In year admissions advice for twins please

[buntyannual]

Hello. I’m hoping an admissions expert can give me some guidance: one question and one clarification.

In short: I’ve been told that it is not up to the council but up to the school whether or not to admit the second twin as an ‘excepted child’ into Y3.

In detail:
My twins are in Y3 and have been on a waiting list for a local school since Reception.

I asked the local authority earlier this year what would happen if one twin was admitted and the other not.

I was told then by the supervisor at the LEA that the first child would have to accept the place and then I’d need to go to appeal for the second child, but that I’d very probably win given the law change regarding twins, and both children would be admitted.

However, when I rang up today the man I spoke to said that the local authority had decided to leave it up to the individual schools whether or not they wanted to admit an excepted child – and so if they didn’t want a twin and increase class size, they didn’t have to do so. He didn't say anything about an appeal (the impression I got was that would be the end of the story, as it was within the school's right to refuse the place). He checked with the supervisor and confirmed that this is the case. If the school don’t want to accept my second child, the LEA won't make them.

Are they right? Do I have to take the place for one kid and then just wait for another place to come up? Is the only way around this to go to appeal? And would I have a good chance of winning an appeal? Also: what would I do in the meantime... would one child have to take up the place while the appeal was going on (even though I would not send my children to different schools, so if the appeal failed I would be stuffed).

Also: As a clarification. The reason I know we have been offered a place is because my children’s current school (independent) called me today and said – “we have an in year school transfer form for one of your children notifying us that she will be leaving the school.” This was the first I had heard of it!

I called up the local authority and they said it was normal procedure to ask for this information from the old school before offering a place to the first person on the waiting list, because the assumption was that by being on the waiting list we wanted the place.

This seemed to me really odd. Is it normal procedure?

This is a bit muddled and long winded - so if you've made it to the end - thanks.