Childcare And Family Information Service Anne Lalley Choice Adviser

Secondary Transfer What do parent/carers need to do?

Steps 1, 2 and 3 Step 1 – Preparation Step 2 – Decision Step 3 – Application

Step 1 - Preparation  Go to the school open evenings - take a checklist along with you of questions you want to ask  Collect information from - school prospectus - school profile - Ofsted reports - school website - performance tables – available from  Include your child - ask for and consider their opinions and ideas

 Check how closely your child fits the Admission Criteria or Policy – each school has a policy. BE REALISTIC  Oversubscription criteria – this is applied if there are more applicants than places.  Remember schools criteria differ. For example, community schools apply different criteria to faith schools. Step 2 - Decision

 If you live within the boundaries of Liverpool City Council: - you must apply to Liverpool City Council. Preferably online at (  If you are an ‘out of city’ resident - you must apply on your home authority Form, e.g. Knowsley, Sefton, etc.  This applies no matter which Primary School your child attends or Secondary School you are interested in.  You can name schools in other authorities on Liverpool’s application form. Step 3 - Application

 You will receive an Admission Booklet in early September 2012 – it is important that you refer to this for school’s criteria and other details  Check if the schools you are interested in need a direct application. For example, faith schools and academies.  These forms are additional to the local authority application.  You can make your application online by going to Step 3 - Application

IMPORTANT:  Make sure you apply before the deadline date.  Keep a copy of your receipt  Any queries contact Choice Adviser

Online System Admission into any primary or secondary school (including schools outside Liverpool). Available to Liverpool residents If you live outside Liverpool then you should contact the Authority you live in and indicate to them your preference for a place at a Liverpool school To access system go to and follow the link for ‘Admissions’ on the Schools & Learning site.

Online System Automatically generated s will be sent to you: - when you register - when you submit your application - on ‘offer day’ when a school is allocated to your child Remember to make sure your address stays active. If you change your address you can update it on line before 31 October After 31 October 2012 either the local authority or ring

Registration Before you can apply online, you must register. This is to ensure that only you can view and amend your application.

Registration Con’td Before registering you can check to see if the post code where your child lives is within the correct Local Authority.

Personal Details When registering “Personal Details”, please complete as many boxes as possible. All boxes marked with * must be completed before you can proceed.

Person Details Cont’d A list of addresses will appear, ensure you select your own address

Log- In Details Registration “Log-In Details”, all fields must be completed by typing information in. Note: address cannot be copied and pasted.

Registration Con’td You should then see the following message. You will also receive an acknowledgement of this registration.

Logging On In order to apply for a school place you will have to log on to the online admissions system using address and password you set up when you registered.

Logging On If you are able to log on you should see the following screen.

Forgotten Password When clicking on the ‘Forgotten Password?’ link the following screen will appear:

Forgotten Password When clinking on the hyperlink in the the following screen is then displayed:

Changing Personal/Log In Details To change your personal details log onto the online system and click ‘Change My Personal Details’ which will open the following screen:

Changing Log-In Details To change your log-in details log onto the online system and click ‘Change My Log- In Details’ which will open the following screen:

Applying for a School Place Once you have logged on you will see this screen

Applying for a School Place if you have received a Unique Identifier (UID) In order to make an application you should use the UID (Unique Identifier) which can be found on the letter you will receive from your child’s Primary School.

Applying for a School Place if you have received a Unique Identifier (UID) A new screen will be shown asking for your UID

Applying for a School Place if you have received a Unique Identifier (UID) Once you have entered the UID and your child’s date of birth your child’s details are then displayed.

Applying for a School Place if you have received a Unique Identifier (UID) Once you have entered the UID and your child’s date of birth your child’s details are then displayed.

Applying for a School Place if you have received a Unique Identifier (UID) The next screen is to confirm your child’s address and is split between 2 screens.

