ApplicaaOne application problems

[Leeloo13]

Hi ...so I applied for a school Sixth form, for my son...with ApplicaaOne...then, when I want to apply for another, I cant...it says Invalid username or password....but all are corect; does it mean I can only apply to 1 school Sixth form? I panic already if I did something wrong...I tried to contact them, of course no answer, and chat same...
All the other schools we want to apply use this ApplicaaOne and we cant apply...
What can I do?

Have you looked at the FAQ, helpdesk etc? https://helpdesk.applicaa.com/a1/how-to-rank-your-applications

I was able to list several sixth forms last year. I seem to remember that the deadline for applications wasn’t as strict as for primary and secondary schools, so you should have time to sort this out.

The applications are really (barring SEN) supposed to be done by your son. Though our school have advised us to "keep an eye on them that they do it all properly".
The reason I'm mentioning is because the email address you should have used to register should be your son's not yours. Perhaps you forgot and are trying to log in with your own? Otherwise you must be able to do a password forgot thingy?
You can definitely apply for multiple sixth forms as my daughter has done five through Aplicaaone. Usefully it tells you if any are part done / incomplete. We discovered this when she applied for the second school and it got submitted but was showing her current school (which she thought she had done the application for and completed) as partially completed! So that got finished off!
They also ask you to rank them, not because you cannot get multiple offers and decide later, but to help the individual sixth forms with their planning of filling spaces.
Good luck op, hope you get it sorted.

@Leeloo13 you can apply for as many sixth forms as you like - you may have just used the wrong credentials to log in.

@BananaDaiquiri it isn't correct to say that the student should do the application - if you're being told that then it is just a way for schools to weed out weak candidates. They know that many teenagers struggle with these forms and miss email reminders and alerts. I expect that, like most families, the op and her child are doing the application together.

ApplicaaOne does ask candidates to rank multiple applications, but that is a clear breach of the admissions code because schools are only allowed to ask for information that has a bearing on their admissions decisions. They only get away with it because parents and local authorities never question the rules for sixth forms, because the forms aren't published as part of admissions consultations (they should be) and because schools assume that the commercial software they're paying for is compliant (it isn't).

@oopzadaizi of course absolutely fine for OP to do the form with her son. I didn't realise parents could set up the account to do it themselves (though makes sense) as our school registered all the kids on ApplicaaOne with their school emails and sent them the passwords (so I had wrongly assumed it always had to be done from the student's email). Anyway the only reason I mentioned was because I was suggesting that maybe the OP was trying to log in with her own details and had maybe forgotten the account was under her son's email.
The school did tell us the kids should do it (but with us "keeping an eye" to make sure they do it / do it properly - so kind of saying "do it with them if you like"), but I don't think it's to "weed out" anyone. They are checking that everyone has made at least three applications to sixth forms / other provisions and they have to show someone at school (careers person / form tutor etc) proof of this so that school know that they have plans for after y11. As I say, the only reason I mentioned is that I thought OP might be using wrong email for her login.

Interesting about the rankings! Did not know this is against the admissions code. We visited a sixth form which claims to offer to pupils above their minimum grade requirements and then oversubscription cut off being siblings and then distance from school. But they never publish any data and refuse to give it out - so I am a little sceptical that they are following their published admissions policy correctly, given how popular they are and could just pick the external students with the highest predicted grades. Had a "discussion" about this with the head of sixth form on open day but she flatly refused to give me any examples of previous distances offered, I said I understood these would be different for different subjects, but perhaps they could suggest what sort of distances they have gone to for those opting for maths A level for example. "You should just apply and see" she said! I can't help but wonder if there are all kinds of shady practices happening with sixth form admissions, because they are pretty opaque for most places we have looked at.

@BananaDaiquiri when my YP's were this age we created a new gmail account that we both had access to and used it for sixth form applications, casual job applications and (later) uni applications. We linked it to their usual (private) email account as an alias. They gradually learned to respond to the email prompts without me reminding them but it took a while. I think its pretty common for YPs to miss out on opportunities because they're not used to handling emails, or else struggle to provide all the documents needed.

We had to use a new password for each application. (This was in London).

Was it Camden borough?

No, but we applied to schools in 3 different boroughs.

@Leeloo13 fyi, thought you might be interested ... two schools using Applicaa have now been told by the Schools Adjudicator that they are breaching the admissions code ...

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hampstead-school-and-haverstock-school-12-january-2026