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Original poster

Random allocation of places (not by distance) : thoughts and experiences?

130 replies

ParentOfOne · 05/06/2025 10:13

I understand that some schools in England allocate places by random allocation rather than by distance. Michaela in Wembley (NW London), Kingsdale in Dulwich (SE London), some schools in Brighton.

I also understand that a similar system is more common in some other countries.

Who has experience of this system? What do you think are the pros and cons? Would you welcome this system being implemented nationwide?

I think admission by distance can make sense for primary schools, because children are too young to go alone, and being allocated a school that's far can make parents' logistics a nightmare.

For secondary schools I'm not sure what to think.

On one hand I'd welcome getting rid of the tyranny of having to live next to good schools, and the admission by income/wealth which it indirectly causes.

On the other hand, I wonder if we can end up in situations where no person gets their preference. Eg what if I wanted school A, you wanted school B, but this random allocation allocates me to B and you to A? Is this a real risk? Is there a way around it?

Thoughts?

OP posts:
Darragon · 05/06/2025 11:47

It sounds like a total mess because there's so much variability between schools in this country. I don't know, but I suspect where it works they've got a more standardised way of running schools and all schools offer all available subjects? And how would it work with preferences such as kids who want to go to the same school as their primary friends, or parents who want their kids to go to a specific school? What if a militant atheist ended up with a faith school? What if school A offers GCSE Music but a gifted musician ends up at school B, which doesn't offer GCSE Music so can't progress to A-level (for example, see also dance, drama, Spanish vs French, tech subjects, art, anything where the GCSE is needed to progress)? Would it only be done at Y7 or also at post-16? What happens if you're unhappy with school allocation and need to change schools to one that better meets your child's needs, do you get another one at random or do you get any choice?

I like the idea of not having such tight catchments around good schools, but I just can't see it being a good idea if it's totally random.

OhCrumbsWhereNow · 05/06/2025 11:37

Kingsdale isn't entirely random - you have to sit a banding test, and 15% are music and sports scholarship places which sit outside the lottery system for the highest ranked scores.

Personally I am not in favour of random allocation. I had very specific requirements for secondary and so sat DD for almost every music place in London to ensure we had choice.

Where we live, the nearest secondary schools are 45 minutes, 60 minutes and 70 minutes, so we had a big commute whatever, but I can't imagine many people being happy if it's not their choice.

Who is also going to fund Little Johnny travelling 6 miles to his allocated school when he lives 100 yards from his nearest secondary?

All that would happen is endless appeals and endless in-year moves.

If we had been forced into that situation and allocated what I considered an unsuitable school I think we would have opted out and gone for online schooling instead.

Certainly I would have made it my main goal to appeal for absolutely every school I was interested in and to keep doing that until I got what I wanted.

Original poster
ParentOfOne · 05/06/2025 10:36

@BangersAndGnash I am not sure. I suppose I'd like to hear about what systems there are, and the various pros and cons.

Eg I think most school places in Brighton are assigned based on a random system within catchment areas. I think it's something like people inside the area are given priority over those outside, but, within the catchment area, the allocation is random.

But then I'm not sure how often it can happen that I get your preference, you get mine, and the outcome is just too suboptimal

OP posts:
BangersAndGnash · 05/06/2025 10:24

Do you mean a lottery system, like Kingsdale, where you have to apply and put your schools in preference order and are allocated the highest in your list if it can admit, by lottery,

Or

Random allocation as in the LA looks at the whole cohort and randomly allocates everyone a school irrespective of preferences etc?

Blimeyblighty · 05/06/2025 10:19

Seems pointless somewhere like my location, rural town in the SW. we have two secondary schools, one on the east side of town and one on the west. They both have a rural catchment to them as well as a town catchment. The logistics of getting to the school on the wrong side of town would be irritating, my kids can walk (1.5 miles) to our school but wouldn’t be practical to walk to the other one every day. By bus they would have to walk/take a bus from our village into town, then take a bus/walk out of town centre to the other school. The social mix of the two schools is very similar, so can’t really see what we would gain.

I can see it might be different in cities with denser population.