Applying for a School Place if you have received a Unique Identifier (UID) You will next need to confirm your Child’s current school, if the school displayed is not your child’s current school click ‘Change current School’ Select the Local Authority your school is located in. You can search for the school by entering postcode of your school OR by typing part of the school name. You should be able to find the appropriate school and once selected the screen will be populated. Once you have checked all the information and answered the questions click on ‘Next’

Applying for a School Place if you have received a Unique Identifier (UID) The next step is to select the school(s) you would like your child to attend If you know the name of the school you want your child to attend then you can simply type in the first few characters of the school name (e.g. ‘Arc’ for Archbishop and ‘Bro’ for Broughton Hall) and then click ‘Search’. For schools within Liverpool you should select Liverpool City Council in ‘Schools located in’ (ensure the postcode field is blank) Once you have found your preferred school click the ‘Select button to the left of the school name.

Applying for a School Place if you have received a Unique Identifier (UID) Next you need to record the reason why you wish your child to go to the preferred school Tick any reasons why you would like your child to attend the preferred school. For some schools you will also have to select a ‘religion’. Please remember to complete supplementary information forms if applying for voluntary aided faith schools, trust schools or an academy. These can be obtained directly from the school. Failure to do so could result in your child being considered under lower criterion because the school do not have the necessary information to consider your application. Once all questions are answered click ‘Continue’

Applying for a School Place if you have received a Unique Identifier (UID) You will then be able to see the preference you selected You may tell Admissions of any other reasons to support your application. If you indicated Social or Medical reasons on the previous page, you should give more details. If you are applying for a community school you may be contacted to discuss this further or to provide additional information. If you are applying for a Trust, Foundation, Academy or Voluntary Aided school you will be required to provide the school with supporting information. Once happy with preference and information provided click ‘Done’

Applying for a School Place if you have received a Unique Identifier (UID) You should then see your preference successfully appear under your preferred schools If you wish to add another school preference you can do so by entering details in the ‘Find a School’ section and then repeating the steps described. You are only allowed a maximum of 3 preferences. Once you have 2 or 3 preferences you can change the order of the preferences by clicking the green arrows to sort in order of preference. Click ‘Next’ to continue.

Completing the process You have now completed your application and have the option to continue to the terms and conditions or finish now and return later. If you select ‘Finish for now & return later’ you must return and submit your application before the date shown on screen. You need to agree to the Terms & Conditions before you can submit the application.

Completing the process Once you have agreed to the terms and conditions you will then be able to submit your application. If you would like to receive your offer via leave the default option as ‘Yes’ otherwise click ‘No’. You must agree to the Terms & Conditions before submitting your application. Ensure the ‘Yes’ button is selected and then click ‘Submit’

Amending your application You may edit the application whether or not it has been submitted, until the closing date. Select ‘Change my Application’ link on the Home Page or if you wish to change the School Preferences select ‘Change my Preferences’

Amending your application You should then confirm if you wish to change your application by clicking ‘Continue’ if not click ‘Cancel’. If you click ‘Continue’ then please ensure you re-submit your application on the following pages by clicking ‘Re-submit Application’. Failing to re-submit will result in the application not being processed. Once you have re-submitted you will receive an confirming your re- submission.

Applying for another child If you are applying for another child you need to make a second application by following the same procedure.

Viewing your allocated school on offer day Offer details for applications submitted on line will be available on the stated offer day. s will be sent to applicants confirming their offer at some point during that day. To view details on line, log on to the system and click ‘View or Edit Existing Applications’ where you will be presented with the following screen Click the option ‘View Offers Now’ to view your allocated school. Offer information is only available after the date specified against the field ‘Other Information Available’

Further Help For any advice on the use of the online system or any queries relating to the admissions process please contact Liverpool Direct on: Telephone No: (0151)

Choice Advice Service Anne Lalley Impartial Service established in November 2006 Part of the Childcare & Family Information Service

My Role:  Help parents when choosing a secondary school, primary school or arranging an ‘in year’ transfer  Support parents through appeals process  when completing preference form – paper or online  to understand schools’ admission policies

My role cont’d……  Available for one-to-one meetings  Hold information sessions and/or drop in sessions for Year 5/Year 6 parents  Attend secondary school open evenings in September  Follow up on late applications (after closing date in October)