Admissions to Schools

Casual admissions

By law, children aged between 5 and 16 must receive an education. If you would like to apply for a Barking and Dagenham primary school, you may do so by contacting the school directly for a place. If the primary schools are not able to offer you a school place you need to apply directly to the Admissions and Attendance Team.

Map of infant, primary and junior schools in the borough PDF 280K

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If you would like to apply for a place at our secondary schools, you will also need to apply to the Admissions and Attendance Team, not the schools.

Map of secondary schools in the borough PDF 142K

What you need to do

You will need to fill in a Casual Admission Form ( PDF 36K). One form is needed for each child. We will also need to see original documents showing proof of the child's identification (ID) and proof of the parent or carer address.

We accept the following documents to show the child's identification (ID):

Birth Certificate (full certificate is required if child's name is different from parent/carer's)
Passport (required if child is born outside the UK)
IND card (issued by the Home Office with photo attached); or
Home Office paperwork (including child's name and date of birth)

We accept the following documents to show the parent or carer's address:

Council tax bill dated this financial year
Council tax benefit
Tenancy agreement
Mortgage completion letter
Medical registration card; or
Her Majesty revenue and customs documents

Once all sections of the form have been filled in, the adult with parental responsibility must sign the declaration. You should then bring your form and documents to the Barking Learning Centre for processing. Your documents will be photocopied and returned to you. The Barking Learning Centre is open, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 9am - 7pm and Wednesday and Saturday, 9am - 5pm.

If you have any questions, please ask us. If any information is missing on your form, it will delay your application.

The Admissions and Attendance Team should then send you a reply within 10 days of receiving your application and the documents we ask for. If you do not hear from us after this time, please telephone us.

Please note: If you send a postal application we suggest you do so by recorded delivery as we must see original documents. Proof of posting is not proof that we have received your form and similarly if items are lost when returning the documents to you, you will need to contact the post office. We accept no responsibility for lost documents.

Important information

If a child is not living with their natural parents and another adult is looking after the child, we need documentary evidence that they are the guardian and have parental responsibility for that child. Evidence includes a will or a court order or statutory declaration.

Guardianship only applies if the carer can prove that they have full care and the normal, permanent home is not at their parents' address. Guardianship does not apply when picking up children to and from school, or looking after them until their parents collect them.

If guardianship cannot be shown, we will refer the application to social services, while we process your form.

Please remember there are other processes you must follow if: