Can someone explain UK Schools and catchment areas to me Please???

[MyHusbandSaysIHave1000MNNames]

I'm not originally from the UK and have never been in any part of its school system. We have a daughter now and I'm very confused about which school she can go to after we move to a different house.

Our current place will soon be too small, we found 2 wonderful properties in the same area that are big enough to not need to move again if we have more children.

This is the catch though, the closest school has an OFSTED Rating of 4 (Special Measures). I looked that up and it says that a rating of 4 means it is inadequate and special measures means basically that there's no hope of it improving.

It is .3 miles away from the houses, age group 3-11. There is another school for ages 2-19, 1 mile away with a rating of 2 (Good), and 2 schools 1.1 miles away that have the same rating. All are state schools and only 1 wasn't oversubscribed last year if that matters.

Can our daughter go to the further away schools?

We can't afford private school or tutoring to make up for how poor the rated 4 school is.

admissions - simply most areas are about the same however there are some diferences- this is for England
as its primary school there is currently a limit on how big the classes can be in infants (5-7ish) of 30 so a school with 2 classes/forms can take 60 per year
there is a priority order admissions look at for each school - this will be on teh schools website
usually something like

1. Looked after children (chidren i ncare)
2. SEND - children with special needs/disability and teh school named in their plan.
3. Siblings
4. Distance from school

if over subscribed then distance is usually the ice breaker

so if the school you want is oversubscribed you have to hope you live closer than all the other people who have applied.
on teh councils website they should show how far away the last person lived last year who got in....(this changes year on year )
we didnt get into our closest school as there was nearly a whole class of siblings! 29 in one year in a 2form)....so you cant guarentee anything

If it is a church school then that woudl be another criteria
Schools in special measures can get amazing resources and teachers pulled in and Ofsted in only part of the picture as is just a snapshot....go and have a look at it and get a feel - it can depend on why it failed

There is no such thing as "UK schools". Each part of the UK has a very different system for allocating places. The Scottish system is entirely separate from that in England and Wales, and in Northern Ireland there are differences too with intake ages and catchment areas.

So, you need to tell us where you are going to be based to get any sort of helpful information.

Ofsted reports give you an idea, but are very data driven, and don’t always show a true picture of a school.

Although you say “State schools” there is a difference in the Uk.
Maintained/community schools are funded and run via the local education authority.

Free schools/ academies, receive their funding directly from the government. They are usually run by a private “sponsor”. Multi Academy Trusts run several schools within the trust (which may be spread across the country or within a smaller local area) I am not a fan of the academy system, I think it is back door privatisation and there are plenty of examples of financial mismanagement within the system.

The school catering 2-19 will most likely be a free school/academy .

The school in special measures will be getting lots of additional funding and support, so you should be seeing a huge improvement in a short space of time. I wouldn’t necessarily rule it out before visiting it and making your own mind up. Particularly if dc are not due to start school just yet.

With primary school admissions it all depends on the demand where you live. Some areas there is lots of choice, other areas you usually get your closest school.

You could phone and speak to your lea admissions officer, they will now the rough catchment area for each school (it will widen/narrow depending on number of applicants)

Ah yes - sorry!

I was referring to English schools blush

We're in the West Midlands in England.

It's good to hear that an effort will be made for a school with that rating of 4. I thought it was really sad that based on the description of special measures that it sounded like it was being written off as not worth trying to save.

Our daughter is a baby, but I really like planning ahead, especially since it's not that easy to just up and move if you don't like the local school.

I didn't know that state schools could be funded by different groups. In my home country state schools are all run by the government.

Not all areas have fixed catchments. The furthest distance at which a place is offered may vary depending on volume of applications each year. Is the 2-19 "school" an academy, if so they may have different admissions policies which you should check in detail. Also bear in mind that siblings do not always take priority in state schools so if you had another child there is no guarantee that they would also secure a place if other applicants living nearer took priority. Also if any are faith schools, those baptised into the religion, attending particular churches regularly or living in the parish/es may take precedence. The LA publishes a booklet each Autumn with details of the criteria for each school, how many were admitted under each category and furthest distance offered.

The closest school is a Primary Academy, the ages 2-19 school says it is a School and Science College, the 3rd lists itself as a Primary School, and the 4th as a Primary and Nursery School.

I didn't realise either that religious schools can be state schools here instead of exclusively private. There is a religious state school of our faith 1.2 miles away with a Good rating.

Primary is usually aged 4-11, sometimes there will be a nursery/preschool from age 3 or there may be separate infant 4-7 and junior 7-11 schools. Secondary is 11-16/18. Some academies have particular funding status such as for science, art or sport specialism, although they still teach the full curriculum. 6th form colleges are for 16-18/19. Some areas may have middle schools and transfer to secondary at 12/13.

