In-year admissions

By law, children aged between 5 and 16 must receive an education. This means that if your child is not in school you must apply for a school or tell the local authority what alternative arrangements you are making for their education.

You can make an in-year application if you need to join a school outside of the normal admissions timeframe.

Children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)

If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan and you want a school transfer, you must contact the SEND team. They consider these applications separately from the process outlined. See more information on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

Email: SpecialEducational.Needs@towerhamlets.gov.uk 
Tel: 020 7364 4880

You can apply for in-year admission if

• you are moving house to Tower Hamlets, or moving house in Tower Hamlets and your child cannot continue at their current school
• your child is being educated at home and you want them to attend a mainstream school instead
• your child is already at school, but you want to move them to a different school
• you are without a nursery place and you want to apply for a place

Transfer applications submitted after the 5 June 2026 deadline will not be processed.

You will need to submit a new transfer application from 1 September 2026, which will then be considered for the next transfer round.

Before you apply

If you are applying for schools outside Tower Hamlets, please contact the relevant Local Authority.  We do not accept applications to independent schools.

School history form (SHF)

Changing school may not always be in your child’s best interests. Where possible, please discuss your transfer application with your child’s current school, to see if any issues can be resolved without disrupting your child’s education.

Please ensure the School History Form Primary or School History Form Secondary has been completed by your child’s current or most recent school and must be uploaded to each school preference named on your application form. 

If we do not receive a completed SHF this may delay the processing of your transfer application. 

If the child is new to the UK you do not need to submit the SHF.

Priority admission

Children ‘in care’ or ‘looked after’ by a local authority 

You should provide a supporting letter from the social worker to confirm:

• children looked after by the local authority,
• previously looked after children who have left care under a special arrangement (residence) or special guardianship order,
• or those adopted from local authority care.

Medical/social grounds

If you are requesting priority admission under medical/social grounds, please upload supporting information to that preference when you name it on the form.

Supporting evidence must come from a professional (such as a hospital consultant or social worker). It must explain the reasons why the school in question is the most suitable and the difficulties that would be caused if the child had to attend another school.

This advice also applies if you are facing extreme difficulties that are affect your child’s attendance at their current school and want your transfer to be considered immediately.

Sibling priority

If there is a sibling (brother or sister) already attending the school you put as a preference,  you should provide their name, and date of birth. 

'Sibling' included full, half, step, adopted or long-term fostered brother or sister living at the same address.

More information before you apply

Please read our:

• Starting Primary School in Tower Hamlet booklet
• Ready for Secondary School in Tower Hamlets booklet

How to apply

Applications for in-year transfers and admissions must be made through the Tower Hamlets Portal. The Portal is available through Safari, Chrome and Edge browsers.

Apply for an in-year transfer

If you need any help, please read our Step by step guide to the parent portal.

Applying to an academy, free school or voluntary-aided school

You may also need to complete a supplementary information form (SIF), which is available from the school and should be returned to them. 

Further information on the school's admissions policy should be obtained directly from the school.  See our list of schools requiring SIFs.

Children with a formal kinship care arrangement

Kinship care includes children who may be:

• living in informal arrangements made by their birth parents with a close relative, or by default, for example because their birth parent has died or abandoned them
• living with private foster carers looked after by the local authority and placed with kinship foster carers who will need to be approved as foster carers on a "Child Arrangement Order" or "Special Guardianship Order" granted by the court in arrangements which are due to lead to adoption by a relative or friend
• living with testamentary guardians when a parent has died.

We need to see written evidence of the arrangement that applies. Evidence includes a:

• will or
• court order or
• statutory declaration.

Guardianship

Guardianship only applies if you can prove that you have full care of the child and their normal, permanent home is with you.

It does not apply when picking up children to and from school, or looking after them until their parents collect them.

If you cannot prove guardianship, we will refer the application to social services while we process your form.

Informing you of the outcome

We will email parents with the outcome of their application according to the dates on the timetable above.

If your child doesn’t have a school place and there are no places at your preferred school(s) we will offer a place at the nearest school with a vacancy. Your child should attend the school that has been offered. However, if you have made alternative arrangements you should inform us of this.

If the school are unable to make contact with you to arrange your child’s admission, then the offer may be withdrawn.  Alternatively, if you have changed your mind about your application for example you have moved, please inform us in writing, giving the details of the new address/school.

Waiting list

All offers for available school places are made in line with the published School admissions criteria.

If we are able to offer a place at a school, your child’s name will be automatically removed from the waiting lists of any other preferred school(s).

If your application for a transfer is not successful, your child’s name will stay on the waiting list for until the end of that academic year. You will only be contacted again if it is possible to offer a place at a later latee.

 If you wish to make a further transfer application during the same academic year then you should wait for a school term before doing so.

Support with travel to and from school

Children under 5 travel free on public transport and children between 5-17 years old are entitled to free travel on buses. 

However, if travel assistance is required outside of the free travel arrangements, you can make an application for travel assistance.

Fair Access protocol (FAP)

A fair access protocol is there to ensure that children without a school place, especially the most vulnerable, are offered a place at an appropriate school as quickly as possible.

If your child is on roll at a school, and you think your application should be considered under FAP, you must discuss this with your current school.

The government has issued non-statutory guidance on Fair Access which schools, governors and local authorities should follow.

Overseas nationals

Overseas nationals entering the UK who wish to apply for a state-funded school place must check to ensure they have either a right of abode or the conditions of their immigration status allow them to access a state-funded school.

For more information please visit GOV school applications from overseas children page.

Contact the School Admissions service 

By email

We normally respond to emails within 5 working days. It may take longer during busy periods.

Please do not email us about the status of your application until the relevant time has passed. 

You can contact the admissions service using the details below: 

Email: School.Admissions@towerhamlets.gov.uk

Tel: 020 7364 5006

Related services

• Transition Support Team
• Parents Advice Centre