83.5% of Brighton families got their first-choice secondary school this year, up from 79.7%. Applications for September 2027 close on 31 October 2026.

Applications for a Brighton & Hove secondary school place in September 2027 close on Saturday 31 October, and the city’s rules on who gets in have changed enough to be worth reading before you fill the form in. Offers land on National Offer Day, 1 March 2027. Families can name up to four schools in order of preference.

The council says 83.5% of families received an offer for their first preference school in 2026, up from 79.7% the year before. On offer day itself in March, the council put the figure at 83% (Brighton & Hove City Council, 2 March 2026).

Bar chart comparing the share of Brighton and Hove families offered their first preference secondary school: 79.7 per cent for September 2025 entry and 83.5 per cent for September 2026 entry.
Chart by The Brighton Times
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Two rules that decide places here and almost nowhere else

Brighton & Hove runs two admissions priorities that most English councils do not.

Free school meals priority. The council was one of the first in the country to give children eligible for targeted free school meals priority for secondary places, up to the city average. The admissions guide for 2027 to 2028 states plainly: “The city average will be taken as 30%”. The number of places at each school under that priority is 30% of the school’s published admission number, minus the places already given under the higher priorities.

Open admissions. Some catchment areas in the city contain two community secondary schools and some contain only one. To even that up, up to 5% of places at each community secondary are reserved for children living in one of the four single-school catchments: BACA, PACA, Patcham or Longhill. A school with an admission number of 300 would set aside 15 places. It does not apply to Patcham catchment children applying to Patcham High, or Longhill catchment children applying to Longhill.

In March the council reported that the first year of those rules produced 49 pupils offered places through open admissions and 51 through the free school meals priority.

Catchment boundaries moved last year

The guide confirms the change in the east of the city, between Longhill and the Dorothy Stringer and Varndean pair:

  • the BN2 5 north area, above Manor Way and Manor Hill, is now in the Varndean and Dorothy Stringer catchment
  • the BN2 1 and BN2 5 south Kemptown area has moved into the Longhill catchment

If you last looked at catchments when an older child applied, check yours again before 31 October.

The award, and what it is worth

The council has also been given the Sutton Trust’s Fair School Admissions Gold Award for a second consecutive year, the highest level the charity gives to councils, trusts and schools that change admissions policies to widen access (Brighton & Hove City Council, 16 September 2026).

The award scheme is young and small. The Sutton Trust says that since it launched in March 2024, 118 schools have joined and 108 awards have been granted across all three levels.

Councillor Jacob Taylor, deputy leader of the council, said: “Following the changes to our secondary school admission arrangements, 83.5% of families received an offer for their first preference school in 2026, an increase on last year, when 79.7% of families were offered their first preference.”

He added: “We’ve also recently seen a changing picture of preferences, with many families within the city’s central dual-catchment areas choosing BACA, Longhill, Patcham and PACA as a first preference.”

What it means for you

  • The deadline is 31 October 2026. You can change your application right up to the closing date. Late applications are dealt with after the on-time ones, which is the single most expensive mistake a family can make.
  • Name four schools, not one. You express preferences for up to four. Listing only your favourite does not improve your odds of getting it; it removes your fallbacks.
  • Check whether your child is eligible for free school meals before you apply. Eligibility is what triggers the priority, and the council checks it against its own records or Department for Education data.
  • Check your catchment, especially anywhere in BN2 1 and BN2 5. The boundaries moved.
  • Offer day is 1 March 2027, by email if you applied online.
  • Applications go through the council’s own admissions pages, linked from the secondary admissions guide.

For other practical Brighton information, see our pages on council tax bands and bin collection days.

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