This is all very helpful thank you. Much more variety than I'm use to.

Are all state schools regardless of how they are funded, free for students attend? Meaning no tuition fees.

Some may request a contribution but should be free, apart from trips, lunches after year 2, clubs etc.

Faith schools might have a requirement to attend a place of worship, you need to check the admissions policy. Our local one does and requires a 40 out of 52 week attendance and a comprehensive form signed by your vicar!

If you look on your council website, you'll find a section on education somewhere and then you can find the admissions policy for state schools. You should also find somewhere on the council website which should tell you what catchment you're in for primary and secondary schools (or ring the council and ask). Our council also has a report that shows the over subscribed schools and how far down the admissions policy (and how far away) the last child to get a place was, so you can see if you stand any hope or not.

Where we live the council school admissions policy is...

1. In care children
2. SEND (special education needs)
3. Children with siblings and living in catchment
4. New children (those without siblings in the school) and living in catchment)
5. Same as 3 but living outside of catchment (placed in order of distance with closest getting priority)
6. Same as 4 but living outside of catchment (placed in order of distance with closest getting priority).

You must check your local council website so you know the policy in your area, and remember it might change. Ours changed two years ago so that in catchment new pupils got priority over siblings out of catchment (so 4 and 5 were previously the other way around)

Of course private (fee paying) schools are totally different. You'll need to look the admission criteria up on their websites.

And schools can change in the blink of an eye. Our catchment primary school has gone from special measures to good within 3 years and is now oversubscribed. So special measures can actually be a good thing for schools to get the support and input they need to change their trajectory.

For the oversubscribed schools you need to look at the distance the last child was given a place, this information is on the local council website. I certainly wouldn't buy a house close to a school in special measures though.

As a pp said, faith schools will have an additional criteria of being that faith. How much you need to do to prove this will depend on the specific policy of the school. For example, our local catholic school takes children of all faiths but baptised catholics take priority, then baptised Christians of other denominations, then it comes down to distance regardless of faith. There is no requirement to attend church regularly (it's an open secret that a lot of people in the area who have no real interest in religion but have a Catholic background have their DC baptised so they can get in to the school). You'd need to check the school's website.

On a practical note, when you come to apply for schools, most local authorities ask you to apply online. Faith schools usually have a separate application form that you need to complete in addition to the local authority process. In our area, the online system automatically shows your 3 closest schools as suggestions but faith schools are not included unless you search for them. I know a few people who are from other countries who have not realised this (it is mentioned in passing but not clear even to someone who grew up in England).

You firstly need to work out the catchment areas/admission zone. It doesn't always tally that your nearest school is your catchment school.

A school in special measures is often turned around very quickly. They get a lot of resources thrown at them.

FWIW a friend of mine pro-actively & purposely chose a school within walking distance of her that was under Special Measures as she took it to mean that class sizes were smaller (kids got more attention) and teachers were determined to fight and prove otherwise (ie providing a good standard)

Don't write the special measures school off, the one my daughter attends was classed as outstanding for years, then due to staff off long term sick and a rubbish head the parents pushed for it to be inspected again and it got an awful report and put into special measures.

That was in 2016.

They bought in a fantastic headmistress, new staff and it's been completely turned around, the results show it's above national average in every area but it's still not been reinspected so if you look online you'd assume it was still bad whereas it's actually a fantastic school.

People often talk about ‘catchment areas’ to mean multiple things.

A ‘true’ catchment area is a defined geographical area within which children who live inside that boundary get priority over children who don’t. Use of priority areas varies across the country - in some places almost all schools have them, in others hardly any.

Living within a catchment doesn’t necessarily guarantee admission - if the school is oversubscribed, distance will very often be used as the tie breaker to allocate places, so someone who lives nearer within the catchment will get priority over someone who lives in catchment but further away. Proper catchments like these can mean that children who live further away get priority over those who live closer but outside the catchment boundary. Therefore don’t assume that your nearest school is your ‘catchment’.

People often (incorrectly) use catchment area to describe the areas which normally get into a particular school. In schools which don’t have a proper defined area, but just admit by distance (I.e. the closest children to the school), if people know that the distance normally extends to about a mile, for example, they’ll describe that mile radius as the catchment area. However it can change, as it depends on the number of applications and the number of children living nearby etc.

This can often catch out people who believe they are in catchment, when all it means is that they would have got a place in previous years. It’s never really anything more than a best guess.

You also still need to name the school as one of your preferences on your application form - you won’t automatically be allocated your nearest school if you haven’t applied for it! I know you’re not at the point of applying yet, but always worth a mention!