First, separate regret from the task in front of you
Missing a registration deadline is stressful, but the next step is practical: find the official page for the route and read the late-registration wording for the current year. Then contact the named admissions team if the guidance tells you to do so.
Do not rely on older parent experiences. Routes can change their deadlines, late-testing policy, and review process year by year.
What can happen
Some routes do not accept late registrations except in very limited circumstances. Others may allow a later test for illness, a recent move, or another defined reason. Some may say a child can be tested later only after moving into the area or after the normal process.
Those are not small differences. They decide whether the grammar-school route remains open for that admissions round.
What to do the same day
- Find the official route page and current year guidance.
- Save or screenshot the relevant deadline wording.
- Email the official admissions contact if the page gives one.
- Explain the facts plainly and ask what route, if any, remains available.
- Keep the CAF deadline separate; missing one deadline should not lead to missing the other.
- Review non-grammar preferences with the same care.
If the route is closed
It may still be possible to name a grammar school, appeal later, or pursue an in-year route, depending on the area and school policy. But those are different processes, and none should be treated as a substitute for on-time registration.
The most useful move is to get written guidance from the official admissions team, then build a school list that remains valid under that answer.