How oversubscribed are your local schools? Will they be able to take on students who are currently privately-educated?

@HooverIsAlwaysBroken they would be happy to be consistent if not for the nhs waiting lists where you simply don't have an alternative in you whole town. And probably bigger % of people use private dentists and consultants than send their kids to private schools and prices are already overinflated.

I love a bit of consistency….

https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/national/patients-turning-to-private-healthcare-is-second-tax-says-labour-health-chief-109967/

paying for private healthcare when there is a state option is an extra tax in itself (also without VAT)

paying for private education should have VAT added…..

I would have been nearly 10 and at the end of my 1st year of middle school when Thatcher was elected, so most of my state school education was under the Tories, and in classes of over 30, and I can remember some very lazy teaching methods which I don't think teachers/schools would get away with now.

On class sizes, the system of state school funding means that if schools don't have the class sizes they're funded for - in my London borough I think this is 30 at primary and 27 at secondary - they are going to be really struggling with budgets - and this will mean a lot of stuff gets cut to keep things together. Budgets being devolved to schools and most of the central school support within local authorities being cut entirely or outsourced/run with arms length management and lots of freelance consultants doesn't help matters. Nor does allowing/encouraging the establishment of state funded academy chains and free schools - and not allowing local authorities to set up community schools to meet needs such as SEN.

In short, many of the problems facing state schools are a result of Tory policies since 2010 (but there were also issues under Labour).

I have no issue with VAT on private school fees, but I would like to see a really different way of thinking about public sector finance - saying that if you are elected to government there won't be any more borrowing means the squeeze will go somewhere else. I would prefer there to be more honest direct borrowing by government at lower interest rates and with less associated costs and money spinning opportunities for the private sector, rather than families being forced into increasing debt for housing, food shopping, bills, childcare, higher education.....

Have you read my previous post at all? The statutory 45min of commute + free access to school
It is not about the distance in miles but the commute via bus. Imagine traffic rush hours. How long it will take from Hampton Wick to get to the e.g. Twickenham school or Richmond school. There is no direct bus and it requires changing bus.

Also, the school not only accepts the kids from Richmond Borough but from surrounding boroughs as long as the child lives close enough to be accepted.

For example we selected the school outside of the Richmond borough because it is best option with a good commute.

The children from Kew Gardens historically had and have a problem with finding school place.

Looking at blind spot is wrong because people often do not apply to the closest school for various reasons. Therefore school allocation is often not for the kids who live the closest but for those who live closest and APPLY to this school.

NRTF rest of TF in full so apologies if others have also gone on to say similar but in cases like my autistic daughter’s, the SEN manifests itself primarily as ‘SEMH’ (social, emotional and mental health) difficulties. DD has had a shocker starting at secondary and we have tried so hard to stay in the state sector but of course we couldn’t get an EHCP for her because the focus is on academics. She’s currently at an online school and we will have to pay the extra VAT. I can’t say I find that particularly fair when we would love her to attend the ‘outstanding’ school she just left but with proper support alongside her friends - but she simply couldn’t cope, the school can’t provide what she needs and the LA could not give less of a shit.

@TheChipmunkSong sorry you got me on blind spots in the Richmond borough, I'm yet trying to find any not covered by less desirable schools' catchment, 1hr+ away both from twickenham school, richmond academy and Hounslow schools. Is it in the west, east, north or south of the borough?

Council can't build "outstanding" schools at the front gates of every 126 of the applicants who could't comprehend the system. Someone will have to
adjust.

You making a lot of very basic uneducated statements yet expecting people to comprehend the admission rules
. There is max time set that the council can expect a child to travel. -45. This is statutory.

It is not always that simple that worse schools are the one without the waiting list.
Also, Twickenham school is not bad at all- simply it is big school and that is why it filled the slowest and is very close to Turing. Hampton High has worse results.

and at the moment in Twickenham school there is zero places for Y7

@TheChipmunkSong "Also, what is the point of applying to Twickenham school if your child has to travel 2-3 busses for 1 hour to get there?"

Council can't build "outstanding" schools at the front gates of every 126 of the applicants who could't comprehend the system. Someone will have to adjust.

Lots of places around. Maybe not at the popular schools and certainly not 'private school standard buildings/sport facilities' but no one would be turned down a placement.

State school parents and children don't always have a say or a choice of placement so honestly I don't care a lot if private school parents and children have it or not in a transistion from private to state.

exactly. I have no idea how there are 93 as per the comments here.
The only chance that the spaces will be located is if some kids got an offer to private school but forgot or intentionally not notify the Council- killing two birds with one stone. In Sept they may decide on private and release state place

There are currently no places in at least one secondary year in Richmond Borough. I enquired to see what my options would be only to be told there are currently no spaces.

At some point people like you are going to have to understand the vast majority of people in this country don't give a fuck about VAT on private schools, in fact its very popular, please stop making threads about it

You are jumping too quick to conclusions. You assume that everybody mastered the way how the system works. Look, a second ago you had no idea what the list I posted was and kept talking as if it was somebody's application results.

Look how ethnically diverse is London. Many people cannot understand the system.
Also, what is the point of applying to Twickenham school if your child has to travel 2-3 busses for 1 hour to get there?

