Making a realistic application: examples of how the secondary transfer process works

The examples here highlight some of the issues you must consider when making your school preferences.

Consider how successful your application might be by checking the admission criteria and other information in the 'Secondary School Admissions Arrangements 2027' for each school you list on your preference form.

You can phone us on 0121 303 1888 to discuss your preferences. We will provide advice to help you make an informed decision.

See examples of how the secondary transfer process works.

James (unrealistic preferences)

The closest secondary school to James' home (School G) is the one where, based on previous admission patterns, James would have been offered a place in each of the last 3 years.

James' parents decide to apply to a secondary school (School A) further from their home because James' cousin attends there. The family also applied to other schools further from their home, hoping that James would be offered a place, rather than looking at each school's admissions criteria and previous admissions patterns. These would have indicated that it was unlikely James would be offered a place at any of his 6 preferences. This includes 2 Catholic schools.

Schools A, B, C and E give priority to children who live closest to the school after siblings of children already attending the school. Schools D and F are Catholic schools that give priority to children who are baptised, practising Catholics and who attend a Catholic feeder primary school.

The preferences submitted for James were:

1. School A
2. School B
3. School C
4. Catholic School D
5. School E
6. Catholic School F

James was not offered a place at any of the family's preferred schools.

James was not offered a place at Schools A, B, C and E as they were all filled with children who lived closer to the schools than James. The fact that James’ cousin attends School A did not give him priority, as cousins are not part of the school's oversubscription criteria.

James was not offered a place at School D or School F as he is not a baptised, practising Catholic and does not attend a Catholic feeder primary school. Both schools were filled with children who met one of these criteria.

As none of the preferences submitted for him could be met, James was offered a place at one of the nearest schools to his home, with places available at the time of the offer (School H). This school is 2,500 metres from his home.

James was not offered a place at School G (500m from the family's home address) as the family did not list it as one of their preferences. It offered all its places to children whose parents ranked it among their 6 preferences. James would have been offered a place at School G if the family had listed it as one of their preferences.

Layla (realistic preferences)

Layla lives close to 2 secondary schools (Schools A and C) and would have been offered a place there for the last 3 years. Her parents know they live a long way from School B, but they want to see if they will be offered a place there.

Layla's parents would really like her to attend a Birmingham grammar school, but they think they should rank other schools higher in case she does not achieve a high enough score to be offered a place at one.

Layla's parents submit their application as soon as the application process opens, before receiving the results of Birmingham Grammar School's selective test, because they think they are more likely to be offered one of their preferences if they apply sooner.

Their preferences are:

1. School A
2. School B
3. School C
4. Birmingham Grammar School D
5. Birmingham Grammar School E
6. Birmingham Grammar School F

Layla lives too far from School B to be offered a place there. She qualifies for places at the 2 secondary schools closest to the family's home (School A and School C).

Layla achieved a high enough score in the tests to be offered a place at Birmingham Grammar School D, and lives in the catchment area, which is part of that grammar school's oversubscription criteria.

She did not meet the criteria for Birmingham Grammar Schools E and F. Even though she scored well on the selective test, she does not live in their catchment area.

Layla is offered a place at School A, the highest-ranked school for which she met the admission criteria.

If the family wanted Layla to attend a Birmingham grammar school, they should have submitted their application after receiving the test results and listed the Birmingham grammar schools at the top of their application.

Grace (realisitic preferences)

Grace lives close to 3 secondary schools (Schools D, E and F). Her brother attends School C. Her parents have also applied for Grace to sit the selective test for the Birmingham grammar schools and would prefer her to attend a Birmingham grammar school rather than the school with her brother if she scores highly enough.

Grace's parents wait until they have received her grammar school test results for the Birmingham grammar schools before submitting their preferences for her, as these results are available before the application deadline.

Their preferences are:

1. Birmingham Grammar School A
2. Birmingham Grammar School B
3. School C
4. School D
5. School E
6. School F

Grace achieved a high enough score in the Birmingham Grammar School's selective test to be offered a place at Birmingham Grammar School A, and lives in the school's catchment area. She also scored well enough to be offered a place at Birmingham Grammar School B, which does not have a catchment area.

Grace qualified for a place at Schools C, D, E and F because she has a sibling at School C and lives close enough to Schools D, E, and F to be offered a place under the distance criterion.

Because Grace met the admission criteria for all 6 preferences, she is offered a place at the school the family ranked highest, Birmingham Grammar School A.

Ismael (realisitic preferences)

Ismael lives 155 metres from his local secondary school (School F), but his parents would prefer him to attend another school if possible. Ismael's parents would like him to attend a Catholic secondary school (School A) as he currently attends a Catholic primary school, but he is not a baptised, practising Catholic. The other schools the family listed on their application are far away from the family's home, but the family hope Ismael will be offered a place there. The family used their last preference for School F as it is very close to their home, and Ismael would have been offered a place there for the last 3 years. The family know that Ismael will only be offered a place at School F if he does not meet the admission criteria for any of their other preferences.

Their preferences are:

1. Catholic School A
2. School B
3. School C
4. School D
5. School E
6. School F

Catholic School A fills its places with children who are baptised, practising Catholics, so Ismael is not offered a place there. He lives too far from Schools B, C, D and E to qualify for a place.

As none of the family's first 5 preferences could be offered, Ismael was offered a place at School F, where he met the admission criteria because he lives close to the school.

If the family had not listed School F as a preference, Ismael would have been offered a place at one of the nearest schools available with places. This school would have been much further from the family's home than School F.

Page last updated: 8 September 2026