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After offer day in Southend-on-Sea

The dates we hold for replies, appeals and waiting lists in Southend-on-Sea, for Reception and Year 7, and what happened at each school last year.

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What happened there last year, your council's dates, and what to do next.

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Accept the offerAccept by the reply date on your offer, even if you want a school you ranked higher: you keep your place while you wait.About 30 April 2027
Join waiting listsLists go by each school's admission rules, not by when you joined. Kept until at least 31 December.Until at least 31 December 2026
AppealAt least 20 school days from the refusal to lodge it; heard within 40 school days of the deadline.17 May 2027 at the earliest
No school you named?The council offers another school with a place, usually the nearest. You can still join waiting lists and appeal.Call the council

Rules checked 19 October 2026 against the current codes on gov.uk

The dates

From the council: Southend-on-Sea's school admissions page.

Reception, September 2026 entry

DateWhatWhat to doSource
31 December 2026Reception: waiting lists kept untilWaiting 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

DateWhatWhat to doSource
16 April 2027Primary offer day
National Offer Day
Offers arrive by email from your home council. Check which school you were offered.Southend-on-Sea council
30 April 2027Reception: 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
17 May 2027Reception: 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 2027Reception: waiting lists kept untilWaiting 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

DateWhatWhat to doSource
31 December 2026Year 7: waiting lists kept untilWaiting 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

DateWhatWhat to doSource
1 March 2027Secondary offer day
National Offer Day
Offers arrive by email from your home council. Check which school you were offered.Southend-on-Sea council
15 March 2027Year 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 2027Year 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 2027Year 7: waiting lists kept untilWaiting 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

The published figures from last year's offers. They 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).

Reception, September 2026 entry

  • DfE's figures cover 29 schools for September 2026 entry. At 16 of them, every family who put the school first was offered a place there. At 13, some families who put the school first were not offered it.
Every school (29)

Year 7, September 2026 entry

  • DfE's figures cover 12 schools for September 2026 entry. At 4 of them, every family who put the school first was offered a place there. At 8, some families who put the school first were not offered it.
Every school (12)
SchoolPlaces offeredPut it firstPut it first, not offered itApplicants refused
Belfairs Academy2721290not held
Cecil Jones Academy1881550not held
Chase High School1821131not held
Shoeburyness High School3102430not held
Southchurch High School112840not held
Southend High School for Boys177308158not held
Southend High School for Girls217271110not held
St Bernard's High School17518441not held
St Thomas More High School17920259not held
The Eastwood Academy220359148not held
Westcliff High School for Boys Academy182280139not held
Westcliff High School for Girls18523979not held

Places offered and first preferences: DfE, Primary and secondary school applications and offers (school level, Open Government Licence). "Put it first, not offered it" is DfE's number of first preferences less its number of first-preference offers. Applicants refused: Southend-on-Sea's own offer-day tables, where we hold them; "not held" means we do not have the figure, not that it was nought.

Moving to Southend-on-Sea mid-year

Apply to the council for most schools; some schools take applications directly. Apply to the council on its Parent Portal (up to three schools); where a preference is a school that manages its own in-year applications, the council tells the parent to apply to that school directly (schools listed under 'Useful links' on the page, not read). The council makes offers and alternative offers for the schools it processes.

  • Decision: "We work to obtain an outcome for your application within 15 school days."
  • Proof of address: Once the application is received you may need to provide proof of address and a copy of the child's passport/visa.

From Southend-on-Sea's own in-year admissions page (Not stated; links 2027-28 admission booklets.): read it there before you apply, as arrangements change each year.

How in-year applications work everywhere: 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.

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Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Sources are named beside each figure. How we know · All sources.