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Original poster

Moving back to the UK - Residency, In-Year places & Waitlists - Catch-22!

29 replies

CataKiwi · 23/11/2015 21:09

We're planning to move back to London from New Zealand in 2016 and the first peg in the ground is finding a secondary place for our 13 and 15 year olds starting in September. Both are musically gifted so we'd like to be able to find a school within commuting distance to the City to match.

This is the dilemma - Quite apart from the scarcity of in-year places anywhere, and the reluctance for schools to take in-year admissions for year 11, the Catch-22 is this : We can't waitlist until we are resident and we can't move until we have a school place because that determines where we live.

If we move immediately to get a good spot on a waitlist then our kids are going to be out of education, sitting on their hands for 6 months on the off chance something materialises.

There must be a way - we'd need some advice !

OP posts:
Original poster
CataKiwi · 23/11/2015 23:04

One other question : Are all councils obliged to find you a place if you live within the boundaries ?

OP posts:
Original poster
CataKiwi · 23/11/2015 23:02

Thanks LIZS. I didn't realize waitlists were so dynamic. I'll look closely at some preferred schools for their order of priority and see what can be exploited there. The idea to repeat year 10 for our dc1 to transition into the GCSE mainstream is a good one although he might find it a bit socially unpalatable !

OP posts:
LIZS · 23/11/2015 21:28

I'm also not sure what you mean by a "good spot". Order on state school waiting lists isn't first come, first served but determined by criteria such as distance from home to school, sibling link, religion/parish where it is affiliated etc. Each school will differ. So if someone else applying moved closer or had a sibling admitted to another year , for example, your position could go down. Likewise if your dc2 got a place your dc1 might go up the list.

LIZS · 23/11/2015 21:15

If you were to move sooner you might get offered places before September, which would particularly benefit your dc1. The only way to secure places in advance is in the independent system, is that a possibility even if only to y11/gcse. You may even then be able to negotiate going back a year to enable a 2 year gcse course.