Starting Secondary School

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Starting Secondary School in 2024

Starting Secondary School September 2025

National Offer Day for Secondary School places

Parents who applied for a secondary school place by the closing date of 31 October 2024 will receive the outcome of their application on Monday 3 March which is the National Offer Day.

Parents who applied via the Capita Citizen Portal on our website should receive an email on the national offer day. Emails will automatically be sent after 9am on Monday 3 March.
Please also check spam folders as well as your main in-box. Emails will only be sent to the email account used to submit the application via the portal.
Parents who submitted a paper application form by the closing date will receive a letter in the post. It is hoped that letters will also reach parents on Monday 3 March however please be aware that the Admissions Team cannot guarantee that these will be delivered by the Post Office on this day and may therefore arrive a day or two later. Parents are kindly requested to wait for their outcome to arrive by email or post before contacting the Admissions Team as most children are likely to be offered a place at one of the preferred schools named on the application.
Parents who applied after the 31 October 2024 will not receive a decision on Monday 3 March. Late applications will be processed after the first round of offers and parents should expect to receive an outcome in April.

Admissions Officers will be available to speak to after 9am on the national offer day. Please complete our Enquiry Form with details of your enquiry and an Admissions Officer will reply by email or telephone you if necessary.

If your child was born between 1 September 2013 and 31 August 2014, you can now apply for a secondary school place for entry in September 2025.

If you do not live in Rotherham please do not apply here. Visit the website for your home authority where you will find details of how to submit your application, you will still be able to name any preferred Rotherham school on your application. Applications made directly to us from non-Rotherham residents will be disregarded.

The National Closing Date for receipt of applications is 31 October 2024. You are strongly advised to submit your application by this date. If your application is late, you will be far less likely to get a place in your preferred school.
You are advised to have read and taken account of the information in our Admissions to Secondary Booklet 2025 before making your application.
Follow the Make an Application link at the bottom of this page where you will be able to apply online via the Capita Citizen’s Portal. You will need to register to make an account first if you do not already have one.
Name three schools and choose them carefully. Name them in your order of preference. Applying for one school only at this stage will not increase your chances of securing a place at your first preference and you may miss out on the opportunity of a place at your second or third preference by not naming the school on your initial application form and only applying for it at a later date.
If you are including a school in another local authority on your application, we advise you check the website of the relevant local authority for the admission arrangements of your preferred school before submitting your application.
Submit your application – please ensure that you have submitted your application once complete. You will be able to log back in and view or edit it until the 31 October 2024 however you must re-submit the application for your application to be considered. Changes after this date are late applications, you will not be able to do these online.
All parents who live in Rotherham and apply by 31 October 2024 will be made a single offer of a school place on the National Offer Day of 3 March 2025. This will be the school named highest on your application for which your child is eligible for a place. If it is not possible to offer a place at one of your preferred schools, you will be made an alternative offer. No decisions will be given to parents before this date

False or misleading information

Any attempt by a parent to gain an advantage in the admissions process by giving false information, which could result in them taking a place that should have gone to another child, is taken very seriously.

It is important that the admissions system is fair for everybody. Nobody should be allowed to cheat by using a friend or relative’s address, a business address or by temporarily renting a property near to a popular school.

The Local Authority will investigate all instances where a parent is thought to have provided false or misleading information to gain admission to a school. Your address will be checked by reference to various records and, if necessary, by a council officer visiting the application address. A false application may result in the withdrawal of your child’s place at the school offered, even if the child has already started at the school.

Need to contact us?

We are here to help with any queries you have. Please use the link below to our online enquiry form giving as much detail as possible.

Make a school admissions enquiry

If you submit your application online you can log into your account on 3 March 2025 to view your school place offer. You will need to know your login details – the email account and password you used when you made your application. Please do not forget to submit or re-submit your application.

Make an Application

For full details on how to apply for a Secondary School place:

Download the Secondary School booklet (pdf)

Download the Secondary School booklet (word)

Some schools may require you to fill out a supplementary Information form in order to aid your application. Any school that requires a supplementary information form will be listed below:

St Bernards Catholic High School (pdf)

St Bernards Catholic High School (word)

St Pius x Catholic High School (pdf)

St Pius x Catholic High School (word)