Secondary school admissions for absolute dummies - help!

[EmiliaFart]

How do they work?

DD is 10 and due to start secondary next Sept. We don't want her to go to any of the geographically nearest schools as they're all, frankly, a bit shit.

I own and can't move (the only way I could afford to buy was to go for less naice area). Her Dad rents very close by and has the option to renew or end his lease this Summer. Our plan is for him to move into a catchment area for one or more of the schools we do want her to apply for (only 1-2 miles - we're not far outside of catchment).

It would be preferable for him to stay where he is but if he does that I imagine we wouldn't have a chance at any of the schools in other areas? Is distance the main criteria?

Can you apply to any schools you want in any areas and just hope for the best?

What happens if your DC doesn't get offered a place at all?

We naturally want the best for DD and really don't have a clue where to start. Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

and

Are you in England op? And your dd is in year 5? It's very variable by local authority and by school. Schools around us are all academies so have own rules and no catchments. It's very likely you will need to use dd primary residence as an address though.

In England, W Yorks. DD is in year 5.

How would primary residence be defined? Ex and I share care pretty much 50/50 although the DC are registered at my address for current school/GPs etc.

Thank you for the reply btw .

In my local area where both parents live in a similar geographical area they split the distance or some weird thing. I think its so parents don't have dad move out for 6 months and rent next door to chosen school.

Thanks Floating.

I'm feeling a bit worried now tbh. If Ex did move and then the schools didn't accept his address as being valid for DD, the whole move would be pointless.

As it stands, my address isn't in catchment for a single school I'd consider sending her to .

We are also non-religious and she is the oldest (so no siblings already at a school) so don't have any 'advantages'.

Arse.

Are there any schools that base admissions on ability or interview?

Your local council should have the admissions criteria of each school on their website. Along with whether they were oversubscribed last year and how many places are on offer. This should give you an indication of whether you'd have a chance of getting in without your ex moving.

My council had an October deadline to apply so bear in mind that you may not have as long as you think to decide. Ask the schools about open evenings too. It's easy to miss these as they're not always well advertised.

The school will have an admissions policy on their website. It should cover everything that you need to know - which house they count as a main residence, which areas they take children from, whether they just just on distance or have any other criteria.

Most schools will have open days later this year - summer term possibly, or early in the autumn term. Try to fit in visits to those. Some near us also do taster days and my DD went along. Don't just judge on other people's opinions of a school - keep an open mind. There is a lot said about schools by people who have no experience of the school - just going on hearsay.

Admissions criteria can vary widely from school to school. If you go to the website of each school that you might consider placing on your DD's preference form next October then each will display its own entrance criteria.

Distance can be part of the main criteria but is more frequently used in the case of over subscription. Please note that distance is not as clear cut as can be thought, a particular point at the secondary school will be designated as the "arrival point" and distance is measured using special accurate software (not AA route planner). The distance could be as the crow flies (in s straight line) or it could be the safest pedestrian route via pavement that has street lighting (no shortcuts across fields etc).

Who receives the child benefit payment? That is often looked at by some (but not all) LEA's when determining which resident address will be used on the application in cases of shared custody.

Is there a legal residency agreement in place to show shared custody arrangements? Just in case you had to go to appeal etc

Your ex partner needs to have proof of his new address before the admission preference form is handed in (October 31st) just in case further information is requested.

I spoke to a man who did the school admissions at another council. He said he would have no idea if the parents are renting to be in catchment unless someone wrote in and informed him

With which parent does your dd spend the majority of her time? That is the address you must apply from.

You need to look at the admissions criteria for any schools you are interested in and have a look on the council website at the last couple of years data for who was allocated places. Eg is you live 1.6 miles away from school and the last place allocated for the last couple of years was 1.8 miles then you know you stand a chance,, if it was 1.2 miles then its a long shot.

You talok about cathment areas, a few schools do still have defined catchments, but most just do distance from doorstep to school by safe walking route.

Unless you are in a positin to home educate or pay for private schooling you must put a dead cert down as at least one of your choices. Far better for your child to get a crap school that 10 minutes walk away than a crap school 5 miles away.

If you do not meet the criteria for any of your preferred schools you will be allocated the nearest school that still has places after all others have been allocated.

