What supporting evidence you need to provide when you apply for primary schools

The deadline for applying for a primary school place to start school in September 2023 is 15 January 2023.

Who this information is for

This information is for people who live in the borough of Lewisham.

Parental responsibility

The person completing the application must be the child’s parent (including adoptive parents) or the person with legal parental responsibility. We cannot accept applications from a grandparent or other family member unless they have legal parental responsibility.

Proof of parental responsibility

As the parent/carer, you must provide:

• one document confirming your address (Section A)
• one document confirming the child's date of birth (Section B)

Section A

You must provide one of the following documents to confirm your address: 

• Council Tax statement or letter
• tenancy agreement or solicitor's letter
• letter from the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) or UK Border Authority (UKBA)
• a letter from any other local or national housing organisation (on headed paper)

Section B

You must provide one of the following documents to confirm the child's date of birth:

• passport
• EU national identity card
• any other legal document with your child's name and date of birth on it

All documents must be current.

If you are not the child’s parent

If you are applying for a school place but are not the child’s parent, you need to include a letter explaining what your relationship is to the child and why you are applying instead of the parent. You must also provide a legal document to prove you have parental responsibility.

If you cannot provide any of these documents, please contact us for advice. 

Giving a false address

Sometimes parents rent a property close to a popular school or apply from a relative’s address to increase the likelihood of their child gaining admission. If you give a false address and we make an offer on the basis of fraudulent information, we will withdraw the offer of a place. 

If you have moved home recently

If you moved house within the six months before applying, you need to confirm that your home address is permanent, rather than temporary. To do this, you need to submit one of the following:

• closing accounts for your previous property

• official confirmation of the end of tenancy, or house sale, for the previous property

• tenancy agreement from a commercial letting agency for a period of 12 months or more (the period of the tenancy must extend beyond the start of the academic year in which the child is due to be admitted) or a solicitor’s confirmation of the completion of the purchase of the new property

Until you have surrendered the tenancy or ownership of the original property, we will not usually accept your new address as your permanent home address.

Children whose parents don’t live together

We know that some parents share the care of their child. We will normally accept that the child lives with the parent who makes the application and is able to provide documentary evidence of the child’s main domiciliary address, ie who the child lives with on school days.

You need to provide evidence of this as it may affect your child’s application.

Applications for children in public care, or for a medical or social need

If the child is in public care, or you are applying on medical or social grounds, you should make this clear. You need to provide the necessary professional supporting documents so we can consider your application under the correct admissions criteria. 

Children in public care

If you are applying for school places for a looked-after child, you need to submit a letter from an allocated social worker or foster carer.

Medical or social need

In exceptional circumstances, we can admit a child to a school where they would not normally qualify for a place on the grounds of their, or their family’s, severe medical or social need.

When you apply, you must complete the request for medical/social priority form at the bottom of this page, and also include a letter explaining why the school is the only one to meet the child’s needs. The letter should be written by a:

• a hospital consultant

• social worker

• similar professional

We will make a decision about admission in consultation with a panel of teaching and medical professionals. The medical professional gives advice about applications made for medical reasons, and teaching professionals advise on applications made for social or special reasons.

If your child has a severe medical or social need please email us for further details.