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School admission terms and conditions

Date updated: 22/08/2023

​Before making an application for a school place, please make sure you have read all the information available on the starting a new school webpage, especially the latest primary or secondary school admissions booklet.

You must have parental responsibility for the child whose place you are applying for, and both you and your child must be resident in the City of London.

Proof of child's residence in the City of London

In order to verify your child's address you will be required to provide an official letter dated from no more than one year before the date of your application. Ideally, this should include the child's date of birth. If the child's date of birth is not on the letter you will also need to provide his or her birth certificate or medical card. Documents can be scanned and uploaded online or provided in hard copy.

Documents you could use as proof of your child's address include:

  • Child benefit letter
  • Letter from a GP or other NHS provider
  • Letter from a current childcare provider
  • Bank or building society letter or statement

Where parents live apart and share responsibility for a child, we will require a joint declaration from both parents confirming how the child divides their time between the two addresses. This should also state which of the two addresses is to be used for the application. If the child's residence is not split equally between the two addresses we will use the address where the child spends most time during the school week.

Proof of parent's residence in the City of London

The address you provide for yourself on your application will be checked against the City of London's Council Tax Department’s records. If your details are not found, we will investigate further to determine your address, and we will ask you to provide three documents from the following:

  • Mortgage statement issued in the last 12 months
  • Financial statement, e.g. pension or endowment issued in last 12 months
  • P45 or P60 statement issued in last 12 months
  • Central or local government document issued in last 12 months
  • Bank or building society statement issued in last three months
  • Bank or building society account opening confirmation letter issued in the last three months
  • Credit card statement issued in last three months
  • Utility bill, such as gas or electricity issued in last three months (mobile telephone bills are not acceptable)
  • Benefit statement, eg Child Benefit, Pension issued in last three months
  • Letter from the GP issued in last three months

Your application may not be processed until we verify your details.

Unverified applications

If an investigation into your application is still ongoing when school places are being offered you will be offered a place on a conditional basis.

Once all the information has been gathered, the City will write to you about what we have found. You will then have the opportunity to respond, and if necessary submit further information. The City will then make a decision as to whether or not your application is genuine. If we decide your application is fraudulent you will be given a period of notice during which you will have a final opportunity to provide evidence.

If we find that your true address is in another local authority, your application will be forwarded to that local authority's school admission service.

If your child has already started school by the time we identify a fraudulent application, we may consider alternatives to withdrawing the place.

Late applications

The City will only accept late applications with very good reason. For example when a single parent has been ill for some time, or has been dealing with the death of a close relative, a family has just moved into the City of London area or is returning from abroad. Other circumstances will be considered and each case will be decided on its own merits.

Data Protection

The City of London Corporation is a data controller, and processes personal data in accordance with the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. For full details of how and why the City of London Corporation processes personal data, please refer to the full privacy notice. Alternatively, you can request a hard copy. Please direct all data protection queries to the information compliance team.

Contact the Education and Early Years Service