Starting school for the first time

Read our parents' guide

Read our parents' guide for information about the different types of schools, the evidence we require and information you need to know before applying.

You must be a Dorset resident to complete this application form.

If you do not have a confirmed Dorset address but wish to apply for a Dorset school, please apply through the local authority admissions team in the area where you currently live. This includes if you live within Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP).

Read the admissions policies

Read the admissions policies for schools you're interested in.

For children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

You have to apply for a school place in a different way. Find out what to do if your child has an educational, health and care (EHC) plan.

Catchment area schools

View schools in your catchment area or view all schools by catchment area.

Summer born children

Children usually start school in the September after they turn 4, but if your child was born between 1 April and 31 August, also known as summer-born children, you can ask to delay entry to reception for a year. You'll need to discuss this with any schools you are interested in and fill out the required forms, find out more about the backward or forward yearing policy.

List up to 3 schools in order of preference. One of these schools should be your catchment school, if there is one. You'll receive a confirmation email once you've submitted your application.

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Religious school requirements

You may have to complete an additional form if you want to apply to religious schools. This is an extra form which should be sent to the schools themselves, unless stated differently, you must still complete an application form.

If you can't apply online

If you can't apply online, you can fill in and return a paper application from the 1 September, this should be posted by the closing date, make sure you include proof of posting

• Starting school for the first time (word)
• Starting school for the first time (PDF)

Make changes to your submitted application

If you want to make changes to your submitted application, you need to complete a change of preference form:

• changes to submitted application form (Word document)
• changes to submitted application form (PDF document)

You must not make any changes via your online account. We process all applications based on the information as of the closing date, this means if you change your address after 15 January, we'll process your application using the address you were living at on the closing date.

How we inform you of your application outcome

If you apply online, you will receive your outcome by email on the relevant outcome date above. You will be able to find details of how places have been allocated on our school allocations page.

What to do when you have a school place offer

It is automatically assumed that the school place offered will be accepted so you do not need to contact us to confirm this.

If you wish to decline a school place offered, you must let us know via your online account response function and/or by emailing the admissions team with the reason for declining.

You can also request to go on the waiting list for any school that you have been refused in the same way. 

There will be a 2-week response period following the outcome date during which you can respond via your online parent portal account.