In Victoria, students normally start secondary school when they reach Year 7.
This page describes the steps for students moving from primary to secondary school.
Steps to enrol
Moving from a government primary school to a government secondary school
Moving from a private primary school to a government secondary school
Your child is at a P-9 or P-12 school
If your child is staying on at the same school, you do not need to make an application.
Contact your school for information about year 7 orientation.
Moving to a private secondary school
Once your child is enrolled
Read our
tips for starting secondary school to learn how you can support your child through the move.
Appealing a Year 7 enrolment
If a school decides not to accept your enrolment, you can appeal. This situation can happen if you request to enrol at a school outside of your designated neighbourhood zone, and the school does not have enough places.
You can lodge a written appeal to the school. They will let you know the deadline to submit the appeal and how long it will take for them to respond.
Appeals are considered by the school's placement committee and principal. They will check the
priority order of placement and confirm your address. They will also consider appeals on compassionate grounds on a case-by-case basis.
If your appeal is unsuccessful and you're not satisfied with the outcome, you can escalate the appeal to your local regional office. The school will let you know the deadline to do this.
Appeals to the regional office are considered by a panel of senior department staff.