After offer day in Merton
The dates we hold for replies, appeals and waiting lists in Merton, for Reception and Year 7, and what happened at each school last year.
Your calendar
Your children's dates, in your calendar, with an email before each deadline.Refused a place? Find the school
What happened there last year, your council's dates, and what to do next.
Don't miss a date
A free account emails you before each reply, appeal and waiting-list date, or adds them to your calendar.
Rules checked 19 October 2026 against the current codes on gov.uk
The dates
From the council: Merton's school admissions page and its admissions booklet (PDF).
Reception, September 2026 entry
| Date | What | What to do | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 December 2026 | Reception: waiting lists kept until | Waiting lists for this intake are kept until at least this date. Keep in touch with the council if you are on one. | School Admissions Code 2.15 |
Reception, September 2027 entry
| Date | What | What to do | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 January 2027 | Reception: late applications cut-off | The last day the council takes a late application before offer day, usually only with a good reason. | Merton council |
| 16 April 2027 | Primary offer day | Offers arrive by email from your home council. Check which school you were offered. | Merton council |
| 30 April 2027 | Reception: reply to your offer | Accept or decline the place you were offered, and ask to stay on the waiting list for schools you ranked higher. | Merton council |
| 17 May 2027 | Reception: appeal deadline (earliest) | If you want to appeal for a school you were refused, lodge the appeal with the school's admission authority by this date. | School Admission Appeals Code: at least 20 school days after offers |
| 31 December 2027 | Reception: waiting lists kept until | Waiting lists for this intake are kept until at least this date. Keep in touch with the council if you are on one. | School Admissions Code 2.15 |
Year 7, September 2026 entry
| Date | What | What to do | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 December 2026 | Year 7: waiting lists kept until | Waiting lists for this intake are kept until at least this date. Keep in touch with the council if you are on one. | School Admissions Code 2.15 |
Year 7, September 2027 entry
| Date | What | What to do | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 December 2026 | Year 7: late applications cut-off | The last day the council takes a late application before offer day, usually only with a good reason. | Merton council |
| 1 March 2027 | Secondary offer day | Offers arrive by email from your home council. Check which school you were offered. | National rule (School Admissions Code) |
| 15 March 2027 | Year 7: reply to your offer (about) | Accept or decline the place you were offered, and ask to stay on the waiting list for schools you ranked higher. | Usual practice: about two weeks; your offer letter gives the date |
| 31 March 2027 | Year 7: appeal deadline (earliest) | If you want to appeal for a school you were refused, lodge the appeal with the school's admission authority by this date. | School Admission Appeals Code: at least 20 school days after offers |
| 31 December 2027 | Year 7: waiting lists kept until | Waiting lists for this intake are kept until at least this date. Keep in touch with the council if you are on one. | School Admissions Code 2.15 |
How each step works, and the national rules: After offer day.
What happened at each school last year
i
SourcePlaces offered and first preferences: DfE, Primary and secondary school applications and offers (school level, Open Government Licence).
Applicants refused: Merton's own offer-day tables, where we hold them.
How it is worked out"Put it first, not offered it" is DfE's number of first preferences less its number of first-preference offers.
- "Not held" means we do not have the figure, not that it was nought.
- The published figures from last year's offers describe what happened then, school by school. They are not a forecast, and they say nothing about any one family's case.
- Waiting lists are kept in the order of each school's admission criteria (School Admissions Code 2021, 2.15).
The published figures from last year's offers, school by school.
Reception, September 2026 entry
- DfE's figures cover 43 schools for September 2026 entry. At 28 of them, every family who put the school first was offered a place there. At 15, some families who put the school first were not offered it.
Every school (43)
Year 7, September 2026 entry
- DfE's figures cover 9 schools for September 2026 entry. At 2 of them, every family who put the school first was offered a place there. At 7, some families who put the school first were not offered it.
Every school (9)
| School | Places offered | Put it first | Put it first, not offered it | Applicants refused |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harris Academy Merton | 236 | 220 | 29 | not held |
| Harris Academy Morden | 184 | 114 | 1 | not held |
| Harris Academy Wimbledon | 190 | 164 | 34 | not held |
| Raynes Park High School | 205 | 88 | 0 | not held |
| Ricards Lodge High School | 266 | 193 | 34 | not held |
| Rutlish School | 260 | 195 | 28 | not held |
| St Mark's Church of England Academy | 172 | 101 | 0 | not held |
| Ursuline High School Wimbledon | 206 | 254 | 88 | not held |
| Wimbledon College | 194 | 188 | 51 | not held |
Moving to Merton mid-year
Apply to the council, for any school. Email the council's in-year application form (Section 8 completed by the current or last school) to the School Admissions team; only Merton schools may be named. Church schools and academies may need a supplementary form. No schools named as taking direct applications.
- Proof of address: If new and not yet registered for Council Tax, evidence of the new address and of having left the former address may be needed; applications only processed after the move.
From Merton's own in-year admissions page (Not stated.): read it there before you apply, as arrangements change each year.
How in-year applications work everywhere: Moving mid-year.
Also: All Merton admission dates · Moving mid-year
Sources
The rules on this page are from these, checked on gov.uk on 19 October 2026. Where a paragraph number is given, it is the paragraph of that code.
- School Admissions Code 2021: in force since 1 September 2021; the current version.
- School Admission Appeals Code 2022: for appeals lodged from 1 October 2022; the current version.
- gov.uk: School admissions: the government's guide for parents, updated 8 January 2025.
- Fair Access Protocols: guidance (DfE, August 2021): published with the School Admissions Code; the current version.
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Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Sources and methods: tap the (i) on each section. How we know · All sources.