My DD's school takes the child's main residence to be the one that they sleep at most days in the week. But it might be different for other schools - which is why you need to read the school's admissions policy.

In most areas the local education authority - in our case our county council - organise the application process. There will be information on their website. The closing date is normally in the autumn and offers day is in the spring.

Ok, so the standard thing is this:

every school has a set of criteria. They are available on the school website. They tell you what priority is given to different things, a typicla list may be:

1. looked after children (fostered/adopted)
2. SEN children whose statements specifiy this school

(these first two groups are usually very small)

1. siblings of those kids already in school
2. nearest child by distance

So that means if you have a sibling but live a long way away, you will get a place ahead of a child who lives close to the school.

Some areas still work on catchment, or on feeder schools. So if you go to x school, you will be given priority over a child who doesn't. If you live in the catchment you get priority over those who don;t even if you house is further away than theirs.

The criteria may be the same across one LEA, or not. Then academies within the same LEA mya have their own criteria.

Different LEA use different things for the residency. You need to check. Ours uses the house where the child benefit is paid to. So your dd's dad could move, and you could get the child benefit paid to his address and then claim his as main residency. As long as he does not have another house it shoudl count (can't let your main residence and rent elsewhere). You need to check what criteria your LEA uses, and also, if the person has to be still living there for the 1st September, when school starts.

As to living in/out of catchment etc. You can phone and ask about last years entry. How many kids out of catchment got in? How far away did they live? That will give you a good idea of if you have a chance.

When you come ot do the actual form, you need to fill it in according to the order you WANT the schools. If you don;'t get first choice, your second choice is considered to become your first, alongside all the others who put it first. It is no disadvantage to you.
if you only put down impossible to get into schools, the LEA will offer you a place at the nearest school which has space (note, not your nearest school) that may be miles away.

just to add
the admissions criteria is the schools.

The residency, and whoch house to put on, that is the LEA.

The application is to the LEA, even for academies. The LEA sort the applicants according to admissions criteria and then see if you qualify for a school.

For everyone in England the form must be in by October 31st in year 6.

You need to check how your local admissions authority define her main address; normally it is where she lives mainly, or majority of school week. If she genuinely lives around 50/50 between you, often you can declare yourselves which address you want to use, but you need to confirm that.

Some schools - Grammars - use tests to rank applicants - crossly heath and north halifax are mixed grammars for example. I don't know if they are reachable from you?

you do come across a few academies which reserve places for specific things, eg sport or music. There is usually a test to see who gets the places

Thanks all for the really helpful advice.

Patricia - we're in Leeds. Have booked an open day at the Grammar School at Leeds - would need a full bursary so it's unlikely but worth checking out at this stage I think.

Off to research the individual schools admissions policies.

Out council say: If parents are separated and child-care arrangements are shared between two addresses admission authorities must decide how the application will be considered. Where this is not defined in the relevant policy, the average of the distances of the two addresses from the school will be used to determine priority for admission. Where one of the addresses is outside the catchment area the applicant will be regarded as living outside the catchment area and the average of the distances of the two addresses will be used.

OP - that grammar school sounds like a fee payign school?

There are state grammar schools. they require an entry test, sat in September of year 6 usually, and results back before the application forms have to be in.

If you do decide to go down the grammar route, then you will probable need to do soem exam preparation over the rest of year 5

There are state Grammars as well as private schools that use the word Grammar - there is one in Heckmondwike, for example.They are free state secondaries but admit on exam. They may be too far away though.

Leeds aren't very clear on their website how they deal with children with joint addresses, I think you would need to talk to them and ideally get their approach in writing.

There are no state grammars anywhere near us.

GSAL is fee-paying. Like I say I can't see it happening but DD is very bright and I want to give her every chance I can. I'm a big believer in state schools but just seem to have ended up in an area devoid of any good ones 😒.

So our nearest school, the one I really don't want to even apply for, is 0.8 miles away.

The two that I want to apply for are 2.5 miles away from my home address. Is that out of the range of possibility do you think?

The two that I want to apply for are 2.5 miles away from my home address. Is that out of the range of possibility do you think?

phone the school admissions and ask how far away theri last entrant was last september.
If they can't tell you them LEA can.

In some places the admissions area is several miles, in others it is 400m. We can't possibly say if you have a chance, only the schools and LEA can tell you that