Moving from the US to England: Registering for a State School Place
Moving from the US to England and planning to use a state school? In the US, you turn up at your zoned school with the paperwork. In England you apply to the local council (the equivalent of a US school district) and wait for an offer, and understanding that difference early saves a great deal of anxiety.
The American public school system is built around residence: your address is assigned to a home school, and in most places a spot there is yours by right. There are variations, of course, in some of the larger urban areas, but for the most part, residence and home school are clearly connected. The English state system is built around application. Even where a child lives next door to a school, a place there cannot be assumed.
The council, not the school
The English equivalent of a school district is the local authority, which families usually call the council. Every council runs a school admissions service with its own website, application forms and contact details, and for most state schools, it is the council that allocates places. Some schools, including academies and faith schools, are their own admission authority and set their own criteria, but even then, the council coordinates the process, so it is the place to start.
The normal round, and arriving in-year
There are two fixed admission rounds in England. For Reception, families apply by 15 January and receive offers on 16 April. For the move to secondary school in Year 7, families apply by 31 October and receive offers on 1 March. Both are for a September start, and both are coordinated nationally.
Most relocating families arrive outside those windows, and their application is called an in-year application. At the time of writing, the School Admissions Code requires the admission authority to aim for a decision within ten school days and to notify you in writing within fifteen. That is a real and useful protection, but note that it counts school days, so an application made in late July may not be answered until September. It is also worth knowing that a council cannot offer a place before you have an address, so the school search and the housing search need to run together rather than in sequence.
Choosing and ranking schools
The application asks you to list schools in order of preference, typically between three and six depending on the council. Every preference is considered on equal terms, so ranking a popular school first does not reduce your chance at your second choice. Where a school is oversubscribed, places are allocated by published criteria, which usually favour children with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school, children in care, siblings already at the school, and then distance from home to school. Faith schools may add criteria of their own.
If none of your preferred schools has a place, the council will offer the nearest school that does. If that is not one you want, you may appeal, and you can ask to be placed on the waiting list of any school you prefer; the council must keep your appeal open until at least the end of the autumn term.
What a council will ask for
Have the following ready before you apply, and expect the council to want originals or certified copies: proof of your address, which is usually a signed tenancy agreement or completed purchase plus a recent council tax bill or utility bill; your child’s birth certificate or passport; and evidence of the date you took up residence.
Faith schools commonly require a supplementary information form. Catholic schools, for example, will usually ask for a baptismal certificate and a reference from your parish priest. If your child has special education needs (SEND, in English usage), make sure that you have a folder of your child’s testing and records; the English framework is different from the American IEP, and our Special Education Needs consultants review the documentation families arrive with so that it can be presented in the form an English school will recognise.
Reading a school before you choose
England publishes a great deal about its schools. Ofsted, the inspecting agency, has recently changed the way it reports, and since November 2025, inspections produce a report card that grades a school across a set of evaluation areas on a five-point scale and includes a short, narrative summary. Reports are free to read on the Ofsted website, and the Department for Education publishes performance data alongside. Neither is a substitute for a visit to a school, or for speaking with a professional who knows schools, but together they let a family arriving from abroad build a shortlist with real information rather than reputation.
Planning a Move to England?
For the shape of the system you are applying into, see how the school system is structured and how the curriculum compares. Families arriving in London, specifically, will also want to read our piece on things to consider when looking for the right school there.
Elizabeth Sawyer is the CEO of Bennett International Education Consultancy. She acquired the company in 2009 and has grown it into a global practice of more than 70 consultants, expanding its reach with the acquisition of School Choice International in 2018. Elizabeth spent the first twelve years of her life overseas, moving through five different education systems between Ireland and New York, and went on to teach English, French and Spanish at private high schools in the US for fifteen years. That combination of firsthand experience as a relocating child and a career in the classroom shapes how Bennett works with families, and with the corporate and RMC teams supporting them.
Bennett International Education Consultancy works directly with hundreds of families each year across the globe. We support families by helping them make informed decisions about the best-fit schools for their children; with our guidance, they secure placement in preschools, private day schools, public/state schools, boarding schools, colleges and universities, including schools with particular programmes, such as special needs support.
