When to start looking and how to build an admissions calendar

You do not need to decide on a school the moment a move becomes possible. You do need to find out whether a registration deadline could remove an option before you have had time to consider it.

Our recommendation is to start researching when the move becomes a realistic possibility. As soon as you know the likely location and entry year, check the official admissions pages of a few plausible schools. Use their dates to decide how quickly to proceed. There is no single timetable that works for every European school.

Separate the dates before making a plan

An application can involve several deadlines. Do not put only the first day of term in your calendar.

• Registration: the last date to express interest formally or submit an initial form. Registration may carry a fee and does not necessarily mean the school has assessed the child.
• Application file: the date by which reports, references, language information, and other requested documents must arrive.
• Assessment: the test or interview date, including any booking deadline. Ask whether the child must attend in person.
• Financial assistance: the deadline for a bursary or other funding application. Check this separately from the ordinary application.
• Acceptance: the date by which an offer must be accepted and any deposit paid. Read the contract before paying.
• Starting school: the agreed first day, plus induction, travel, or boarding arrival arrangements.

Some schools combine these steps. Others separate them by months or years. Ask which stage you are entering and what happens next.

Three examples of why a generic calendar can mislead

An early registration rule: Eton

For ordinary 13+ entry, Eton says that registration closes at the end of UK Year 5, on 31 August. That is much earlier than the year of entry. Its scholarship and Sixth Form routes have different arrangements. Check the official entry page for the route that applies to your child; do not use this example as a deadline for other British schools.

Different entry points at one school: Sevenoaks

Sevenoaks publishes separate application information for 11+, 13+, and 16+. Its admissions overview also distinguishes day-only entry at 11+ from day and boarding entry at 13+ and 16+. The practical lesson is to identify the child’s entry point and boarding requirement before copying dates.

Eligibility before preference: the European Schools

The European Schools distinguish admissions categories with different rights, conditions, and fees. Category III admission is subject to available places; school-specific rules can impose further limits. Start with the official category definitions. For Brussels, use the central enrolment service and the policy for the relevant school year. An attractive campus is not evidence that your child is eligible for a place there.

What to check in your destination

The country guide is a starting point for understanding the system. The responsible school or admissions authority supplies the current dates.

• United Kingdom: identify the entry age and whether you need day or boarding provision. Check registration, assessments, scholarships, and bursaries separately.
• Switzerland and other boarding destinations: ask whether an academic place and a boarding place are confirmed together. Check arrival dates, holiday closure arrangements, and any required residential assessment or visit.
• France: distinguish the school’s own application from any public-sector allocation or international-section selection that applies. Ask for the exact French year-group name rather than translating an English year number yourself.
• Germany, Austria, and the Nordic countries: check the relevant regional or municipal process as well as the individual school’s policy. Do not assume that a private, publicly funded independent, and international school use the same admissions procedure.
• Spain, Italy, and Portugal: establish whether you are applying through a public or publicly funded process, or directly to a fee-paying school. Confirm the language and year-group requirements before paying an application fee.
• Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg: identify the curriculum, admissions authority, and any eligibility category first. A school described as “international” is not necessarily privately funded or open to every applicant.
• Ireland: read the school’s admissions policy and the notice for the entry year you want. Ask which process applies to entry into First Year and which applies to a transfer into another year.

These are research questions, not national deadlines. Our country guides explain the distinctions in more detail.

If the school says “rolling admissions”

Ask what the phrase means in practice. Is the school accepting applications now, assessing them now, or offering places now? Those are different answers.

Then ask about your child’s specific year group, language needs, and support requirements. A school may accept an application without being able to offer a suitable place. If there is a waiting list, ask how it operates and whether the school can explain your next decision point. Do not treat a submitted form or a paid registration fee as a confirmed place.

For a sibling application, check each child separately. Before accepting an offer for one, decide what you will do if the other child does not receive a place.

If the move is sudden or a deadline has passed

Contact the admissions office with a short, specific enquiry. Give the child’s date of birth, current year group and curriculum, languages, intended starting date, and any support that the receiving school needs to assess. Explain the relocation date if it is fixed.

Ask whether the published deadline is final for your route, whether late or mid-year applications are considered, and when the school can give a useful answer. A late enquiry may be worth making, but it is not a reason to assume that a place will appear.

Request the school’s secure method for submitting reports or sensitive support information. Meanwhile, investigate a realistic alternative with the local admissions authority or another suitable school. Avoid making housing or withdrawal commitments that depend on an unconfirmed place.

The mid-year moving guide covers curriculum continuity and the handover between schools.

Keep one working calendar

For each shortlisted school, record the entry year, the relevant admissions page, the date you checked it, and the next action. Add the documents needed, the person responsible, any non-refundable payment, and the offer-acceptance deadline.

Use the school’s own age cut-off date. A date used in one country or school is not automatically the right reference point elsewhere.

Finally, schedule a point at which you will compare the answers and stop adding schools unless a real gap remains. Good preparation should make the decision easier, not keep your family researching indefinitely.

Friendly orientation, not formal admissions advice. Always confirm dates with the school.