School and College Admissions

From September 2021, AfC schools will offer priority of admission to all children who are adopted, no matter where they are from.  Here is the relevant excerpt from page 10 of the admissions code, which you can find in full in a pdf at the bottom of this page. 

1.7 All schools must have oversubscription criteria for each ‘relevant age
group’ and the highest priority must be given, unless otherwise provided in this
Code, to looked after children and all previously looked after children, including
those children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state
care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being
adopted. Previously looked after children are children who were looked after
but ceased to be so because they were adopted  (or became subject to a child
arrangements order or special guardianship order). All references to
previously looked after children in this Code mean such children who were
adopted (or subject to child arrangements orders or special guardianship orders)
immediately following having been looked after and those children who appear
(to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and
ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. Oversubscription criteria
must then be applied to all other applicants in the order set out in the
arrangements.

For more general information, Adoption UK offer a good, general primer about admissions for previously looked-after children in the FAQ section of their education blog. 

School Admissions Code

The Department for Education has issued a School Admissions Code (2014) to ensure that all school places for maintained schools (excluding maintained special schools ) and Academies are allocated and offered in an open and fair way. All schools must have admission arrangements that clearly set out how children will be admitted, including the criteria that will be applied if there are more applications than places at the school. Admission arrangements are determined by admission authorities.

If you need assistance or guidance in applying for a school for your child, please contact the virtual school team on 0208 831 6037. While we are not able to advise you which particular school to apply to, as this must remain your choice, we can provide guidance and information about how to make your application. 

For specific admission arrangements for Richmond, Kingston and RBWM, see the individual tabs at the left hand side of this page.

You can also find pdfs at the foot of this page for Richmond and Kingston boroughs. Each pdf contains information about types of school; the steps necessary to apply for schools; a directory of schools in each borough; details of academy, free and voluntary aided schools’ admission criteria; appeals; special educational needs; home to school transport; financial assistance and schools in other council areas.

The School Admissions Code (2014) is also provided as a pdf at the foot of this page.