Starting secondary/upper school in September 2025

National offer day is 3 March 2025.  If you made an online application for a school place for September 2025, parents and carers will be able to log on to the Citizen Portal to view their child's secondary/upper school allocation.  If you completed a paper application form, you will receive a letter.

You can log on to the Citizen Portal here to see your child's school place offer.

You can view the allocation profile here.  This gives information about how places were allocated and schools that may have vacancies for September 2025. 

IMPORTANT:  Parents do not need to contact the council or take any action if they are satisfied with the Milton Keynes school place.  The school you have been allocated is now responsible for sending joining instructions to parents.

If you have been allocated a school place at a Buckinghamshire grammar school, you must send an email with your acceptance of the place to admissions@buckinghamshire.gov.uk  by 11.59 p.m. Friday 14 March 2025.

For parents whose applications are late, submitted between 1 November 2024 and 14 March 2025, school place offers will be sent on 2 May 2025 by letter in the post.

Please note, if your child has been allocated a place at Ousedale School or Walton High, you will receive a separate letter from the school informing you which campus has been allocated.  Please do not contact the council to find out about campus allocations.

If you no longer need the school place you have been offered

If you have made other arrangements for your child’s schooling, or have a change of family circumstances such as moving away, please email secondaryadmissions@milton-keynes.gov.uk with your child’s name, date of birth, home address and details of the school your child will be attending. We are obliged to keep records of where children live and which school they attend.

If you have not been offered a higher preference school

If the school you are offered is not one of your higher preferences, your child's name will automatically be added to the waiting list and you do not need to contact us. You can also request an appeal. If you do request an appeal, you are advised not to decline the place you have been offered in case an appeal or waiting list is not successful. The following information applies to Milton Keynes schools only.

Waiting lists

Waiting lists are ordered in line with the oversubscription criteria of each school and not by date received, so a child’s position on a list can move up or down. Waiting list position information will become available after 2 May 2025.  Waiting lists will be held until 31 December 2025.  After that parents should check with the individual school to see whether the waiting list will continue to be held.

Some waiting list offers may be made in the second round. If you are happy with the school place offered on national offer day and no longer want to be considered for a higher preference school, you must let us know at secondaryadmissions@milton-keynes.gov.uk

If you do not let us know, a waiting list offer may be made automatically.

Appeals

To appeal against not receiving a higher preference school please read all the information here. You need to contact the school directly to request an Appeal pack. To facilitate appeals to be arranged prior to the end of summer term appeal requests should be submitted by 31 March 2025 but you should check this with individual schools. 

If you applied for a school in Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire or Northamptonshire and have not been offered your choice

You need to contact the relevant local authority to enquire about waiting lists and appeals.

Buckinghamshire:  www.buckscc.gov.uk/contactadmissions

North Northamptonshire: admissions.ncc@northnorthants.gov.uk

West Northamptonshire: admissions@westnorthants.gov.uk

Bedford Borough:    admissions@bedford.gov.uk

Central Bedfordshire: admissions@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk

Applying after the closing date

Applications can now only be made on the late application form for moving up to secondary school.  Completed applications must be returned by email to secondaryadmissions@milton-keynes.gov.uk.

When choosing your four school preferences we advise you to look on the allocation profile here to see which secondary schools are oversubscribed.   

If you apply late, the offer dates will be as follows:

Late Application Received between Notification Date
1 November 2024 and 14 March 2025 2 May 2025
15 March 2025 and 9 May 2025 20 June 2025
10 May 2025 and 20 June 2025 18 July 2025
21 June 2025 and 27 July 2025 15 August 2025
Applications received thereafter will receive an outcome by 31 August 2025.  

Important things to remember when applying:

  • Read the guide for parents and carers which gives you all the information you need about the application and allocation process
  • You are advised to use all four preferences
  • Ensure all information has been completed correctly and no information missed.  Any mistakes could affect your application
  • You are advised to choose your catchment school as one of your preferences, should higher preferences not be available
  • Ensure your school preferences include a school(s) that your child is most likely to meet the admission criteria
  • If you are moving house during the application process, refer to moving home section in the guide for parents and carers 
  • If your preference is to attend a school outside of Milton Keynes, you are still required to apply via Milton Keynes City Council.

Information relating to attending schools

School travel support

Parents and carers are responsible for ensuring their children attend school regularly and for arranging their safe arrival at school and journey home at the end of the day.  See if your child is eligible for assistance in getting to and from school and how to apply.

Free school meals

Parents and carers who receive certain benefits may be eligible for either pupil premium funding or free school meals.  Enquiries about free school meals should be made direct to individual schools.

Children with Special Educational Needs (SEN)

If you have any queries about your child’s special needs or wish to request a leaflet explaining the transfer process, please contact the SEN casework team.

 

Education Access Team (Secondary/Upper Schools)

Education Access Team contact information

Civic, 1 Saxon Gate East, Milton Keynes MK9 3EJ