Guide to moving up to secondary school

Last updated: 7 August 2023

Changing your preferences

In exceptional circumstances (for example, if you move house), you might find that you need to change the schools you originally listed in your child’s application.

If you need to change your preferences, be realistic in your expectations. You can use the Find my child a school place service to check any school details and you can also view allocation information. Other Local Authorities will have information on their websites.

You can contact us between 31 March and 15 April to tell us about any changes you would like us to include for the second allocation round. Do not contact us about changes before 31 March.

For later allocation rounds, see the deadlines for preference changes for inclusion in the third and later rounds.

How to make a change

If you decide to make changes, send us your new list of preferred schools using our Contact Us form. New preferred schools and changes of preference order will only be considered from the second allocation round.

This list replaces the schools listed in your child’s original application and we will automatically put your child on the waiting list for each of the schools, as long as your child is eligible.

You can include original preferred schools amongst any new ones as long as the order is clear. If you list schools outside Buckinghamshire, we will let that Local Authority know.

We can only consider Buckinghamshire grammar school preferences if your child;

  • qualified in the Secondary Transfer Test or
  • qualified through Selection Review or
  • was qualified for admission to a particular grammar school by the Independent Appeal Panel but a place was not available and the appeal for a place at that particular school was not successful

Only children who have taken The Highcrest Academy’s banding test can go on that school’s waiting list.