You can apply to transfer your child from one school to another or apply to return to school using the form on this page.
Please read all the information on this page carefully before applying.
We are currently experiencing a high volume of applications for both Primary and Secondary Transfers.
Although we aim to process applications and provide an outcome within 15 school days, there may be some delays at present.
Please ensure that your child continues to attend their current school until you receive the outcome of your application.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
In Year Transfer
An in-year transfer is when you ask us to move your child from one school to another, outside of the usual admission rounds.
Moving schools is a very serious step that we advise you to consider carefully, unless the request is the result of a house move.
There are many difficulties that can be resolved without changing your child’s school, and this is why it is essential that you contact and work with the current school before submitting an application - transferring schools can be very disruptive to your child’s education and it DOES NOT guarantee that certain issues will be resolved.
There is no guarantee that we can offer places at your preferred school.
Your child must continue to attend their current school until you have a confirmed place and a planned start date agreed with the new school. Please do not remove your child from their current school before this.
Important factors that you must consider before making such an important move:
Curriculum
It is important to consider that that each school teaches the Curriculum for Wales in different ways and at different times of the academic year.
Changing schools part way through a year could result in your child repeating or missing work, which will have a significant impact on their progress.
The attainment of pupils who make in-year moves is markedly lower than their peers and lower still among pupils who change school multiple times.
In the secondary phase of education, GCSE option subjects, college courses and curriculum design differ quite significantly from school to school, and so a change of school can have a very negative impact on your child’s progress.
Transferring in Years 10 and 11 is particularly disruptive and can have a seriously damaging effect on your child’s education. Years 10 and 11 are a two-year course, and it is likely that the school you wish to transfer your child to will not be able to offer the same choice of subjects as your child's current school, or they could be at different stages of teaching the curriculum.
If this is the case, the work that your child has already done towards their GCSEs may not be able to be used.
Support for Learning Needs
If you are considering a change of school because you feel that your child’s current school is unable to meet their learning needs, please discuss this with your school’s additional learning needs co-ordinator before submitting a transfer request.
Your child’s current school is best placed to discuss any concerns you may have, and to help to resolve them.
The school admissions team can only allocate mainstream school places and are unable to allocate places within resourced provision classes.
Financial Pressures
There are financial pressures attached to a school transfer due to factors such as a new uniform and transport costs.
You should carefully consider how your child will travel to your requested school. Funded school transport is provided to your child’s nearest suitable school when this is beyond walking distance. If you choose to transfer your child to a school that is not your nearest suitable school, you will then have full responsibility for transport arrangements. This will include making the necessary transport arrangements and meeting the cost.
Moving Into Flintshire
Some schools in Flintshire are already full and moving into an area does not mean that a place will be available at the nearest school.
Please email admissions@flintshire.gov.uk for the most up to date information about school places.
Before you make an application, we recommend you take a look at the school’s website to find out more information, including the structure of the school day, uniform requirements and the subjects offered. We also recommend that you read Flintshire’s Guide to Education.
When Will I Hear Back?
Once the online application form is received by the admissions team, we aim to respond to your request within 15 school days. Your child must remain in their current school while the transfer request is being processed.
The transfer request will be considered within the context of our admissions policy, which can be found here.
If your application is for a Voluntary Aided (Faith) or Foundation school, the application will be passed to their Governing Body to consider, and the school will respond to you directly.
If a transfer request is not successful, parents will be advised of their right to appeal against the refusal decision. The right to appeal does not apply at nursery stage.
If you are successful, your child will start at the beginning of the next term or half term, whichever is sooner.
How to Apply
Only the persons with parental responsibility for a child can make a school application.
Where there is shared parental responsibility, all persons who hold this responsibility must be in agreement with the transfer request. It is your legal duty to make sure that everybody with parental responsibility is aware of your request and agrees with it.
If your child currently attends a school in Flintshire, the information on your application form (including the reasons for the transfer) will be shared with your child’s current school as well as your requested school.