With the summer holidays behind us, Wrexham’s school admissions team are now opening their on-line portal so that parents can apply for their children’s school place.
If you have a child who will have their 3rd, 4th or 11th birthday between September 1, 2025, and August 31, 2026, here are some very important dates for your diary.
Secondary
If your child is turning 11 this academic year and has just moved into Year 6, you can now apply for their secondary school place for next year.
Applications open: September 1, 2025. Closing date: November 3, 2025
Our secondary schools will be holding their open evenings in the coming weeks, which can be a great opportunity for parents, guardians and children to visit schools to get an idea of what they are like. Open Evening details can be found in the council’s website.
Reception
If your child is turning 4 this academic year, including those who are just starting nursery, it’s almost time to apply for their full-time school place for next year. Moving into reception from nursery is not automatic, you need to make a separate application.
Applications open: September 22, 2025. Closing date: November 17, 2025.
Education for 3 year olds
If your child is turning 3 this academic year, there are a few phases of education that you might be able to apply for.
Nursery
All children who reach their third birthday before August 31 are eligible to apply for a school nursery place.
Applications open: January 6, 2026. Closing date: February 16, 2026.
Funded early education
Children who have their 3rd birthday between September 1 and December 31 can apply for the January intake of funded early education. Applications open: September 1, 2025. Closing date: October 24, 2025.
Children who have their 3rd birthday between January 1 and March 31 can apply for the April intake of Funded early education. Applications open: November 3, 2025. Closing date: December 19, 2025.
Funded early education is available in several schools and registered nurseries. A full list of providers is listed on the website.
If your child is eligible for funded early education, you should make two applications – funded early education AND nursery.
How to apply
Every phase of education requires a new, separate application, and each year the available places are allocated in line with our admissions policy.
You can find more information about the admissions phases on the council’s website.
Cllr Phil Wynn, lead member for education, said: “This is the time of year when parents and guardians will start looking at options for their children as they prepare for the next phase of their education journey. We want to make sure the process is as smooth and easy as possible. The best way is to apply through the online portal on our website. This way, parents will receive an emailed confirmation that the admissions team have received your application, can track the status of their application, and on national offer day will be able to see the outcome of their application on the portal.”
For more information or if you need to apply in an alternative format, please contact the admissions team at admissions@wrexham.gov.uk.
Don’t leave it too late to apply!
Applications made after the closing date will be accepted, but we must give priority to on-time applications. Late applications are considered only after places have been given to all on-time applications. This means that an on-time applicant who lives a considerable distance from a school could be given a school place above a late applicant who lives nearby.
It is very important to submit your application before the closing date to give yourself the best chance of being offered your preferred school.
Applying to a different county
If you live in a different county but wish to apply for a school in Wrexham, or if you live in Wrexham but wish to apply for a school elsewhere, please read the information on our website carefully to check where you should make your application.
We have a data sharing agreement with several of our neighbouring authorities, and in most instances you should apply to the Local Authority where you live and list all your preference schools on that one application. The school admissions teams in each authority do talk to each other through our cross-border arrangements, so there is no need to make duplicate applications between Wrexham, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Shropshire at secondary phase, or between Wrexham, Denbighshire and Flintshire at primary phase.
