Changing school is a significant step. You should think carefully before submitting your application.
Your reasons
You may be thinking of requesting a change of school for your child because of concerns about:
their attendance
their behaviour
bullying
We strongly recommend that you talk to someone at your child’s current school. It might be that any issues could be addressed without having to change schools. You may find the following web pages useful:
Headstart Kernow: Struggling in school
Health advice for children and young people
Travel assistance
Your entitlement to home to school travel assistance might change depending on where you are applying.
It could change even if you are not changing your address.
Information on transport can be found on the Home to School Travel Assistance pages.
Secondary-age students
Your child might not be able to continue studying the same subjects/option choices in a different school.
Their existing coursework might not be applicable to a different examining body.
Designated areas
Cornwall Council has divided Cornwall into areas called ‘designated areas’. You might also hear them called ‘catchment’ areas. These are each served by a specific school or schools.
Your designated school may not be the one nearest to your home address.
Some schools include living in the designated area as a priority in their oversubscription criteria. This is the criteria they will use to decide who should have a place.
Entitlement to transport to all schools will be decided by Cornwall Council based on whether or not:
your address is in the schools’ designated area; or
it is your nearest school
To find the designated school or schools for your address:
go to our admissions webpage; or
contact the School Admissions Team.
Home address
A child can only have one address which will be used in relation to
admission to school; and
travel assistance entitlement
The address should be the one where the child spends most of their time.
We may also need to ask you for evidence that the address you are applying from is your main residence. Evidence you provide could be, for example:
a copy of a recent Council Tax bill showing your name and the home address; or
a copy of your driving licence; or
a utility bill (gas, electricity, water) showing both your name and home address
If there is a disagreement between parents/carers about the home address, you should sort this out before applying. You may need to get legal advice. The Council or the admission authority will decide which address to use if you cannot agree.
When parents/carers disagree about changing schools
You should sort out any disagreement before submitting one application. We cannot become involved in parental disputes.
We must have regard to the views of all persons with parental responsibility in the absence of a court order.
We can only allocate one place for a child.
If you cannot reach an agreement, then you may need to seek mediation or apply to the court for an order.
Fraudulent applications
We sometimes find that people use false or misleading information to gain advantage in the admission process. This might be using a false address, for example. If we discover this, we might:
start an investigation which could lead to criminal proceedings
ask you to provide evidence to help with an investigation
share your information to help with preventing and detecting fraud
withdraw the offer of a school place
You must tell us immediately if your circumstances change.
Privacy Notice
Please visit the Privacy Notice page for information on how your data will be handled.