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Original poster

Does anyone know how they prioritise applications, eg if you put a school as first choice will you have more chance of getting it?

32 replies

iwouldgoouttonight · 08/10/2016 11:48

We're not applying for our catchment school because it's really not good, but it means it's likely we won't get the choices we want. We'd like to have as our three choices:

  1. Preferred school (brilliant school, think DD would thrive there, 20 mins on bus, but massively oversubscribed and last year only those with siblings already there got in from our primary school)
  2. Second preferred school (wouldn't mind this one at all, only reason it's second is that it's a bit further away, 30-40mins on bus, this is also oversubscribed but some from our primary got in last year even without siblings)
  3. Nearest school to us, although not our catchment one (not our preferred third choice but would be likely to get a place looking at who they took last year, OK school, not brilliant but best of the ones we'd be likely to definitely get a place at, so kind of a 'banker' to prevent us getting the catchment school)

Do my question is, as we think we have a slightly better chance of getting into school 2 than school 1, will we be given less of a priority because we didn't put it first?

I know the priorities are things like looked after children, siblings, catchment, etc and we don't meet any of them for any of the schools, it would be down to distance. But do they judge all applications equally regardless of where you put them on the list? Or do they give all first choice places and then all second choice places, etc?

Or does it differ by local authority? (We're in England btw)

OP posts:
OdinsLoveChild · 08/10/2016 17:02

You put the one you want most 1st on your list even if you think you won't get a place. My lea states you must list in the order of preference because they will always try and allocate you a place at your 1st choice if at all possible.

The schools don't know where you listed them or even if you didn't list them at all (although most parents seem to share the fact they got a place at a school they didn't list ).

If you don't list a school you actually really liked then obviously you have no chance of a place there. Some schools don't have the usual admissions criteria but use a lottery system. Check the school website for the correct information.

As it happens my children attend a school miles away well outside any catchment area they publish so not being in the catchment area doesn't mean you won't get a place.

Original poster
iwouldgoouttonight · 08/10/2016 12:54

Thank you. Now just need to decide whether to put the slightly less preferred third choice rather than one we'd actually want (but be unlikely to get)....

It's a blooming minefield.

OP posts:
titchy · 08/10/2016 12:35

In England...

titchy · 08/10/2016 12:35

Same for all LEAs - it's the law.

Original poster
iwouldgoouttonight · 08/10/2016 12:24

Thanks all, that's really helpful (and reassuring!) do you know if that's the same for all local authorities?

OP posts:
SpeakNoWords · 08/10/2016 12:09

The order doesn't matter. Each choice is looked at independently of the others. The order you put them in affects the order they are offered to you in, iyswim. So if your child qualifies for choice 1 and choice 2, you'll be offered choice 1. If they qualify for choice 2 and 3 you'll be offered choice 2. Etc.

If you don't put your catchment school as a choice, then if you don't qualify for the 3 schools you put down, you'll be allocated a place at a school that the LA chooses that has available places.

JosephineMaynard · 08/10/2016 12:04

The way my council do it is an equal preference system.

So basically, all children expressing any preference for school 1/2/3 are ranked according to admissions criteria. The schools don't know which order you've put them in.

Say each school admits 90 pupils. If a child is in the top 90 for more than one school, they get allocated a place at the school they've put as their top preference. Their name is then removed from the lists for the other schools they're eligible for.

So, the order you put the schools down in makes a difference if your DD would be eligible for more than one of them, because then you get the school you wanted most out of the schools she qualifies for.
But, if she's not eligible for school 1 because school 1 is too oversubscribed, putting school 1 first makes no difference to her chances of getting into school 2.

If she ends up offered a place at school 3, then that means she wouldn't have been offered a place at school 1 or 2 even if you only put down school 1 or only put down school 2.