How common is it to NOT get a younger sibling into the chosen school of your eldest child?

[tryingtobemarypoppins2]

We are looking at a school 4 miles away. It is very popular and last year 9 children out of area didn't get a place, the year before 1 didn't.

We may well not get in but if we did I could face 3 years of worry about not getting in our younger DS.

WWYD??
Our catchment school is good/outstanding features but early years is poor....catchment less leafy etc..

[academyblues]

Look at the admissions criteria for your LA.

Most give priority to siblings, though some give priority to catchment siblings, then catchment children, then other siblings.

This will give you a good idea of whether it's a good option for you to apply to.

[verybusyspider]

As academy says you need to check your LEA admission, ours is
Children admitted in the following priority
Priority 1) Those in priority area (catchment) with siblings at school
2) Those in priority area
3) Those outside of priority area with siblings
4) all other applicants

It really depends on the birth year for us, a few years ago at our school everyone who applied got in, this year only all those in (1) did and only some of those in (2) so some disappointed parents in catchment didn't get their first choice. They start at those living closest to the school and work outwards.

But as said check what yours do... not sure if you can find out how many are likely to apply for a given year

[admission]

It will always be a risk that a younger sibling will not get a place in a school even if it is your catchment school. However many admission authorities are now giving a higher priority to siblings so you need to establish exactly what the admission criteria is now and whether it has changed to give you the best idea of what your chances are.

[An0therName]

some authorities as I understand it are giving lower prority to silbings for out catchment - school my DS was going to - C of E school said that they were going to give priority to parish children before out of parish siblings - have you visited local school -

[AurraSing]

Our LA publishes the details of the last child admitted to the school - in catchment 1 mile, out of catchment 3 mile for example. If that information isn't on their website, could you call the LA and ask? But as others have said, there really isnt any guarantee as the numbers applying can change so much.

[tryingtobemarypoppins2]

It is
Priority 1) Those in priority area (catchment) with siblings at school
2) Those in priority area
3) Those outside of priority area with siblings
4) all other applicants

The information booklet does say the reason for not gaining a place and both this year and last it was out of area. I know in the past siblings have not got in. I am going to meet with the head next week so I will ask if there is likely to be any changes to admissions but they seem to all be the same anyway and do not give siblings prioity over catchment. I don't want to worry for 3 years!

[exoticfruits]

I think that you will just have to worry, you can't know how many there will be in the catchment area in that year.

[pinwick71]

We got a place for DS at a non catchment village school 2 miles away but didn't get a place for DD even though she had a sibling there. Our LEA puts catchment non sibling before out of catchment sibling which I actually think is the right policy as local children should really be able to get a place at their catchment school if requested.

We appealed as it would have been really difficult to have DS & DD at different schools and we were given a place for DD. We were fortunate that it wasn't an ICS appeal so we had a much better chance of winning. However it was very stressful. Sometimes you can get lucky when applying out of catchment (as we did with DS) but it certainly doesn't mean that it will work for subsequent children, even if they are in the higher sibling category.

It all comes down to whether you are willing to take a risk on getting a place in the future.

[tryingtobemarypoppins2]

pinwick71 So do you mean that my winning, the class was then 31?

[prh47bridge]

tryingtobemarypoppins2 - As pinwick71 tells us this was not an ICS appeal the class must have been below 30, so winning the appeal did not push it up to 31. However, if someone wins an ICS appeal that will potentially push a class up to 31.

[exoticfruits]

Quite simply those who are out of catchment area and get a place shouldn't then have an unfair advantage of taking a future place away from a DC living in the catchment area, they should only have one if there is space.
The LEA have a list of criteria and will also be able to tell you the number that went to appeal each year. It is a gamble, you have to work out whether it is worth it from the information that you have.

[teacherwith2kids]

Round here we have historically had a problem of parents renting short-term in the catchment of very popular schools, getting one child in, then moving away from the area and using the 'any sibling' rule to get the rest of the family into the same school.

This year they have chaged to 'siblings in catchment' followed by 'other children in catchment', then 'siblings out of catchment'.

The fact that we have had a note to say that while they have received as many applications as normal, all children in catchment will get a place this year AND leave places over for children outside catchment (in previous years, many children in catchment have not got places) indicates how rife the practice of 'using / abusing the sibling rule' had become.

[UniS]

If you don't want to spend 3 years worrying, don't go out of area for school.