No school places in la

[Dizzyingly]

Hi
I am looking for some advice for my friend. Her ds currently has a reception place in her la. But she has just moved to the la next door. She has applied for a school place but they have just told her today that every reception class is full in the la. He has been placed on a waiting list for any school place. Do they have to to find him a place? He can currently travel to his current school but it is quite a trek and his mum is not very happy with him there which is partly why they moved anyway- some child protection issues and really poor handling of her ds toilet issues resulting in him becoming upset over his accidents which obviously makes the situation worse. She is not being fussy about school places and would accept any school offered in the la. Are they within their rights not to offer him a place as he has technically got one in another la? How does the rule for free transport work in this situation as his current school is well over 6 miles away and there is no other school being offered.
Thanks in advance.

[prh47bridge]

If they don't offer him a place they must provide free transport to his existing school. If the journey to his existing school is less than 45 minutes each way they could argue that it is a reasonable journey and not offer a place. If it is more than 45 minutes each way there is no question - they must offer a place somewhere. In that situation her son would be an excepted child for infant class size purposes so could be admitted to a school that is full.

Your friend should insist on free transport until the LA come up with a local place. She should also keep chasing them and appeal for all the schools she named as preferences. If the LA continues to offer nothing I would expect an appeal to succeed. However, it would not surprise me if a place magically became available just before the appeal hearing.

[Dizzyingly]

Thank you for the swift response. I shall let her know.

[Amibiggly]

prh47bridge - Do you know the time frames for appeals or are the different for each local authority?

dizzyingly sorry for hijacking your thread but thought I may as well ask here rather than start a new one.

[prh47bridge]

Appeals as part of the normal admissions round must be heard within 40 school days of the deadline for lodging appeals provided the appeal is lodged by the deadline. Appeals for in-year admissions must be heard within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged.

Note that the times are in school days so weekends and school holidays don't count towards the deadline.

[Dizzyingly]

Thanks for your reply prh47bridge. The la have now offered a school. Is she still ok to ask them if any other school have places? Obviously she wants the best for her ds so would that be an option so she could view any others ...of there are any schools with places that is! Or should she just accept this school now?

[prh47bridge]

She doesn't have to accept the offered place immediately but she can't hold onto the offer for very long. The offer letter should state a deadline by which she needs to accept the offer. She can ask about other schools or even ring round other schools to see if any have places available before deciding what to do. If she doesn't come up with anything before the deadline she should accept the place that has been offered. If she rejects it the LA doesn't have to come up with another offer and won't have to provide transport to her son's current school. Accepting the place doesn't stop her from continuing to look into other schools or going on the waiting list for any she would prefer. Her son will need to start at the offered school fairly quickly after she accepts the offer so she may end up moving him twice if she wants something better - once to this school and a second time to the school she prefers.