Any websites that show ratio of applicants to those who have got into a particular school?

[sheeplikessleep]

Does anyone know, other than contacting a school directly and saying 'how many applicants did you have from this village last year and how many got in?' if I could find this information online?

We are 5 miles away and I'd love some way of knowing what the 'chances' are (still some years off, but just planning whether to move or not in next few years!).

Cheers

[SardineQueen]

In our area the borough produces a document every year which says applications for each school and how many places there were, and for community schools it says the furthest away that someone got in.

I think that the number of applicants thing is a bit of a red herring as the schools don't know whether it was first or last choice, so it might look like eg 200 applied for 60 places but actually only 40 of them had it as first choice and everyone got where they wanted IYSWIM.

I expect your council will do something similar? Ours is online you can just look it up. The distance thing is the most important info - actually tells you what the chances are assuming it's done on distance and not something else like religion.

[AngryFeet]

Our borough does the same. The booklet that is given out when you visit the schools has all the info in it for every school in the borough. Maybe call the council and ask.

[sheeplikessleep]

Thanks SardineQueen, that's really helpful, thank you.

[SardineQueen]

[sheeplikessleep]

I've found that information, thank you. Do you know how they work out the distance? Is it as the crow flies or by route planner type calculation?

[SardineQueen]

It should say in the booklet or on the table somewhere? In ours there is a whole section devoted to explaning how they work the distance out and what happens if people live in flats and stuff. It will be there somewhere!

[SardineQueen]

How is your distance looking?

[Hulababy]

Our local information is in the secondary school applicants/guide book. This is also available on our LEA website for download.

[sheeplikessleep]

Sorry, I've been on nursery pick ups etc and just got kids to bed. I'll have a look later once I've eaten. Thanks all for posting. Cheers!

[sheeplikessleep]

So, 'straight line distance will be used to prioritise applications' (which I'm guessing is as the crow flies).

We are 4.33 miles away as the crow flies, and the furthest away someone got in 2010 was 5.5 miles. But I'm sort of assuming that the chances are quite slim in this area, as we don't have another child at the school (a higher priority group). Obviously kids out of catchment are at the bottom of the list priority wise. But I'm sure I see kids with the schools uniform catching the bus in the morning. But it is an oversubscribed school and has a really good reputation, so I'm surprised anyone gets in from this far away.

Is it bad etiquette to email the school and ask if anyone from this area has been offered a place?

[SardineQueen]

Check the entry criteria

If it is a community school and it is
siblings
distance
the the distance given last year will be the furthest a non sibling got in (I think - but again it should explain on the table)

No harm in ringing them though - they're not going to take umbrage and put your name on a "barred" list!!!

[sheeplikessleep]

thanks sardine - that's encouraging. i've emailed them, so hopefully i'll hear something back! it's years off, but it's nice to know 'likely options' for the future, to get some perspective on what is happening now.

[SardineQueen]

You can't be too organised where schools are concerned!

I was just the same...

[titchy]

Well if you're 4 miles away and the farthest non-sibling distance admitted (this is what they'll be quoting you) is 5 miles then obviously plenty from your area DO get in. Or at leat did in 2010. So why are you assuming the chances of someone from your area getting in are small? You'll need to bear in mind however that however close you are there are NO guarantees. You could be in a freak birth year where everyone applying has a sibling. Or there are record number of quintuplets applying. Also schools change over the years.

[sheeplikessleep]

I guess titchy because it is a very good school.

I know there are no guarantees, but it's nice to know it could be possible.

Thanks for posting.

[sheeplikessleep]

Sardine - I thought I'd let you know, I've received an email from the Admissions Officer saying no guarantees / every school year intake different etc, but that our house is less than 5 miles (furthest distance they've taken) and they've always offered a place to any applicants from our village in the past! Yay!! I know I shouldn't get excited, but I feel better knowing we will have probable options to choose when we get to that stage (which we didn't at primary really).
Thanks for all your information - appreciated.

[SardineQueen]

Great news sheep! Keep an eye on it though if it's a few years to go before time to apply!