Education Advisory Team (UK) (EAT (UK)): Information on School Admissions for Service Families

The Education Advisory Team (UK) (EAT (UK)) is part of the MOD’s Defence Children Services. We are a tri-service organisation that provides information, advice and guidance on all educational matters in the UK.
We are providing advice to parents of children in Year 6 about how and when to apply for secondary school places for September 2024 in the UK.

Secondary School Places in England for September 2024

If you require a secondary school place in England for September 2024, the deadline for secondary school applications is 31st October 2023.

We would advise that you follow your local authority’s application process: information will be available on their website. You can also contact your local authority’s admission team if you have any questions or require support. Contact details should be available on the local authority website.

Each local authority will send out offers for secondary school places on 1st March 2024.Further information - https://www.gov.uk/schools-admissions/how-to-apply https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-admissions-code--2

Secondary School Places in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for September 2024

Education is a devolved matter and each of the four countries have different education systems. Dependent on location, it is likely that there will be a different process and deadline for applying for secondary school places in each area. We would advise that you follow your local authority’s application process and ensure that you are aware of the deadline to submit your application by. This information will usually be available on the local authority website and we would advise that you contact the local authority directly if you have any questions or require any further support.

Further information can be found on the links below:

Scotland - https://www.mygov.scot/browse/education-training/secondary-school https://forceschildrenseducation.org.uk/

Wales - https://gov.wales/school-admissions https://www.sscecymru.co.uk/

Northern Ireland - https://www.eani.org.uk/parents/admissions

EAT (UK) Advice and Support

We would advise that you contact the EAT (UK) team immediately for advice and support in the following situations:

If you are due to move and require a secondary school place for September 2024 in a different area to where you are currently living

If you are unable to apply for a secondary school place by the deadline within your local authority

For bespoke advice in relation to your individual situation then please contact the Education Advisory Team (UK) (EAT (UK)) on the contact details below:

Email: RC-DCS-HQ-EAT@mod.gov.uk

Address: EAT, Trenchard Lines, Upavon, Wiltshire, SN9 6BE Further information can also be found on the EAT (UK) website:

Website: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/defence-children-services-dcs

We welcome contact from any Service families and are here to support you as best we can.

Please click link for further information and FAQs: EAT (UK) Co-ordinated school admissions England information sheet. https://drive.google.com/file/d/17p2zOgzkxveQJzDIrw5EIg3gYiO9TNwN/view?usp=sharing