For many families, a school decides which Surrey town they settle in. The system is more logical than its reputation suggests, but it rewards reading the small print. This guide covers how the county scheme works, what a catchment really is, why Surrey has no state grammar schools, and where independent schools fit.
One scheme, several decision makers
Surrey County Council runs a coordinated scheme for primary and secondary admissions. You make one application through your home authority, and it uses an equal preference system, as every English local authority does. Parents living in Surrey can name schools in other authorities on Surrey's form. Parents living outside the county must apply to a Surrey school through their own authority's form.
Who sets the rules depends on the school. The council is the admission authority for community and voluntary controlled schools. Academies, foundation, trust and voluntary aided schools set their own criteria, published on each school's website. Faith schools often use their own forms as well, so read the school's page before assuming the county form covers everything.
Secondary applicants can rank up to six schools, and primary applicants up to four, under Surrey's published arrangements. If your child qualifies for more than one, they are given the highest ranked school on your form and the other offers fall away. Ranking honestly is the sensible approach: a lower preference never counts against a higher one.
Two routes sit alongside the main round: children with an education, health and care plan naming a school are allocated places first, and in-year or late applications are handled separately by the council. The county publishes the exact opening and closing dates for each round, and they are worth putting in the diary well ahead. Secondary applications are made in Year 6 for the following Year 7, and primary applications are made in the year before a child starts Reception, or before junior school.
What a catchment really means
There is no countywide map. A catchment in Surrey belongs to an individual school, and each school's rules differ. When a community or voluntary controlled school has more applicants than places, the council ranks them in a set order. Looked after and previously looked after children come first. A typical secondary pattern then runs through siblings, children of staff and catchment, before everyone else.
The detail is where families get caught out. At Heathside in Weybridge, for example, one criterion covers siblings whose home address is within the catchment and another covers children living in the catchment. At Hinchley Wood, siblings count when they live at the same address and the older child is in Years 7 to 11, not the sixth form. Two similar looking schools can treat the same family very differently.
Distance usually decides the final places. The council's secondary schools booklet records the last distance offered at each school the previous year, and the range is wide: 3.286km at one school, 6.160km at another. Some schools measure from a nodal point rather than the school gate, and one school's allocation figures split a single criterion into two parts, one measured each way. If two children live exactly the same distance away, the council uses a computer generated number to settle it. The address that counts is the one you hold at the closing date, so renting or buying for a school needs planning in advance.
The Good Schools Guide describes Surrey's state secondaries as very oversubscribed, and says a sibling, a catchment address or a partner primary will generally help but guarantees nothing. Last year's distances are a guide, not a promise.
Waiting lists and appeals
At community and voluntary controlled schools, waiting lists run to the last day of the summer term. Families who want to stay on the list into the next school year must submit a Continuing Interest form over the summer. Late primary applications go to the council, and in-year applications at many schools go through its centrally managed form.
Appeals are worth understanding before you need one. The council's appeals guidance says that in 2024/25 fewer than 1% of infant class size appeals succeeded, and fewer than 10% of all other appeals. On time appeals are heard within 40 school days. For 2026, the secondary offer day for community and voluntary controlled schools was 2 March, appeals had to be lodged by 13 April and hearings finished by 16 June. Other schools may run different timetables.
For context, nationally in 2025, 83.5% of families received their first choice secondary and 94.9% a top three choice. At primary the figures were 92.6% and 98.3%.
The grammar question
Surrey's state schools are comprehensive. The Good Schools Guide notes that they are all mixed except two single sex schools in Epsom, which is a matter of gender, not selection. Cognito, a tutoring company, says there are no state grammar schools within the historic county and that the council ended selection in the 1970s.
The names cause confusion. Royal Grammar School Guildford and Reigate Grammar School are both fee paying independent schools, even though Get Surrey has described them as the county's remaining grammar schools. Families wanting a selective state school look over the border: Kingston and Sutton both have grammar schools, and Sutton's use the Selective Eligibility Test. Out of county applications still go through your home authority's form, while 11 plus registration is run by the schools or their consortium, so check their own dates early.
Independent schools
Surrey has one of the densest concentrations of independent secondary schools in the country, according to Cognito. It puts senior day fees at roughly £8,000 to £11,500 a term, and full boarding at larger schools at roughly £18,000 to £20,000 a term. Atom Learning lists 2025/26 fees of £8,790 a term at Royal Grammar School Guildford and £9,265 to £9,515 at Reigate Grammar School. Treat these as a guide and confirm them with the school, as extras are not included and VAT now applies.
Many independents offer means tested bursaries. Each sets its own entrance process and timetable, usually including entrance exams, so start with the admissions page of every school on your list.
A sensible order of play
Read the council's current secondary application guidance and note the live dates.
Check each school's own criteria, not just the county summary.
Compare last year's distances in the booklet with your address.
Rank all your preferences honestly.
Treat independent and out of county options as separate applications with their own deadlines.