@TheChipmunkSong but there were no surprises in places allocation this year. Turing's catchment shrunk a bit and Orleans widened a bit. So people could easily predict their chances and list a reliable back-up as well to not leave it to the council.

It doesn't work like this that you list Twickenham and everybody who lists it gets it. - No. If they listed Orlean first and Twickenham 6th but they live by Orlean they got Orlean.
The corrected sentence is: everybody who listed Twickenham had an offer from the list because if they didn't get other schools they got Twickenham.

126 people have not had Twickenham in their preferences 1-6 for variety of reasons: didn't want or it was too far.

so Twickenham school took everyone who listed it as one of 6.

not quite. Twickenham took anybody who listed Twickenham iF the school listed in the higher priority were not offered.
And now it is filled and have no spaces:oversubscribed

126 people wanted to cheat the system not listing one of the least popular schools and now will have to wait, but there's still 193 unoccupied y7 places in the borough as per gov website.

126 people not necessarily lived close enough to Twickenham to include it. E.g I live on the outer edge of Borough and my son got the school in another county. In the same way the kids from Hounslow, Hammersmith apply to Richmond schools

I don't know how it can be unoccupied y7 list. I know several kids on waiting lists who had randomly allocated school not on their list. And they are upset as it is far. Still hoping

@TheChipmunkSong so Twickenham school took literally everyone who listed it as one of 6. The one who didn't will be offered one of 193 spaces in the borough after "clearance" - it's not my info, it's from gov.uk.
Problem solved, no need to build a new school at least in Richmond :))

Yes and I think those people got no offers because they didn't mention nearest non-faith schools in their list, so after 1st of March they are offered what's left.

What is "nearest"? Nearest to what?

That "nearest" suggests that you have no idea what is the table showing. This is not a distance to anybody house. This is Distance offered from school

I completely have no idea what you are talking about. And I am afraid you are talking nonsense because you don't understand what you looking at.

The list includes faith and non faith schools

1. there're more than 6 schools - don't you get to choose only 6?

or Twickenham school it says "All preferences met" - does it mean the application was made outside of application window, or this school was not listed in the preferences initially?
Because it looks like they took all the applicants who applied on time.

yes, all who applied got the place. But above that is waiting list.

what application- whose application? Again this proves that you have no idea what you talking about. Please click all links I placed above

Yup. they'll be the people who only put down one school/only oversubscribed schools they fell into the lowest possible criteria for and lived a considerable distance from because a playground lawyer told them 'that way the council will have to give you a place there'.

Others who wouldn't have an offer on NOD would be those whose applications were treated as late or whom failed to apply at all. They would be offered somewhere after the NOD acceptances and refusals/others on waiting lists for higher preference schools/appeal outcomes/private school deposits were paid all caused the lists to shuffle around.

@TheChipmunkSong so Twickenham school took everyone who listed it as one of 6.
126 people wanted to cheat the system not listing one of the least popular schools and now will have to wait, but there's still 193 unoccupied y7 places in the borough as per gov website.

https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/9b0f1a4e-682e-49ce-9cd8-08dc8a203a6d

I work as a Relocation Agent and often help with school finding. When a client says they want to use State schools my heart sinks if they live in some areas, especially if I know that the only places are likley to be at the schools nobody wanted . To be fair 90% of the time these are in year applications

@TheChipmunkSong "Can you see the link which states 126 got no offer?"
Yes and I think those people got no offers because they didn't mention nearest non-faith schools in their list, so after 1st of March they are offered what's left.

What's interesting in your list is

1. there're more than 6 schools - don't you get to choose only 6?
2. for Twickenham school it says "All preferences met" - does it mean the application was made outside of application window, or this school was not listed in the preferences initially? Because it looks like they took all the applicants who applied on time.

it looks like this person was applying from really far away from both Richmond and Kingston boroughs. Like living more then 9 kilometres from RPA? Not getting into Teddington with 6km catchment?

what do you mean by "This person". What person?

The list is showing the radius of offer from the school or nodal point on the 1st of March. People who apply for places are from Richmond and outside.
https://5f2fe3253cd1dfa0d089-bf8b2cdb6a1dc2999fecbc372702016c.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/15285/LBR_Notes_to_parents_following_secondary_2024_allocation.pdf

There's 256 unoccupied Y7 spaces in Kingston and 193 in Richmond for 2024/25.

I am talking about Richmond Borough. I don't live in Kingston. There is no two headed hydra borough called Richmond and Kingston. Those are two separate boroughs

where exactly in Y7 in Richmond are those places? Can you see the list I copy pasted as the situation on the 1st of March? Can you see the link which states 126 got no offer?

Please do not call people trolls when they give you data and links

@TheChipmunkSong it looks like this person was applying from really far away from both Richmond and Kingston boroughs. Like living more then 9 kilometres from RPA? Not getting into Teddington with 6km catchment?
Are you trolling?
There's 256 unoccupied Y7 spaces in Kingston and 193 in Richmond for 2024/25.

I don't believe there're "blind spots" in these 2 boroughs, just stubborn parents thinking they can have their way. Or prove it with a postcode.