Admissions
Here you will find all the information you need to apply for a place at our school.
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Here you will find all the information you need to apply for a place at our school.
Lift Schools is the admissions authority for our school. Applications for places will be made in accordance with the local authority’s coordinated admission arrangements. These should be submitted using the Common Application Form and will be administered by the applicant’s home local authority.
Lift Schools Admissions Guidance is available here.
The secondary school admission round for Year 7 places opens in September each year, with a statutory national closing date on 31st October. Late applications may affect a child’s chances of securing a place.
Applications can be made online via your local authority’s admissions website. Please note that some local authorities do not send letters to parents about making an application, so we recommend checking their website for full details.
Our Open Evening for prospective students and their families takes place in early October. We encourage everyone to attend, but if you are unable to do so, we may be able to offer alternative tour dates. Please contact us to arrange a visit.
National Offer Day, when school places are confirmed, falls in March. Any objections to the determined admission arrangements should be submitted to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA).
For further information on our annual admissions arrangements, please refer to the links below:
If you would like your child to attend our school:
1. Talk to your local authority’s Special Educational Needs (SEN) team. They will assess your child and provide you with an Educational Health Care Plan (ECHP); these have replaced ‘Statements’. The contact details for the SEN team will be on the education section of the council’s website.
2. Contact the school to arrange an informal visit; you do not have to bring your child at this point. We will be happy to answer your questions as we show you around.
3. If you like what you see, you can let your local authority know that you have been to look around and would like your child to be referred here. You will however then have to wait for your child’s Education Health and Care Plan which will tell you whether your local authority thinks a special school would provide the best education for your child. If this is so, they may agree to your child coming here and would then send us a referral letter and papers for us to consider.
4. If your child is Nursery age we can accept them before they have an EHC plan. The SEN team would write a short report outlining your child’s difficulties and ask for an Assessment place. If the local authority thinks that our school is the best place for your child, they would send us a referral letter and papers for us to consider.
5. We would then consider your child’s referral along with others we may have, in terms of age, educational needs and resource requirements matching them to the places we have available.
6. If on paper it looks as if we can meet your child’s needs, we will invite you and your child in for a visit to the school. This visit is important. It gives us an opportunity to meet your child and find out more about them. It also gives us an opportunity to see whether as a school we can provide the things your child needs.
7. If we have spaces and the resources we need, we will let the local authority know. If we don’t have spaces we will let them know too and ask if they would like us to put your child’s name on our waiting list until a space becomes available.
8. Your local authority will formally let you know if we have a space for your child.
Click here to visit the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames' School Admissions web page.
Mid-term admissions need to complete an In-Year Admission Form, obtained from and returned to the student’s home local authority. These will, in turn, be forwarded to Admissions Officer at Richmond Local Authority who will process the application and send details to RPA's Admission Officer, Terri Nardoni. Thereafter, parents and students will be invited to RPA to meet with the Head of Admissions.
The School Admissions Team at the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames can be contacted on: richmond.admissions@achievingforchildren.gov.uk
Applications for Year 7 places must be made through the Local Authority’s admissions process. The admissions round for September 2026 entry opens on 12 September 2025, with a closing date of 31 October 2025. We encourage families to attend our Open Evening to meet staff and explore the facilities. National Offer Day is on 2 March 2026, when parents will be notified of the outcome of their application.
Are you ready to find your remarkable post 16 experience? Look no further!
If you want to be a part of our remarkable, exciting and growing Sixth Form for September 2025 click the button below.
Or are you considering joining us and would like to have a look around to find out more?
If you would like to see the school 'in action' you can either join the whole school tour on a Friday morning or email RPA6@liftrichmondpark.org to organise a time for a bespoke Sixth Form tour.
If your application for a place is unsuccessful, you have the right to appeal the decision. Appeals should be submitted in writing within 20 school days of receiving the refusal notice. Appeals will be heard by an independent panel, and you will have the opportunity to present your case.
Any objections to the determined admission arrangements should be submitted to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA)
Here is the local authority link for admissions: Richmond Borough Secondary School Admissions
Lift Richmond Park
Park Avenue
East Sheen
London SW14 8RG
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