Merton council and waiting list

@Rebbecca101 did you manage to do the transfer?

You would be absolutely insane to move your DD at this stage in Y10 - especially from a completely different system - even if you could find a school space.

After Feb half-term, the Y11s will be in exam season and the focus ramps up on the Y10s.

I have a DD in Y10 - they complete the entire science syllabus by the end of next term. They've already done over half the set texts in English. They're all sitting one GCSE early this year.

The last thing any teacher is going to welcome is someone joining the year who has a huge amount of content to catch up.

What you could potentially do is apply to a private school for a repeat Y10 for September given that your DD is a June birthday. I don't think it would be possible in state without significant SEN or being able to demonstrate a good reason to repeat the year.

Otherwise, your best bet is to wait and apply for 6th form. Trying for mid Y10 is going to be utterly miserable for your DD if she did get in somewhere (highly unlikely for anywhere sought after as parents will change or delay plans to avoid a move in Y10/11).

@Rebbecca101 you say you understand but I’m not sure you do…

@BendingSpoons has posted some excellent advice here.

It’s not about applying to x school or y school. The only school your dd will get a place in is one that has a year 10 vacancy. Suggestions of good state schools are academic here - chances are an available space will not be in a good school! You’ll have to take what’s offered.

And it’s not just about terminology - topics covered will not be covered again, your dd may have studied King Lear but needs to answer questions on Macbeth, or the Tudor but she needs to know about medicine through time. Does that make sense? It’s very unusual to move in mid year 10 just because of this. I suggest a move for sixth form instead.

Wait to see where she is offered, then ask what other schools may have spaces if not happy. Likely to take longer than mod February to sort out a place and confirm. Then you would need to buy uniform.

It is more than new terminology though, there will be different aspects of maths, science, geography etc taught and given different emphasis. Method and approach may differ, such as needing to solve worded maths problems and apply what has been learned.

just get on the phone Monday morning to Sutton, Wandsworth and Kingston Councils to find out who has places. Merton won’t know about the out of borough schools

Do you want state sector, or are you willing to consider private? Really, your choices will be limited by who has places - to be brutal, on the whole the state schools in demand won’t have places and it would be unusual to join a private school half way through year 10 since it might jeopardise their results based league positions. The Hall in Wimbledon (v near you?) might be a bet? State, I’d try St Cecilia’s as a prior poster suggested, and Harris Academy Wimbledon, on the assumption that you don’t fancy Raynes Park High School or St Marks.

As others have said, I think there are some challenges with this plan. Firstly I am not sure it is in your child's best interests. It will be difficult to work out what work she has missed and it is a lot of content to catch up on. If she is academic, that is easier than it would be for some, but she has still missed hours of lessons. Let's say she has been learning plant biology at her school but her new school have been doing human biology topics first. She will then have to study plant biology again but no-one will teach her the human biology topics. (This is an oversimplified example of course, as she is currently in a completely different education system). Also as others say, what happens if the subjects she wants to study are full? She wants to take German and History for example, but they only have space in Geography and French?

This will sound blunt, and I don't mean to be harsh but I think you need to be realistic. Your chances of a year 10 place in the next 4 weeks at a popular, oversubscribed school are very small. It is irrelevant how long their waiting list is if a place doesn't come up, and parents try to avoid moving schools in year 10 and 11, especially those who are academically ambitious for their children, which I imagine is true for a lot of parents at the schools you mention. Of course people's life circumstances mean there are always people moving anyway, and you might get lucky, but it is a very short time frame you are giving. One small bit of hope is that if a place did come up, you can be offered it even if you aren't first on the waiting list, as others are more likely to turn it down at this stage. But again, this does rely on a place coming up.

As others have explained, your waiting list place will be based on the admissions criteria, so largely distance. They can't take into account other factors like her grades or current school. They will offer you a place at the nearest school with spaces, and you will have to decide whether you want to accept it. I don't know what your motivation is for moving, but I would ask lots of questions of the school about syllabus, subjects etc and consider delaying and applying for sixth form. She could then start a course at the beginning and could apply and pick where she wants to go, rather than being given a school.

In general the London population has quite high mobility so school places come up a lot.

But once a child is in Yr 10 people do their best to stay put. So there is much less chance of an in year place becoming available in Feb.

It isn’t a matter of ‘level’ of education. Different schools do different exam boards with different curricula. And in a different order. They have 5 terms to cover the content for any particular exam board syllabus. By Feb half term one and a half of those terms have gone.

What about leaving her where she is until the start of A level study?

Odds are you'll end up in a Harris Academy

Hmmm OP I'll be honest, the chances of someone moving schools (so as to free up a place for your DD) in the middle of year 10 are quite low. I mean in general terms. It's a year when most people would avoid moving their DC unless unavoidable bc of GCSE courses started.

You may get lucky of course.

There will be a school with a place somewhere. I'm not quite clear whether you want to move her to specific schools but otherwise will stay where she is, or you want to move her to an English school, any English school?

It's a shame you didn't do this a year ago - as others say, it's not so much the academic level of her current school, more that there will be topics covered in whichever school she does go to which she may not have covered - specific books in Eng lit, topics in history and science. And yes, she won;t get much choice of subjects. What is she hoping to do going forward?

So definitely mid year 10. Subjects like English literature will need her to make up missed texts/papers. She may not get much choice of subject.

understood - but it’s more about specific texts they might have covered in English, or areas of history etc. The Merton website says a fortnight to process a transfer form, if the school has a vacancy.

When is she 15?

Half way through year 10 is a really tough time to move, OP! I would try to find out where the spaces are and where you are on the Ricards and Ursuline waiting lists

Do you not need to give notice where she is, a full term?

@Rebbecca101 imo teachers know surprisingly little about school admissions. I've got lots of friebds who are teachers and admissions and wait lists are not their area of expertise.

Why not ring the council on Monday and ask which schools have spaces in the relevant year? Is your dd in Yr 9 now?

If a school is full in the required year for an in-year transfer, which this is, then a place at another school will be offered.

I mean you say you've never had an issue, but how many in-year transfers have you applied for? It's not the same as applying for year 7.

Might be worth asking Merton Council where you actually are on the Ricards waiting list, btw, so you know whether you are second or 25th

If you DEFINITELY want to move to a school after Feb half term, find out which schools have spaces in Merton/ Sutton/ Richmond/ Kingston/ Wandsworth, visit it, take the place. But visit it. Please.

if you have particular schools in mind you will have to wait it out - and generally you only have a couple of weeks to take up an offer, or it goes to the next person on the waiting list. You can’t say you want a place in four weeks time and ask the school to wait for you.