Secondary school places

If your child was born between 1 September 2011 and 31 August 2012, you can apply for a place at secondary school for them from September 2022. This will be for the academic year starting in September 2023.

Take a look at our admission to school for the academic year 2023-2024 booklet before you apply for a secondary school place for your child.

If you live in Barnsley

You can include up to three schools on your application. You should rank these in order of your preference – first, second and third.

Your preferences can include any secondary school in Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, Kirklees, Sheffield or Wakefield.

If one of your preferred schools is Holy Trinity, you must also complete the Holy Trinity supplementary application form. Please include this with your application, as well as any other documents that are requested. You can also get a copy of this form from us.

If you’re applying for a place at a voluntary aided school in the following areas, you must also complete their supplementary form and hand this into the relevant school:

If you're applying for a place at any school outside Barnsley, please get in touch with the council in that area. This will allow you to check what their admissions criteria are.

If you live outside Barnsley

If you don’t live in Barnsley, don’t use the Barnsley application form or our online system to apply for a secondary school place. Contact the school admissions service at you local council for a copy of their school admissions booklet and fill in the form included in it.

Trinity Academy St Edward's

Trinity Academy St Edward’s opened in September 2021. They welcomed their first cohort of year 7 students at a fully refurbished Eastgate site in Barnsley.

The curriculum is underpinned by the subjects science, technology and maths (STEM). Students also have sessions in engineering, delivered with partner organisations. Underpinning the whole curriculum is a strong focus on essential literacy skills. All students have access to an extensive extra-curricular programme. This is tailored to their needs, whether this be sports, performing arts or STEM.

To find out more, visit the Trinity Academy St Edward’s website. Applications must still be made through the admissions online portal, the same as for other Barnsley schools.

Apply for a secondary school place

For your child to start secondary school in September 2023, you should apply for a place by 31 October 2022. If you can't meet this date, we'll still treat applications received up to and including 30 November 2022 as on time.

You must apply online to transfer your child from primary to secondary school. You might find our guide to applying for a school place online useful.

If you're unable to apply online, please contact us so we can help. If you're still unable to complete the application online, we'll provide you with a paper form. When complete, you can return it to the headteacher of your child’s current school or send it to us at: School Admissions, PO Box 634, Barnsley, S70 9GG. The closing date for postal applications is 30 November 2022.

You can still apply online for a school place after the closing date, but your application won't be processed until after offer day on 1 March 2023.

If your child doesn’t currently attend a Barnsley primary school, but you want to apply for a place at a Barnsley secondary school, please apply online.

What happens next 

We’ll get in touch with you on 1 March 2023. We'll tell you the name of the school where we can offer your child a secondary school place. If you applied online, we’ll email you. If you submitted a paper form, we’ll write to you.

  • If a place is available at your first preference school - we’ll offer your child a place there.

  • If there are only places available at your second or third preference schools - we’ll offer your child a place at one of these. We'll also place your child’s name on the waiting lists of any schools you’ve ranked higher.

  • If places are available at more than one of the schools you prefer - we’ll offer your child a place at the school you’ve ranked highest.

  • If places aren’t available at any of the schools you prefer - we’ll offer your child a place at the school or academy nearest to your address that has places available.

If you don’t want to accept the place we offer, you must tell us in writing within 10 working days of receiving your offer. You'll need to confirm the alternative arrangements you've made for your child's education.

Making an appeal

If you don’t get a place for your child at the school you prefer, you can appeal to an independent panel. To do this, you need to fill in a notice of appeal (this includes an information booklet) and send this to us by 31 March 2023.

Appeals will normally be held between April and June 2023.

More information