Gah, secondary applications. Advice please!

[CatsGoPurrrr]

Hi

My LEA recommends 6 preferences for secondary schools, but where I live there are only 4 that I could actually get Dd too.

If I put down the local school, which is less than a mile away, would it be ok to just have 3 other schools?

Thanks

[LIZS]

Depends on the certainty that you'd get one if the four. If they were all oversubscribed and last child was nearer there is a chance you'd get a random one further away. At secondary they can be expected to travel a good distance independently.

[Middleoftheroad]

Still add two - even if they seem out - it beats being allocated a random school that you definitely wouldn't want as PP said.

[aginghippy]

Depends on how certain you are about getting a place at the local one. I only put down 2 for dd, but we live close enough that I was certain she would get places at both

[mummytime]

Last time I applied I only put two choices (could have up to 6), but I was 100% certain we would get choice 2 (sibling).
So if you live close enough to you final choice you could risk it.
My town has 5 schools but we get to choose 6. Unless I put a school we were very unlikely to get from out of town high in the preference, then the only out of town school we'd get from 6 place would be a very unpopular one, as we'd be too far away to stand a chance at others.

[NynaevesSister]

I think though Tiggy that bulge classes aren't likely to affect a secondary school in that way unless it is a very small secondary. The smallest I have come across around here was a five form entry.

More of an issue is the dropping of sibling priority altogether. I was looking at the criteria for a Harris school for a friend and noticed there was no sibling criteria (although there was for the other Harris school we were looking at). It seemed to have been dropped very quietly since last year.

[mummytime]

Okay - sometimes it can be better to have the LA impose a school on you than to have an extra choice. EG. where I live the only "unusual choice" I might get is the worse school in the County, but if the LA imposes that on me, then they have to provide transport.

Also the only "bulge" class at secondary (as opposed to increasing a school size by an extra class from then onwards) I have known, was when the LA changed the distance criteria which left one whole village with no secondary. The LA initially tried to spread them around all the schools with an odd place or so. But there was enough publicity made that the"natural" secondary ended up with a "bulge" class, and the distance rules were re-written (first to include a foot path and then to go to as the crow flies).
One sad faced child just isn't the same political pressure as 30 sad faced children.

As to sibling rule, schools like having a "family link", but also its different in a city to a rural area - where parents may need to ferry children far more.

[prh47bridge]

Okay - sometimes it can be better to have the LA impose a school on you than to have an extra choice. EG. where I live the only "unusual choice" I might get is the worse school in the County, but if the LA imposes that on me, then they have to provide transport.

The LA may still have to provide transport even if you name a school as one of your choices. The question is whether the LA could have allocated you a place at a nearer school. So if you name a school 6 miles away as your first preference and get it you won't be entitled to free transport. However, if you name it as your last preference and list your nearest schools as higher preferences you will be entitled to free transport if you end up there.