Moving house and applying for reception place

[Rain1975]

Hi

We are in the process of moving and all being well should be in the new house in August. DD is due to start reception in September so have had a look round our new catchment school and hopefully she will get a place there.

We had already applied for and accepted a place at our local school here and as we are moving to a different LA contacted them about applying for the new school. They said that we had to apply through our current LA and they would sort out her application between them.

I'm really confused now as our LA sent me a form to make an in year application even though she hasn't started any school yet. Also we have an address in our new town but the house isn't finished yet (new build). Can I actually apply for a school if we aren't living in the town yet.

Can you tell I haven't done this before :-) has anyone else been in this situation I don't know what I'm doing an the LA's have confused me.

Thanks

[AuntieStella]

You cannot apply fom an address you are not actually living at (unless you are Armed Forces personnel with a valid posting order, for whom there is special provision in the Admissions Code).

You can only apply from your current address, but if the school has a vacancy, it can be offered regardless of where you currently live. If it hasn't you will be added to the waiting list (probably low down, as you'll be ranked by criteria then tie-break condition normally distance) and as soon as you move you will bounce up the waiting list according to your new distance from the school.

[admission]

The normal practice is that if you are moving house you cannot ask for a place at a school until you have either moved into the house or have exchanged contracts. Different LAs have different rules however and of course with a new house that just complicates it further. You need to contact the LA you are moving into and ask them when you can apply from the address of the new house you are moving into, explaining the timing of moving to the new house. Get it in writing so that there can be no misunderstanding later on. It would be best to get that information ASAP and hopefuly that can be done very quickly
If they say only when you have moved, then the alternative is to go to your current LA and say that you wish to apply for an alternative school for your daughter starting in reception in September. You then use your current address to apply for a place at the new intended school and also put on the form that you are moving in August to new address of ...... If there is a place in the reception class and if there are no other applicants then you have to be offered the place. On being offered the place you will forfeit the current place you have been allocated. If however the new school is full then you need to get on the waiting list. Because of the distance involved to your current address it is almost a certainty that you will be bottom of the list but hopefully you will work your way to the top. Most LAs would see that as an in-year application and so the form is probably right but it might worth emphasising the start date of September in reception.

[Rain1975]

Thanks very much for the advice will get her application sorted out from here. When I spoke with the headmaster a couple of weeks ago he said that there were places in reception so had better do it now. Will be glad when it's all sorted.

Thanks again.