triplets, or quadruplets, you should select “Yes” to this question. You must submit an individual application for each child. If a twin or multiple birth is offered the last available place at a school and you have applied for the same school for the other child(ren), we will offer a place to the other child(ren) as well.

If you are applying for more than one child in the same year group (not due to multiple birth), for example, if one child has been educated out of their year group or there is a close age gap between the children, you should select “No” to this question.

If the child is of Crown Servant/UK service personnel family, please tick Yes.

For children of UK service personnel and crown servants (and military families resident in countries with a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK), we will allocate a place in advance of the family arriving in the area, provided the application is accompanied by an official letter that declares a relocation date and a unit postal address or quartering area address in Hertfordshire, for consideration of the application against the oversubscription criteria. If the family already has an established alternative private address, that address will be used for admission purposes.

There is an option to attach supporting documents at the bottom of the Applicant Details page.

Alternatively, you can send the supporting evidence to the Admissions & Transport Team at transfer.admissions@hertfordshire.gov.uk

If you are relocating from overseas but you do not meet the requirements in the paragraph above, please do not tick yes.

Please review the admission rules for each school you are interested in applying to, which can be found in the ‘School directory’. For schools with admission rules managed by the Local Authority, useful information, including previous statistical data, is available in the ‘Research Schools’ link on the website.

You must apply for at least one school, but we strongly recommend listing four preferences and considering your nearest school if possible. The online system will not allow you to apply to the same school more than once.

You can search for schools by typing a full or partial school name into the search box or use the Advanced Search to apply filters. Ensure you select the correct school, as some may have very similar names.

If you wish to apply to a school outside of Hertfordshire, use the Advanced Search and select the relevant County/Local Authority.

Only schools with a valid entry/transfer year group for your application type will appear in the drop-down menu. If a school is not listed, it likely does not have an entry/transfer year group for your application. For example, primary schools will not appear when making a junior application. If you believe a school should be listed, please contact the Customer Service Centre at 0300 123 4043.

If you are applying to a voluntary-aided, foundation school, or academy, you may also need to complete the school’s supplementary information form (SIF). This is typically required for schools that allocate places based on faith.

Please check the school’s entry in the ‘School Directory’ to see if a completed SIF is required.

Not all schools have a social/medical rule. You can check if a school has this rule by viewing the school’s admission arrangements on their website or through the ‘School directory’.

If your preferred school does have a social/medical rule and you believe your child has an exceptional medical or social need that can only be met by attending that specific school, you may want to consider applying under this rule. You can only make a social/medical claim for one school.

If you are making a claim for a school or academy whose social/medical arrangements are administered by the county council, you should also complete the Rule 2 application form. Please check the individual school’s admission arrangements for clarification on how to apply under the social/medical rule.

You must provide independent professional evidence to support your application, clearly demonstrating why only that one school can meet your child’s needs in a way that no other school can. This can be submitted on the Preference Claims screen or sent directly to the Admission and Transport team at transfer.admissions@hertfordshire.gov.uk.

If you want to submit a social/medical claim for a voluntary-aided, foundation school, or academy, you may need to send the information directly to the school. Please check the admission rules for the individual school by viewing their admission arrangements on the school’s website or through the ‘School directory’, as it will confirm who considers any social/medical rule.

More information about social/medical claims is available at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/secondaryadmissionrules 

For applications to schools using Hertfordshire's determined admission rules, a sibling is defined as: the sister, brother, half brother or sister, adopted brother or sister, child of the parent/carer or partner or a child looked after or previously looked after and in every case living permanently in a placement within the home as part of the family household from Monday to Friday at the time of this application. A sibling must be on the roll of the named school at the time the younger child starts or has been offered and accepted a place.

If you are applying for a voluntary aided, foundation school or academy, they may have a different sibling definition. Please check the admission rules for the individual school by viewing their admission arrangements on the school’s website or through the ‘School directory’.

If your child has a sibling already attending the school, or the linked school (if you are applying for an infant or junior school), please select this option from the list below the preferred school on the Preference Claims screen. You will then be able to enter the sibling information.

If your child is on roll at the linked infant school in Year 2, please select this option from the list below the preferred junior school on the Preference Claims screen.

If you are applying for a voluntary aided, foundation school or academy, they may have a different linked school definition. Please check the admission rules for the individual school by viewing their admission arrangements on the school’s website or through the ‘School directory’.

Not all schools have a Children of Staff rule. You can check if a school has this rule by viewing the school’s admission arrangements on their website or through the ‘School directory’.

If your preferred school is a voluntary-aided, foundation school, or academy that includes a Children of Staff rule in their admissions arrangements and this applies to your application, you can select/tick this on the Preference Claims screen.

Please note that only schools that include a Children of Staff rule in their admission arrangements will offer this option.