Who decides? Days left 😩

The council don’t decide.

The schools put applicants in order based on how they meet the published criteria, and tell the council which pupils they can offer places to. The council’s role is to co-ordinate all the offers with the individual applicants, and allocate the applicant the offer from the scho that is highest up their list.

In the OP’s case it sounds as if they could get a place at both schools, in which case she decides, by virtue of which she lists first.

I'm really sorry to say this but it's the Council that actually decides.

He's going to get a good education at both, so I would let him decide. Buy in and enthusiasm counts a lot in the motivation and success of secondary school students.

Plus the school he wants is easier if he ha after-school clubs.

Also, a 20 min daily walk is really good for us mentally and physically. We should all do it.

I agree with this. I normally walk the first part of my journey, which is a 15-20 min walk. On occasions when I get the bus instead, if the weather's awful, for example, I definitely feel less awake and alert. Having a walk as part of the journey to school/work is a really good way to build exercise into the daily routine.

I remember sending my DS1 off to the bus the first time and it was awful but actually his "commute" has worked out really well for all of us.

It means he's home later so he has less time home alone and he has an independence that children who go to more local schools don't get. He can navigate his way anywhere in the county on public transport now (at 17yo) which he does to meet friends from school and Cadets

From Yr 8 onwards it was really important to him to be able to "hang out" after school, be that in the library, High St or at a friend's. He wouldn't have been able to do that if tied to a school bus.

Also, a 20 min daily walk is really good for us mentally and physically. We should all do it.

So his choice, the smaller school, has a more complex journey but is actually closer to the and also has more flexibility for travelling away from school start and finish times?

Unless there was a compelling other reason for one school over the other, I'd go for that one. Never being able to stay behind after school will be a real pain and you'll have to collect when he gets detention misses the bus, which he will. Also, he needs to be able to travel to the area where most of his friends will live

Actually Bubbles that's true. Round here a 20-25 min walk would be along country lanes with no lights and no pavement but if it were through a town with houses and lights everywhere and dd was walking with friends I'd probably be fine with it.

I don't think a 20 minute walk from the station is a very long walk, especially as he gets older. How long is the walk into town from the other school, if he doesn't get the school bus?

I think greater flexibility regarding travel is a plus. I wouldn't be thinking just in terms of clubs, but also if he just wants to hang out with friends after school - go to shops, go to library, go for a coffee. Or just do something on his own.

The choice isn't just about what suits him when he's eleven, but what will suit him when he's fifteen or sixteen and wanting more independence.

90% A-C for a non-selective school suggests it has a catchment of well off, educated families. I'd look at that as "astoundingly good" rather than the other school being bad.

20-25 minutes walk is just over a mile. That hardly qualifies as a long walk!

If the walk is on a pavement it’s ok. If it’s down country lanes with no lighting then it’s a problem.

If the walking home can be overcome, I think I would go with his choice. You must have factored in some of these issues when you looked at it in the first place and nothing has changed. You seem to have raised his hopes and are now dashing them. I think you owe it to him, having taken him to see the school, that you work out the difficulties regarding transport. Does anyone else pick up their children? Car share arrangement maybe?

I don't think a scooter is cool at secondary, sorry! (Maybe a Segway thingy is cool though? ) I'm not sure it would be nicked on a train but he may struggle to put it somewhere at school? A bike might be an option (don't know about modern train policy on that though) although personally I'd probably worry more about a child cycling home in the dark on the road than walking home on a pavement.

It's great that both schools sound good. For me personally, the walking home from the station in the dark especially on wet winter evenings would probably be the deciding factor, would they be on their own or with friends? Because we live out in the sticks I'm used to being a taxi service for DD to see her friends - she still has friends from baby groups that she's never been to school with - so I probably see the friendship thing as being less of an issue than others do!

Bellinisurge they are so resilient aren't they? DD was absolutely distraught at leaving primary, wouldn't stop crying on the last day. By the end of the first week at secondary she'd practically forgotten about primary school.

I had a similar choice last year - the bigger (about 1/3 bigger) school was the one 'everyone' sends their DC to here, slightly further from home - both walkable. Slightly better results etc, all friends going.

I chose the smaller school. For me the pastoral side won, everything I saw and heard at the smaller school felt right for DC, they knew only one person going - but had made a friend on taster day and had a group of friends by the end of the first week.

She was never the type to do clubs however is now doing 2, including a team sport I never considered she would be interested in!

And everything I have heard from the other school is reinforcing my belief that I picked the right one for her.

So I'd suggest you think more about pastoral / education side... if either more closely fit what your DC would benefit from. At the end of the day - travel is only going to be an issue for a few months until they get in the swing, the pastoral / pressure / homework ethos etc will affect the next 5 years.

My dd is now in Y7. We went through this last year. She's a very reserved person and academically very able. We didn't get the school we put first and failed in our appeal. She was massively brave and stoic and, despite there only being a couple of lads she really didn't like going to the secondary she is at now, she has really settled in. It's also a good school and we are really proud of her.

I would disregard the size issue (partly because there's not a lot of difference and partly because DD's school only had an intake of 180 which I thought seemed pretty big!).

Personally I'd focus on;

Do current parents of each school regard the school highly or do there seem to be lots of little issues (haven't heard a bad word about DD's school from parents with older siblings - even episodes of bullying have been dealt with swiftly and effectively whereas everyone avoids another school because of loads of issues)?

Will your child have friends at the school you choose? I know everyone says they make new friends anyway but I think if your child is even slightly shy it helps knowing that for the first few months they can get together with people they know at break/lunchtime/bus home.

Don't underestimate the journey time. I love the fact that DD catches a dedicated school bus literally 100m from our house. She has to leave the house at 7.45 but is home for 4pm. She tends to use the journey to catch up with friends/listen to music/play games on phone.

Because so many kids at DD's school travel by bus, most clubs etc. meet at lunchtime, tends to only be sports matches after school. I agree with a pp, I wouldn't make after school stuff a deciding factor.

Are you likely to get into either/both school/schools? I don't know about your local situation but round here the number of kids in Y6 is enormous and there are going to be loads of kids who don't get a place in their catchment school. DD's head told us at an open evening a few weeks ago that she is dreading admissions this year - in her words it will be 'carnage'. So maybe prepare your DC for either school (or maybe even a 3rd unmentioned one?)

Anyway (after that long essay!), good luck with it all, it was a nightmare for us last year but the people on MN were really lovely and supportive.

You decide definitely but your DS should have a say of course, what makes it so tricky!
I would look what subjects they both focus, are there any clubs he can do, what about 6th form for the future? You said that smaller feels too calm, can you look up past newsletters at their website to see what’s going on? Do their students get into Oxbridge regularly? Also I wouldn’t bother too much about outstanding, being good is good enough, the inspection might be due next week and all might change.
Our choice looked more complicated for travel at first and then we realised that actually it’s not too bad. I would say you need to have 2 travel options: main and back up. They both should be relatively doable. If you worried about travelling could you do the possible travel to school by yourself tomorrow/ Friday morning to get the feel. I did this and it certainly helped me to decide.
We had similar dilemma, old spread out school against big modern one, similar to yours size wise. We chose smaller but we all liked it better and it had more suitable curriculum. Some children still thrive better in more caring environment at this stage, some are ready to go to the big world. So I would think about your DS personality, which school will accommodate him better.