Very late application for primary school place

[Barcelonadad]

Dear mumsnetters,

Me and the family are moving back to the UK in July after 8 years in Spain (big move!). We will be making a very late application for a primary school place in Bath in August (one month before school starts). I wonder if anyone has any knowledge or experience they can share to let us know what we can expect. I know that we will apply the same way as an on time application (list our 3 schools of choice). Specifically I am interested to know:

1. Does anyone know what the percentage likelihood is of gaining a place at one of the 3 primary school choices if our application is late? (For on-time applications in Bath and NE Somerset this year it was 98%)
   

1. If we are not successful in getting a place at one of our 3 primary school choices, the local authority will assign us a school. Is there a maximum distance from your home that this school can be? Or can they place you anywhere in the local authority area?
   

Any help greatly appreciated!

Barcelonadad

[TheDoctrineOfSnatch]

On another thread, one of the experts has posted a link to say that beyond 45 mins travel for primary, an appeal panel might consider the reasonableness of the travel.

What year of primary school is it?

[PenguinsLoveFishFingers]

What year are you applying for a place in?

I am afraid no one will be able to give you a percentage. If you apply to a school which happens to have places, you will be allocated it (assuming no one else with higher priority asks at the same time). if not, it depends on someone leaving from the year group you want, which is wildly unpredictable.

The best thing you can do is think about house location- near as many decent schools with as little place pressure as possible.

[EldonAve]

It simply depends if the schools have space or not - if they don't then there may be a waiting list. You would be slotted into the waiting list according to each school's admission criteria

You can call the local authority ahead of time to find out which schools have space - you just can't apply until you get here

There is no max distance
If you live on the edge of the authority you can apply for school in the neighbouring county

[Barcelonadad]

Hi - Thanks for your answer. We're moving this year, September 2014.

[TheDoctrineOfSnatch]

Sorry, I meant is your child going into reception, year 1 etc?

[Barcelonadad]

OK, so from what I'm hearing the best approach would be to find out which schools have places. I'm guessing after places are allocated (end of April?) I should be able to get this info from the local authority or schools themselves. I also gather there is no maximum distance, which is mildly concerning!

Thanks for all your prompt replies!

[Barcelonadad]

Hi again - yes it will be for reception year.

[TheDoctrineOfSnatch]

Places have just been allocated, not necessarily accepted yet. Then there will be waiting lists. You could go on the waiting lists now for schools from your current address (maybe, you certainly could if you lived in the Uk) but as your distance is so great, you'd be unlikely to get a space unless no-one else was on the list.

Do you know where you are moving to exactly yet?

[Barcelonadad]

Hi - no this is the issue, we will be moving to a rented property, but no idea yet where that will be. As I understand it, we need the UK address first before we can make an application. Still seems the best strategy would be to move to the area with the best schools, and hope a place is available in one of them.

[breakfastnotattiffanys]

Personally, nearer the time I would start by ringing all suitable schools local to your new house and find out which ones have any spaces for September then if there are any choose the best for you then go from there. You might be lucky! Failing that you will have to ask the local authority to sort something out or apply for a full school and maybe appeal. Good luck!

[TheDoctrineOfSnatch]

Ah, that's a shame that you need a UK address, but understandable.

The best schools are generally the most likely to be full. You could ring schools next term and get a feel for how full they are at present and if there is typically much movement.

[crazymum53]

The good news OP is that primary schools in the Bath area are very good so you are unlikely to be offered a place at an awful school. If your child is offered a place more than 2 miles away from your house, you should receive help with transport costs. HTH

[Spindelina]

The primary schools admissions booklet for Bath gives the numbers admitted for the last three years, showing which schools had spaces after results day. You could use that as a start. It's here.

[Barcelonadad]

Apparently we can make an application using our Spanish address and make it for the second round of applications on 9th May, which is good news. Still need to find out where there are places though, and I'm guessing call the schools after the 1st round is complete 30th April. I'll let you know how we get on!