Moving from primary to secondary school
Children in P7 are allocated a place at a secondary school. This place is based on their catchment area if your child is
- at a City of Edinburgh Council primary school
- living in the City of Edinburgh Council area.
In early November 2022 we sent letters to all parents at of children in P7 to confirm the allocated high school, based on the address held on the school record.
About your child's high school place
The school we allocate is the same denomination as your child's primary school, so
- if your child attends a non-denominational primary school we allocate your catchment non-denominational high school
- if your child attends an RC primary school we allocate your catchment Roman Catholic (RC) high school
You can ask us to change the allocated catchment school if the other is your first preference.
Places at RC schools are not guaranteed, and we give priority to children who are baptised in the Roman Catholic faith. Where we cannot offer a place, most children are given a place in their non-denominational catchment school.
If you live outside the catchment area of your preferred school you need to make a placing request. You will only receive a place if one is available.
Section three of the Placing in Schools guide tells you more about the procedure for S1 places.
Section five of the Placing in Schools guide tells you more about how we allocate places in RC schools.
Download the Placing in Schools guide - PDF
Moving to a new address
If you are moving to a new address before 31 July 2023 you need to tell us.
Complete the Change of Address form as soon as you know your new address. You can fill in the form in advance of your move, provided you will be settled in your new address by 31 July 2023.
Please note that we cannot guarantee a place at one of your catchment schools if you apply after 24 December 2022. In these cases we may offer you the nearest school which has a place available.
Section nine of the Placing in Schools guide tells you more about moving address.
Download the Placing in Schools guide - PDF
Change your allocated catchment school
You can ask us to change your allocated catchment school if the other school is your preferred catchment school, i.e.
- request your Roman Catholic catchment school, if your child attends a non-denominational primary
- request your non-denominational catchment school, if your child attends a Roman Catholic primary.
Apply to change your allocated catchment school
Request a school outside your catchment area
If your preference is a school in a different catchment area, you can make a request for that school.
You can only make one placing request initially. If your request is turned down you can apply for an alternative school at that time.
If you request to change your catchment school AND make a placing request, the placing request will be treated as your first preference.
Section four of the Placing in Schools guide tells you more about the procedures for placing requests.
Download the Placing in Schools guide - PDF
Further reading
Read Choosing a School: A Guide for Parents on the Scottish Government website.
Download the School places FAQ for parents - PDF
Download our admissions policy - PDF
Download our admissions procedure - PDF
Download the school placements privacy notice - PDF
Contact us
Please use our contact form for any enquiries you have.
We receive a high volume of enquiries and we will get back to you as soon as we can.