Changing or moving school
Apply to change school during the academic year (in-year transfers).
Before you start
In-year transfers for the 2022/23 academic year
We aim to process in-year transfers within 15 school days.
Please note it may take longer to respond to applicants where we are waiting for academies to make a decision, or where demand exceeds capacity.
Delays can also occur where academies have monthly admissions meetings and where academies refuse to admit children requesting places for particular year groups.
A number of academies will refuse any applications for Year 10 and Year 11 regardless of the reason for applying.
Wantage Year 3 and Year 5
There are currently no school places available in Year 3 or Year 5 in Wantage or the surrounding villages.
Applications will be referred to the In-Year Fair Access Panel to make decisions on any applications. This will be for children not currently on roll at a school or in need of a place at a local school. Where applicants already attend a local school, their application will be refused.
Applications for Year 10 and Year 11
It is likely that a large number of Oxfordshire secondary schools will refuse applications for children to transfer school in Year 10 and Year 11, regardless of the reason for the request.
GCSE options and core subjects may already be full, therefore limiting the school’s ability to take on more children without compromising the education of children already studying at the school.
We strongly advise parents not to submit in-year transfers for places in Year 10 and Year 11.
Schools that process applications independently
The following schools process their own in-year transfer applications and should be contacted directly:
- Ashbury with Compton Beauchamp CE Primary School
- Bampton CE Primary School
- Bicester Technology Studio
- Brize Norton Primary School
- Dr South's Church of England Primary School (Islip)
- Goring CE Primary School
- Heyford Park Free School
- John Henry Newman Academy (Oxford)
- Kidmore End CE Primary School
- North Leigh CE Primary School
- Our Lady's Catholic Primary School (Oxford)
- St Christopher's CE Primary School (Langford)
- St Christopher's CE Primary School (Oxford)
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School (Thame)
- St Mary and St John CE Primary School (Oxford)
- St Peter's Church of England School, Alvescot
- The Blake CE Primary School (Witney)
- Tyndale Community School (Oxford)
- UTC Oxfordshire
- Wykham Park Academy (Banbury)
Contact your SEN officer
For children with an education, health and care (EHC) plan, you will need to contact your special educational needs (SEN) officer to request a school transfer. You can find out more on the Oxfordshire local offer web pages.
If this does not apply to your child, please go back and select another option.
Finding a school place
You will be asked to list up to four schools as preferences when you apply for a place for your child. We would urge you to list four schools to maximise the chance of getting a school that you want.
We can help you to:
- find out about schools
- find admission criteria for the schools you are interested in.
Try to visit all the schools to get a sense of whether your child will be happy there. How to find out about schools.
Continued interest list
It is not always possible to offer a place at a requested school.
There is a continued interest list for each school which unsuccessful applicants can join if they wish.
The lists are ranked in order using the published admissions rules for each school. Unprocessed applications are considered alongside, and not separately, from those on the list. If a place becomes available at a school we will contact the parents of the highest priority child.
Continued interest lists for most schools will be held until 30 June 2023, at which point they will close. Some schools may end their continued interest lists earlier than this date. Please check individual school websites for details. More about continued interest lists.
Home to school transport
You should consider how your child will get to school if you apply for a place at a school that is further away than your nearest available school. Find your nearest school.
Children under the age of eight are eligible for free home to school transport where they attend their nearest available school if that school is over two miles from their home address.
However, transport can also be provided where the distance to the nearest available school is less than two miles and the route is currently listed as dangerous by the council.
Children over the age of eight from Year 3 to Year 11 are eligible for free home to school transport where they attend their nearest available school if that school is over three miles from their home address. However, transport can also be provided where the distance to the nearest available school is less than three miles and the route is currently listed as dangerous by the council.
Please see the Travelling to school page for further details and the full transport policy.