Moving to a different school

In-year transfers for the 2023/24 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.

Some academies will refuse any applications for Year 10 and Year 11 regardless of the reason for applying.

We will refer an application to the In-Year Fair Access Panel for a decision if an application has been refused, there are no places available at schools in the area and the child is not being educated.

The panel has the authority to offer children places above the published admission number. This process can take an additional 20 school days to complete.

Limited space in several areas

Currently, there are very few or no places available in:

• secondary schools in Oxford
• primary schools across Didcot

Applications for Year 10 and Year 11

We strongly advise parents not to submit in-year transfers for places in Year 10 or Year 11.

Many Oxfordshire secondary schools will likely refuse applications for children to transfer schools in Year 10 and Year 11, regardless of the reason for the request.

Schools are unlikely to offer places while children prepare for their final GCSE exams. Extra admissions at this stage could be detrimental to children's education and the efficient use of resources at the school. In addition, some GCSE options will be full.

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
• Brize Norton Primary School
• Dr South's Church of England Primary School (Islip)
• Goring CE Primary School
• Heyford Park Free School
• Futures Institute (Banbury)
• John Henry Newman Academy (Oxford)
• Kidmore End Church of England 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 (Didcot)
• Wykham Park Academy (Banbury)

Try to visit all the schools to get a sense of whether your child will be happy there. How to find out about schools.

Waiting list

It is not always possible to offer a place at a requested school.

There is a waiting list for each school that unsuccessful applicants can join.

The lists are ranked in order using the published admissions rules for each school. Unprocessed applications are considered alongside, 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.

Waiting lists for most schools will be maintained until 30 June each year, after which they will close. Some schools may end their list earlier than this date. Please check individual school websites for details. More about waiting lists.