For many families the school comes first and the house second. But a place at a particular state school is never guaranteed by where you live, and paying extra to live near one is only worth it if you understand how admissions actually work. This guide explains the process in England, the key dates, and how to use our schools and house prices pages to compare areas.
The key dates for 2026–27 (England)
Always use your own council’s published deadline, including the time of day. The national dates below come from the School Admissions Code, but your council’s admissions booklet or website is what counts — some set their deadline on a slightly different day. Do not leave it to the last day.
- Secondary school (starting September 2027): the national closing date is 31 October 2026, which is a Saturday. Offers are made on National Offer Day, Monday 1 March 2027.
- Primary school (Reception, starting September 2027): the national closing date is 15 January 2027. Offers are made on National Offer Day, Friday 16 April 2027.
You apply through the council where you live, even for schools in another council’s area. Applications made after the closing date are treated as late; check your council’s rules for how late applications are handled, as applying late can leave you with fewer options.
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own admissions arrangements and dates — check with your council or education authority.
How preferences work
You can list at least three schools in order of preference; your council’s booklet tells you how many it allows. Schools are not allowed to give extra priority to families who ranked them first (“first preference first” is banned by the School Admissions Code): each school ranks applications only by its published admission criteria. If more than one school could offer your child a place, the council offers the one you ranked highest. So list the schools you genuinely want, in the order you want them, and include at least one where you have a realistic chance of a place.
Admission criteria: distance is only one of them
When a school has more applicants than places, it applies its published oversubscription criteria in order. Common criteria include:
- looked-after and previously looked-after children, who must be given the highest priority except where the School Admissions Code provides otherwise;
- siblings already at the school;
- a defined catchment area or a list of feeder primary schools;
- distance from home to school, usually measured in a straight line or by the shortest walking route;
- for faith schools, evidence of religious practice; for grammar schools, the result of a selection test.
Every school publishes its own criteria, and many publish the distance of the furthest child offered a place in previous years. That “last distance offered” changes from year to year with the number of siblings and applicants, so treat it as a guide, not a guarantee.
Distance is not catchment
On our site, distances to schools are straight lines from the school or from a postcode’s centre. They are not catchment boundaries and say nothing about your chance of a place. Before you buy with a school in mind, read that school’s admission policy and check with the council how places were allocated last year.
Moving house for a school place
Each school’s admission arrangements explain how a child’s home address is decided, and councils may ask for proof of address. Under the School Admissions Code, an offer can be withdrawn if it was obtained through a fraudulent or intentionally misleading application — for example, using an address where the child does not really live — and a place can be withdrawn even after the child has started at the school if it was fraudulently obtained. If you are moving house during the application period, ask your council which address to use and what evidence it needs.
What homes near a school really cost
Our schools pages show what homes have actually sold for around more than 22,000 primary and secondary schools in England, using HM Land Registry sales from 2015 to 2026. Each school page gives the median price nearby, a breakdown by property type, prices by year and the most recent sales, alongside the school’s latest Ofsted outcome and the other schools around it. You can search by school name, town or postcode.
Our own analysis suggests the premium is real but modest. Comparing schools within the same council, homes within half a mile of a state secondary rated Outstanding sold for a median of about 7% more than homes near one rated Good; near a school rated Requires improvement they sold for about 4% less. That is a correlation, not proof that the school causes the difference — the areas around popular schools often differ in other ways too. Read the full analysis.
Reading Ofsted results in 2026
Since November 2025, Ofsted gives each newly inspected school a report card, grading areas such as achievement, curriculum and teaching, inclusion and leadership on a scale from exceptional to urgent improvement, with no single overall grade. Schools that have not been re-inspected keep their earlier overall grade. Our pages show whichever is most recent, with the date, and link to the full report — always read the report itself, not just the grade.
If you don’t get the school you want
Your offer letter explains how to accept or decline the place and how to appeal. Ask your council how waiting lists work for schools you ranked higher than the one offered — under the School Admissions Code, each school must keep a waiting list until at least 31 December of the school year of admission. If your child is refused a place, you can appeal to an independent panel; you must be given at least 20 school days from the date of the decision letter to lodge an appeal. Before declining any offer, ask your council what that would mean for your child’s place. See GOV.UK’s guidance on waiting lists and appeals.
This guide gives general information about admissions in England, based on the School Admissions Code and GOV.UK guidance, and is not legal advice. Arrangements and deadlines vary by council and by school — your council’s admissions booklet and each school’s admission policy are the authority. Last checked 24 October 2026.