Effective transition for in-year admissions

Be ready to help pupils make a strong start, despite the challenges of an in-year admission. Adapt our mini transition programme to suit your context, and get some ideas of practical strategies to help pupils settle in quickly to your school community.

Last reviewed on 18 February 2026
School types: AllSchool phases: AllRef: 53028
Contents
  1. Establish clear ownership
  2. Gather information
  3. Adopt a deliberate, structured approach
  4. How to support the pupil
  5. How to support the parents/carers
  6. Move beyond ‘admission’ to ‘belonging’

Establish clear ownership

When dealing with a short-notice admission, it’s easy to miss things. Designate clear responsibility to 1 person for overseeing the whole transition process. This doesn't mean they have to do everything (for example, they might delegate chasing data to someone in your admin team) but make sure someone has responsibility for checking that everything is in place.

You don’t need to establish a new role, but you need to clarify who will be the named lead for ensuring consistency and follow-up for the pupil. This might be a middle leader, class teacher or your SENCO, if appropriate.

Gather information

Any identified or suspected medical or SEND needs, including any assessments or investigations that are still in progress. If you can, ask the previous school’s SENCO to provide details of strategies that have worked well and any triggers to avoid Read