Children are entitled to a place in a school in Wales. If you live in Wales you must ensure that any of your children aged 5, but under 16 receive a full-time education.

Most children will start ‘primary’ school in the September after their fourth birthday. They will continue to attend primary school until 11 years of age. Between the ages of 11 and 16 children will attend ‘secondary’ or ‘high’ school’. Many secondary schools teach up to the age of 18 years of age. As well as schools, there are sixth form colleges in some areas which teach young-people aged 16 to 18

The local authority supporting you will help you to find a suitable education for your child. Education for children can either be:

• in a local authority maintained school which is free;
• in an independent school which will often charge fees; or
• you can choose to home-educate your child.

Contact your local authority to find schools in your area. You can find your local authority at https://www.gov.uk/find-local-council

There is a lot of support available in schools in Wales. This includes support for children learning English or Welsh as a second language. School-based counselling is available for children who may be unhappy, worried or confused. Free breakfast and lunch is often available in schools. Free transport is available if you live a certain distance from your school. (At least 2 miles away from your primary school or 3 miles or more away from your secondary school).

In-year admissions to schools

When you first arrive in Wales, it is likely that you will need to apply for ‘in-year’ admissions. This means applying for schools outside the normal admission timeframe.
An in-year admission is:

• an application for reception year or year 7 after the start of the school year; or
• an application for any other year group at any time.

You can get an application form for in-year places on your local authority website. Some schools will have places available throughout the year. Some of the most popular schools will be full when you are applying. The local authority will be able to tell you which schools still have places and how to apply.

The school year has 3 school terms. Autumn Term will begin after 31 August. Spring Term will begin after 31 December and Summer Term will begin after 31 March. Each term includes a short half-term break with a longer break between terms. The longest break is about 6 weeks between the end of Summer Term and the start of the next school year. For the latest school term dates see: https://gov.wales/approved-school-term-dates-2022-2023.

Applying for a place in the normal admissions round

Reception is usually for children who are already aged 4 at the start of the school year (September). Year 7 is usually for children who are already 11 at the start of the school year.

You can express a preference for any school. Usually, the closer to your home a school is, the better chance you have of an offer of a place there. You will get an offer of your highest available preference. But if there are no places at any of your preferred schools you will get an offer of another school which has places.

The local authority will send out offers of places on:

• Secondary – 1 March
• Primary – 16 April

How are places allocated?

Each school only has a finite number of places available. Sometimes there are more applications than the number of places available. If so, the admission authority must apply its published admission arrangements. This will allow them to determine who will get a place.

Here are a couple of examples of an admission policy:

Cardiff School Admissions Policy (cardiff.gov.uk)
Carmarthenshire School Admission Policy

School admission authorities may ask for proof of your address with your application. This is because some schools use ‘catchment areas’ to give priority to children living near to the school. The distance from home to school is also often used as a first tie-break to determine who will get an offer of a place.

Your local authority will be able to tell you when you must return your application. If you cannot apply by this date, you should speak to the local authority about how you should apply. We recommend that you so at the earliest opportunity.

Some schools may prioritise children for admission based on the family’s religion. You may be required to complete a supplementary application form for these schools. This is to find out whether you are a practitioner or member of the relevant faith group. Schools may ask for evidence of your child’s date of birth once they offer you a place.

What to do if you do not get the school you want

You might not get an offer of a place at your chosen school. If you do not, you can ask for the school to place your child on a waiting list. Your child can attend a school and remain on other schools’ waiting lists in case a vacancy arises.

If you don’t get an offer of a place at your chosen school the admission authority for the school must offer you an appeal. The appeal panel is independent of the school. Guidance for parents about appeals is set out at https://gov.wales/school-admission-appeals-code. You can ask someone to represent you at the appeal or you can present your own case. You can appeal for a preferred school which has refused to admit your child. You can do so even if your child is attending a school already.

Choosing a school

There are some resources parents can use to help them choose a school. My Local School provides information on schools. Most schools will have an inspection report which you can search for at https://www.estyn.gov.wales/

In Wales, we will continue to welcome people from the EU, including UK nationals living in the EEA or Switzerland, to work or study in Wales.

Nationals from the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland who intend to study in Wales from 1 January 2021 will need to apply through the new Student route before coming to the UK.

All students who started a course before 1 August 2021 will continue to receive support for the duration of their course. EU students should speak to their university’s student finance office or visit the Student Finance Wales website for more information about the support available.

EU students who are not settled and begin a course of higher or further education on or after 1 August 2021 will not be eligible for support or, in the case of higher education courses, home fee status.

Irish nationals will however still be eligible for support under the Common Travel Area arrangement.
 

If you wish to study in Wales you should contact Student Finance Wales for further information. For studies in another UK country, contact the relevant student funding body for further information on your eligibility for student finance support.

You will need to check if you need a UK visa, if you are planning to study in the UK from 1 January 2021 as you will not be eligible to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme unless you were living in the UK before 31 December 2020.

You can apply for a Student visa if you are over 16 and plan to start a course with a provider who can act as a licensed student sponsor.

You may be eligible for a Child Student visa instead if you’re 16 or 17 and want to study at an independent school in UK.

You do not need a visa to study in the UK for courses up to 6 months, as long as you are studying at an accredited institution; this includes English language courses.

You can apply for a Short-term study visa if you’re studying on an English language course which lasts up to 11 months.

If you know where you would like to study in Wales, the best starting point is your university’s website. Each institution administers its own scholarships and funding programmes, and the international office will be able to help you make your decisions based on your personal circumstances.