St Wilfrid's is a two-form entry Catholic primary school in Burgess Hill, West Sussex and part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton.

 Our governing body is the admissions authority and has responsibility for admissions to this school, including setting the priority of admissions when the school is oversubscribed. The local authority undertakes the co-ordination of admission arrangements during the normal admission round. 

Although Catholic children have priority of admission, the school welcomes applications from those of other denominations and faiths, or of none.   

 Applications can be made for children starting school or for in year admissions (for example if you have moved to the area or would like your child to move schools).  

1. Complete in-year Admission Forms 

To apply for an in-year place during the academic year for your child into Year R to 6, please complete both our In-Year Application Form 

and Supplementary Information Form and return both directly to the school either by emailing office@stwilfridsbh.org.uk
or paper copies to the school office. 

There is no need to apply to the local authority in the case of in-year admissions. 

2. Submit your evidence

 Please provide a copy of a utility bill or bank statement to verify your child’s address as main place of residence.

If your child is Catholic, we also require a copy of their baptismal certificate.

In the case of other faiths, a baptismal certificate and a letter of support from your faith leader should be provided.

3. Wait for your offer

We aim to process applications within 10 schools days of receipt. 

We will either offer the place or confirm in writing if your child has been added to our waiting list. Waiting lists are ranked according to our admission criteria (please see admissions policy). Your child’s position on a waiting list may go down as well as up, for example, if other children with greater priority according to the school’s admission criteria are added to the list. 

You must respond to any offer of a place within ten school days.  

You have the right to appeal if your child’s application is not accepted. 

4. Stay in touch

 We will contact you if and when a place becomes available for your child at St Wilfrid’s.

Your child will remain on our waiting list for the academic year in which you applied. After such time your child will be removed from the waiting list. If you wish to remain on the waiting list for the following school year, you must reapply.

We are unable to hold places and if a child is offered a place they are expected to commence within ten days of the offer.

1. Apply directly to WSCC

Please complete West Sussex County Council's Common Application Form (CAF) online between October and January when your child is approaching school starting age. All applications must be made to West Sussex County Council. 

Most children start school full-time in the September after their fourth birthday. This means they’ll turn 5 during their first school year.

Late applications are only considered after all offers to those who applied on time have been made.

2. Complete our Supplementary Information Form

 In addition to the WSCC CAF please complete our Governors’ Supplementary Information Form (SIF) for 2025-2026 so that we can categorise your application in accordance with our admissions policy.

Whilst this form is not compulsory, if not submitted, the Governors can only consider your application within the last criterion of our admissions policy.  If you do not complete the SIF and return it to the school with all supporting documents by the closing date this is likely to affect your child’s chance of being offered a place. The completed SIF, together with all supporting documents, should be returned to the school by hand, post or email before the closing date. 

3. Wait for your offer. 

The local authority are responsible for making offers for places at schools in West Sussex. 

Depending on how you completed the Common Application Form (CAF) in step 1, West Sussex County Council will contact you by email or by post to inform you of which school your child has been allocated a place at. WSCC will inform parents on 16th April (if this date falls on a weekend they will inform you on the next working day).

4. Accept or appeal

If you wish to accept the offer made by the local authority, you do not need to do anything; the school at which your child has been given a place write to you to confirm details for starting school later in the year.

However, if you are unhappy with the decision made by the local authority, please refer to West Sussex County Council's appeals process.