Applying for a place in a West Lothian Council Secondary School

When can I apply?

You can apply for an S1 school place from November for the following August intake.  Parents/carers of children attending a Primary 7 class in West Lothian and who reside in the authority will receive a letter in November advising applications are now being accepted and prompting them to apply.

Deadline

We encourage applications to be submitted by 31 December. 

Final deadline 15 March - applications received after this date will be considered, however places may be more limited.

What will I need to apply?

• If you've moved home recently, please provide some proof of your new address, such as a recent Council Tax bill, a recent utility bill or a copy of a Child Benefit award letter sent recently to you at your new address.

• If your child has not previously attended a West Lothian Council school, please provide a copy of your child's birth certificate.

• If you're applying for a place in a denominational school, and your child has been baptised into the Roman Catholic faith, please provide a copy of your child's baptism certificate, if you've not already provided a copy with your child's P1 placement application.

Admission Policy and Procedure

Before starting to complete an application form please read the Secondary School Admission - Policy and Procedure carefully. 

What are my catchment schools?

All the denominational schools in West Lothian are Roman Catholic. Each home address has both a denominational and non-denominational school assigned.  Use our school catchment areas lookup app to find the catchment schools for your address. 

How do I apply?

1. The easiest way to apply is to use the Secondary School Application online form. 
   
    
2. Alternatively, if you would prefer to complete a paper form, application packs are available from Pupil Placement, from West Lothian Council secondary schools and from Council Information offices.

What happens to my application?

We will acknowledge receipt of your application within 4 weeks of submission.  We will send you another letter after 15 March, to tell you whether your application has been successful, or whether further consideration of your application is required as the school is over subscribed.  You will be given the opportunity to give us any information that you think should be taken into account.

Decisions for oversubscribed schools are made by the School Placement Panel.  Decision letters for all schools will be sent by the end of April.  If your application is refused, we would usually allocate a place at another school and inform you of your right to appeal against the refusal.

Admission Policy and Procedure

Before starting to complete an application form please read the Secondary School Admission - Policy and Procedure carefully. 

What are my catchment schools?

All the denominational schools in West Lothian are Roman Catholic.  Each home address has both a denominational and non-denominational school assigned.  Use our school catchment areas lookup app to find the catchment schools for your address. 

How do I apply?

1. The easiest way to apply is to use the Secondary School Application online form and we will send a copy of the application to the Head Teacher. 
    
2. Alternatively if you would prefer to complete a paper form, application packs are available from Pupil Placement, from West Lothian Council secondary schools and from Council Information offices.

What happens to my application?

Head Teachers have responsibility for deciding these applications. 

If applying for the current school year -applications will be passed to the school Head Teacher, who has 2 months to inform you of the decision, however most applications will be decided much more quickly. 

If applying for the next school year - you can apply from mid-May in the current school year and a decision will be issued from 2 weeks prior to the end of the current school year.

If applying for the next school year, in the summer holidays - Pupil Placement will acknowledge receipt of your application. The Head Teacher will consider your application on their return from the summer holidays and issue a decision as soon as possible at the start of the new school year.

If you have any issues or queries please contact the Head Teacher of your preferred school or Pupil Placement during school holidays.

For any child with additional support needs who already reside within the authority and parents are concerned about how their child will cope with the transition to secondary school, or are not sure that mainstream secondary education is suitable for their child.  Please speak to the Headteacher of your mainstream catchment primary school (or if your child already attends a West Lothian School) the Headteacher of the school your child attends, who will be able to advise about or start this process. 

For any child with additional support needs moving into the authority parents are advised to enrol their child within the catchment mainstream school in order to facilitate planning.

Presumption to provide education in a mainstream setting: guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The school will convene a Child's Planning Meeting to complete an Assessment of Wellbeing and Child's Plan.   Parent(s) and relevant professionals from the previous school setting along with the catchment school's Education Psychologist will be invited to attend the planning meeting and to contribute to the plan.

In line with the council's Continuum of Support the majority of children will then begin to attend and their needs will be met within the routine planning frameworks.

If the level of need identifies that there requires to be consideration given by the council's Education Placement Group (EPG) for specialist provision the Assessment of Wellbeing and Child's Plan will be submitted by the school to the Education Placement Group.

Independent Schools

If you are considering sending your child to an independent school you can get information from the Scottish Council for Independent Schools (SCIS) at - scis.org.uk (opens new window)  |  0131 5562316

Home Education

For more information on home education, please see the  page.

Education Scotland
Address:  Denholm house, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston, EH54 6GA 
Website:  education.gov.scot/parentzone (opens new window) |  Email:  enquiries@educationscotland.gov.scot (opens new window)  |  Tel: 0131 2444330

The Scottish Government
Address:  St Andrew's House, Regent Road, Edinburgh, EH1 3DG
Website:  gov.scot (opens new window) |  Email: ceu@gov.scot (opens new window) |  Tel: 0300 2444000

Education Customer Support Team (Pupil Placement)

Email:  pupilplacement@westlothian.gov.uk (opens new window)  Please include child's name and date of birth.

Tel: 01506 280000