Offers of secondary school places
When you will get your offer
On time applications
If you applied on time for admission in 2024, you will get an email after 5pm on 1 March 2024 telling you where your child has been offered a secondary school place.
If your child is not offered one of the schools you applied for, and you are unable to contact us by telephone, please email secondaryadmissions@lewisham.gov.uk and include 'Secondary transfer 2024 – allocated place' in the subject line.
How to accept your place
If you applied on time, visit the eAdmissions website to accept the place you have been offered. You will need to log into your eAdmissions account using the same user name and password you used to make your original application. If you applied via another method, you will need to follow the instructions in your letter to accept the place.
You must accept your place by Friday 15 March 2024.
If you have not been offered any of the schools you applied for
Unfortunately, we can’t offer every child a place at a school they applied for. However, we make sure we offer every child who lives in the borough a school place.
If you live in the borough and we can’t offer you a place at any of the schools on your list, we will offer you a place at your nearest Lewisham school that has a vacancy. This could be a faith or non-faith school.
Visit the school
Before you decide if you will accept this offer, you should visit the school and speak to the headteacher about the education and opportunities available there. Most local secondary schools have been completely rebuilt or refurbished and will offer your child state-of-the-art learning facilities.
Headteachers will be happy to show you their school and assure you that your child can aspire and progress there. If you accept the offer, you child will still stay on any waiting list they have been added to and you can still make an appeal.
If you don’t want to accept the place
If you visit the school and you still don't want to accept the place, call us on 020 8314 8282 (phone line open Monday-Thursday 10-12 and Monday afternoon 2-4pm), or email secondaryadmissions@lewisham.gov.uk to discuss your options and any other schools which can be offered as an alternative. Please include 'Secondary transfer 2024 – allocated place' in the subject line of the email.
If you have been offered a place but still want to be considered for a higher preference school
We recommend that you accept the school place you have been offered. Your child's name will automatically be placed on the waiting list for all higher preference schools than the school offered.
Waiting lists will move between 1 March and the start of the school term in September 2024, so there is still an opportunity for your child to be offered a higher preference school.
Taking your child off a waiting list
If you are happy with the school place your child has been offered and want your child to be taken off the waiting list, email secondaryadmissions@lewisham.gov.uk and include 'Secondary transfer 2024 – Remove from waiting list' in the subject line.
How to appeal a school place
You can appeal against a decision to not offer you a place at any of the schools you applied for. If you want to appeal, you must contact us straight away to find out how to appeal. We will also post you details about how and when to appeal.
For more advice on the appeals process for community schools in the borough, call the independent appeals clerk, on 020 8314 8577 or email schooladmissionappeals@lewisham.gov.uk.
For independent advice, you can contact ACE Education Advice.
Waiting lists
Waiting lists will be kept for the first term (autumn) to December 2024. If you would like to apply for a Year 7 class place after that, you need to make an in-year application.
You will automatically be added to the waiting list for any schools that are higher on your preference list than the school we offered you. If your preferences include schools outside the borough, we will tell those councils to add your child’s name to the waiting list.
Our community schools use their list until the end of the first term of the new school year (end of December 2024). If a place becomes available, the admissions criteria will be used to decide which child is offered the place.
If you are on a waiting list for a school and you decide you are happy with the school you have already been offered, please tell us so we can offer the place to other children.
Numbers of applications and appeals for community schools
Get more information
You can get advice and information on a wide range of school-related issues from the Department for Education, including the school admissions code and school admissions appeals code.