Withdrawal of high school place after 11 weeks

Why have you bought uniform already?

This is from my local authority, obviously each may be different but, as an example, it is pretty clear that attendance of the sibling on the date of admission is what counts. What does your say?

I don't think that it's relevant that you may not have known at the time of applying that your son might be moved.

I’m confused. You must have lived within catchment of the school and (originally) met the entrance criteria to have got your son a place there? Or did he get a place on priority with a EHCP?

I guess it depends whether sibling criteria required still being on roll when the second child starts in September. If the LA think you deliberately waited to withdraw him until your dc2 had a place then it could be regarded as fraudulent. It is a long time since though. Your future address cannot yet be taken into account.

Why do you think that sibling places exist? They are so that the parents don't have the extra hassle of taking two children to different schools.
That's why you were given the place.

That's why they are only necessary if both siblings actually attend the same school.

You were very short sighted not to realise that by taking the place after the sibling had left, your daughter was taking a place that she did not deserve. If you were a parent who had just missed out on the distance criterion, how would you feel to know that another child who lived further away and had no siblings there was attending the school?

It does unfortunately look like the kind of thing that someone trying to game the system would do.

That said, you do need to look carefully at whether they have followed the correct procedure here, because there must be some cut off point for withdrawing offers in order to allow people to make alternative arrangements.

The problem is what you’ve done is similar to what people do when they’re making fraudulent applications. Leave the sibling there to secure a place for the other sibling, then move them straight away. If you knew your other child was going to be moving then you have completed a misleading application, haven’t you?

When we applied for a reception place we moved house after being offered the place (further away) and almost lost it. Luckily we still managed to get in based on distance but only just.

If the place is withdrawn and you move to your new house in the summer you will hopefully be at the top of the waiting list? It's a feeling of uncertainty but chances are a place would come up anyway.

I think my youngest was admitted by mistake on sibling connection! My eldest left the school later that year because he had completed his A Levels and people who lived closer didn't get a place. That was four years ago so too late now.

Also WHEN was the sibling offered a place at the other school (not May when they started).

When did you start the process of moving your eldest? When did you start enquiring at other schools? If the council have found out that you were intending to move the eldest then you knew there would not be a sibling on roll by the time your youngest started the school. This means you would have applied under sibling link criteria when you knew there would not be a sibling on roll. This information is key. WHEN did you start seeking to move the sibling?

Listen to what @PanelChair is saying. Have a Google online for the case law she is talking about.

On Hertfordshire's website it says: A sibling must be on the roll of the named school or linked school at the time of application (and when child starts), or have been offered and accepted a place

The case law relating to how long the school or LEA has to withdraw a place offered in error dates from the time of the previous admissions code, but at that time it was generally held to be three days, certainly not 11 weeks.

I suggest you take this to appeal and let the panel decide whether this was an “error” in admissions code terms and whether the school acted reasonably in withdrawing the place.

Than too long has passed for them to withdraw a place. What they've done is not legal.

It does seem to be unusual. I can't see how it fraudulent if you didn't have any intention of moving your son at the time of application and you applied from your current address. Have they given you the reasons in writing?

As so often, there’s a lot of poor advice here.

The school admissions code (para 2.13) says that a school place cannot be withdrawn unless it was offered in error, the parent has not responded or the place was obtained on the basis of fraudulent or misleading information. In the last instance, the application has to be reconsidered, with a right of appeal if it’s refused.

Has the school confirmed why (in the terms of the admissions code) the place was withdrawn? It’s possible that they regard your application as misleading, if you did not disclose that your son would be leaving the school. If so, you should be offered an appeal.

We had a potential reverse of this situation, where one child had an EHCP, the other didn't and the admissions criteria for sibling, was on roll at the time of admission, so the sibling couldn't meet the sibling criteria even though had an EHCP naming the school, until the other started (then they would rapidly move up the waiting list).

If her sibling isn't on roll when she starts then she probably doesn't meet the sibling criteria anymore.

It’s usually to have a sibling on roll when the younger one is due to start. When did you start applying for the older one to move?

This tends to be why having a sibling in yr 11 doesn't count, because by the time the younger child starts the older will no longer be on roll. So it is at time of starting I think, bit application.

Could your daughter attend the same school as your son, under same sibling criterion?