Applying for a secondary school place

You can submit your school application from 9am on 6 September 2021. Applications close on 31 October 2021 at 5pm.

To apply for a secondary school place you will need to:

• apply through Medway Council if you live in Medway
• apply through your own local authority if you live outside of Medway
• use the child’s main address
• complete an application for each child if you’re applying for more than one such as twins. They will not count as a sibling link for a place.

When applying you can:

• name both Medway and non-Medway schools on your application
• apply for up to 6 different schools in order of preference (not including private, independent or special schools)
• choose to apply for less than 6 schools.

When applying remember we still cannot guarantee or give a child a priority place:

• if you name just one school, this will not improve your chances of being offered a place at that school
• if you name a school multiple times. It will only be considered as one of your preferences
• if you have added your child’s name to a school’s expression of interest list
• based on your childcare arrangements.

How to apply for a secondary school

You can apply for a school place using the Parent Portal.

Create a Parent Portal account

Log into your Parent Portal account

When applying you will need to:

• complete a supplementary information form (SIF) alongside your application if you are applying for Rainham Mark Grammar School, St John Fisher Catholic Comprehensive School or The Rochester Grammar School. You can get these forms from the school
• provide professional evidence if you or your child has a health, medical or special access need as soon as you have submitted your application.

Applications for children with an EHCP or statement of special educational needs

If your child has an education, health and care plan (EHCP) or statement of special educational needs, you do not apply through this mainstream process.

Apply for a school place for a child with an EHCP

Applying if you do not have access to a computer at home

You can use computers at our community hubs or libraries to complete your online application.

If you cannot apply online, you can get a paper application from Gun Wharf, Dock Road, Chatham, ME4 4TR. You will not get a receipt of paper applications.

When you apply for a secondary school online you will:

• get email confirmation when you submit your application
• be able to check or change your application until the closing date and resubmit after changes are made
• be emailed your school offer on offer day.

Parental responsibility and disputes

Only a person with parental responsibility for a child can apply for their school places.

If we receive more than one application for a child and they are different, the parents must either agree between them or seek a court order to decide:

• the schools to be named on the application
• the order of preference for those schools
• the address to be used for the application
• who is to be named the main applications (we can send copies of correspondence to the other parent)

If there is a dispute and parents cannot agree, we will contact both parents to confirm that neither application will be processed until agreement is reached.

Medway Council will not mediate in cases of parental disputes.

Late applications

If you apply for a school place after the closing date, your application will only be considered if you can provide a good reason.

If you miss the closing date you can still submit an application up to 5pm on 15 November 2021 with a letter explaining why you missed the closing date.

We'll decide if late applications received by 15 November 2021 can be accepted.

Any applications not accepted as on time or received after 15 November 2021 will be held pending until we process late applications from 18 April 2022.