The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead delivers its school admissions service through Achieving for Children, a community interest company set up in partnership with the Royal Borough of Kingston and the London Borough of Richmond.
The Admissions Team operates a call back service only. Priority will be given to calls where the information is not available on the website or in the Admission into Secondary School in September 2023 guide.
September 2023 Entry
Secondary School Admissions for entry in September 2023 covers those pupils starting at either:
- Middle school at the beginning of Year 5 - Born between 01/09/2013 to 31/08/2014
- Secondary school at the beginning of Year 7 - Born between 01/09/2011 to 31/08/2012
- Upper school at the beginning of Year 9 - Born between 01/09/2009 to 31/08/2010
Applications for year 5 at a primary school, year 7 at a middle school, or year 9 at a secondary school are deemed in-year transfer applications and must be made via the in-year transfer application process directly to schools. Any invalid preferences will be discarded following submission.
Key Dates
- Opening date - Friday 9 September 2022
- Closing date - Monday 31 October 2022
- Extended deadline for exceptional circumstances - Tuesday 15 November 2022
- National Offer Date - Wednesday 1 March 2023
- Processing of late applications begins - Thursday 2 March 2023
- Deadline to respond to a school place offer - Wednesday 15 March 2023
- Deadline for late applications to be submitted to be considered in the second round - Wednesday 15 March 2023
- Offers to late applicants and allocations from waiting lists for all applicants - From Tuesday 4 April 2023.
Respond to your School Place Offer for September 2023 Entry
The deadline to respond to a school place offer was Wednesday 15 March 2023. The online form is no longer available to accept or decline an offer or to request for your child’s name to be added to a waiting list for one or more higher preferred school(s).
If you still have not responded to an offer please contact School Admissions on rbwm.admissions@achievingforchildren.org.uk
Waiting list guidelines
Further offers will be made to applicants from waiting lists as places become available from Tuesday 4 April 2023. Waiting list positions will also be available from this date. Please do not contact the Admissions team or the schools for waiting list information before this date as it will not be available. We are unable to take waiting list position requests by phone. If you would like to find out your child's waiting list position please email your request to rbwm.admissions@achievingforchildren.org.uk after Tuesday 4 April 2023.
Your child will automatically be placed on waiting lists for higher preferred schools. If we are able to offer your child a place from the waiting list, the existing offer will automatically be taken away. Let us know in writing as soon as possible if you are happy with the offer you have received and no longer wish for your child to be considered for any other schools.
Requests for lower preferred schools are invalid and will not be considered. Instead, you must submit a request for a late change of preference by completing one of the following forms:
- Middle School Change of Preference Request Form
- Secondary School Change of Preference Request Form
- Upper School Change of Preference Request Form
Your request will be processed during the second round of allocations in April. We will not accept a request to change your preference order over the telephone.
Waiting lists are ranked by the school's over-subscription criteria and not by the date your child's name was added to the waiting list. Positions may go up or down as names are added and removed from the list.
If you have applied for a school place outside the borough, please contact the appropriate admitting authority for their waiting list rules.
The Admissions Team will manage the waiting lists for the following schools up until the end of August 2023 only:
- Charters School
- Dedworth Middle School
- Desborough College
- Holyport College (contact the school for boarding enquiries)
- Newlands Girls' School
- The Windsor Boys' School
- Windsor Girls' School
The following schools maintain their own waiting lists and must be contacted directly:
- Altwood CE Secondary School - 01628 622236
- Churchmead CE Secondary School - 08444 772446
- Cox Green School - 01628 629415
- Furze Platt Senior School - 01628 625308
- St. Edward's RF Ecumenical Middle School - 01753 867809
- St. Peter's CE middle School - 01753 866253
- Trevelyan Middle School - 01753 864371
Note: Schools may not be available to answer calls during half term breaks and public holidays. The Admissions team do not have any information relating to waiting lists for the above schools.
Late Applications
The online facility for on time applications is now closed and is not available for late applications but you may still view your submitted application using the link below. You can also access the online system on National Offer Day (Wednesday 1 March 2023) to view the outcome of your application.
If you would like to make a late application, please use one of the forms below. The extended deadline for exceptional circumstances (Tuesday 15 November 2022) has now passed. All late applications submitted after this date will be considered during the second round of allocations and decisions letters will be sent after Tuesday 4 April 2023. If you are not a Royal Borough resident, please contact your home local authority to make a late application.
You can only apply for state-funded secondary, middle and upper schools. The state-funded schools in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead are listed in the guide. If you wish to apply for a place at an independent school you will need to contact the school directly to discuss the admissions process.
Full details of the admissions process are published in the online guide Admission into Secondary School September 2023. Please take time to read this guide before applying.
Requesting a Change of Preference
Do not use the Citizens Portal to request any change after Monday 31 October 2022. The system will be open for primary applications only from Friday 11 November 2022. The Admissions team will not be notified of any change to a secondary application and your request will not be processed.
Do not request a change by replying to the email you received confirming that you have submitted your application. This is a no-reply email address and is not monitored by the Admissions team. Any changes sent to this address will not be processed.
Please use the forms below to request a change of preference:
- Middle school change of preference request form
- Upper school change of preference request form
- Secondary school change of preference request form
Your change of preference(s) will not be reflected on your application on Citizens Portal if you applied on time. The change will be made in the back office application. We will not provide proof that the change has been made; please accept your confirmation email upon submission as proof that your request has been received.
Any change of preference requests received after Monday 31 October 2022 will not be processed until the second round of allocations from Thursday 2 March 2022. There will be no exceptions to this deadline.
Applying to Grammar Schools
All schools in the borough are comprehensive and meet the needs of all ability ranges. This means they do not require entrance exams as a form of entry. Grammar schools are available in neighbouring authorities. If you wish for your child to apply for a grammar school please contact the local authority where your preferred grammar school is located.
Parents must apply for their child's secondary school place before the results are received and no later than the closing date i.e. Monday 31 October 2022. Both grammar schools and non-selective schools should be included within the six preferences allowed in an application in the event that the child does not meet the required standard for entry into a grammar school.
Appeals
You have the right of appeal if you were not offered one or more preferred schools named on your application. The closing date for submission of appeals to be heard in the first round is Monday 27 March 2023. Please visit the Democratic Services school admission appeals webpage for more information.
Home to School Transport
Please see the home to school transport policy and information on how to apply.
Allocation information
Details about how places have been allocated over the previous three years have been published below: