School admissions criteria

Every school has a set of rules, called oversubscription criteria, that it uses to decide which children can be offered a place. The criteria are different for each school. For example, a school may give priority to children:

  • who are, or have previously been, in care or looked after
  • who have a brother or sister at the school
  • who live close to the school
  • from a particular religion (for faith schools)
  • who do well in an entrance exam (for example, the Kent Test for grammar schools).

Criteria can change from year to year, so please check to see if your child is likely to be offered a place at your preferred school/s before you make an application. Historical arrangements are made available for reference.