England
Moving house, late applications and service families
What happens if you move, miss the deadline or are relocating with the armed forces or Crown service.
- Late applications. An application that arrives too late for an offer on National Offer Day (1 March), but before the first day of the autumn term, is a late application; after that it is an in-year application. Councils deal with these under their own published scheme, usually after all the on-time applications. Apply as soon as you can, and explain any good reason, such as a recent move.
- Moving house. Apply to the council where you live now, and tell it (and the council you are moving to) about the move, with evidence such as exchanged contracts or a signed tenancy. Distance and catchment are worked out from your home address at a date set by the admission authority: for many grammar schools that is the school or its trust, not the council.
- Misleading applications. An offer can be withdrawn if it was obtained through a fraudulent or intentionally misleading application, for example a temporary or false address. The application is then considered afresh, with a right of appeal. A place can even be withdrawn after a child has started, if it was obtained fraudulently; how long the child has been at the school is taken into account.
- Missing the test. A child must not be refused a place solely because they missed the test. Some test organisers run late tests for children who move into the area after the registration deadline. Contact the organiser as early as possible.
- Armed forces and Crown servant families. With an official letter that gives your relocation date, the admission authority must allocate a place before you arrive, as long as one is available. It must use your intended address, if you give some evidence of it (or a unit or quartering address, if you ask), and must not refuse a place just because you do not live in the area yet.
- Moving from abroad. Other families moving to England should check with the council: whether a child can apply can depend on their immigration status.
Sources
Reviewed 1 November 2026 by UK School Map (checked against the School Admissions Code 2021). Rules change every year: check the current admission arrangements with your council and the school.