Is this normal? - school admissions

[Livinthedream84]

We have recently bought a house after saving for the past 10 years. Everything is going well and we are in cloud 9 with it all. A dream come true.

However, we have 2 children still in school. The youngest is not a problem (has a disability so has been offered a place already at a suitable school) but we are struggling to find a place for DD1 in year 9. Every school in the area (there’s about 5) have told us they have no places for her.

I’m going to apply through the local authority but the whole thing is starting to worry me. There’s no way we can get her to her current school once we move. Will they find her a place? What do we do if the school they offer is just too far away? Has anyone had similar experiences?

Unfortunately it is the way it works and a risk you take when moving. As soon as they offer you a place you can also add your child's name to the waiting lists of all the schools that are closer or better and hope for a place. In our case it took 4 years on various waiting lists to get an offer at another school by which point we decided it was too disruptive for my DD and we declined the offer.

It is a stressful experience. Wishing you luck with it.

What do you mean by you can't get her there?
My understanding is that a secondary school child can travel 75 mins to school independently.

If they offer you somewhere really far away they’ll need to arrange transport, so it would mean your DC getting public transport paid for, I’d imagine. Don’t panic! Places will come up but it may take some time.

Repost in secondary where the admissions experts hang out.

You can go on waiting lists now from your current address, just in case.
When you move inform them of new address.
They have to offer a place somewhere once you have actually moved but it may well not be at your preferred school and may be some distance away.
There is something called Fair Access Protocol which comes in to play after a certain time.

Yes it's normal unfortunately. It's very common to end up home schooling for a period whilst waiting for a school place to come up.

The local authority must offer you a place. It does not have to be a place at a school you want. Over a certain distance (I want to say 3 miles but don’t hold me to it), she will receive free transport - this could be a free bus pass. They can also award a place under the Fair Access Protocol (essentially make an otherwise full school take her) if necessary.

But I strongly agree with the suggestion to repost in Secondary Education!

Oh we don’t mind her travelling to school on public transport. She’s no pampered princess and we were prepared for her to travel to school lol. Dh can even drive her if it’s less than an hour or so away before he goes to work. Her old school really would be unreachable though you are talking at least 2 trains, a bus and a VERY long walk.

Hopefully we can out her on the waiting list and it will be sooner rather than later

Thanks for your advice so far, at the moment it’s all very stressful as even the schools further away seem to have no places :(

Honestly, post in Secondary Education. There are some incredibly knowledgable posters who will be able to give you a better answer re reasonable timescales for being given a place, and the right questions to ask if you’re not being given one.

Have you formally applied for an in year transfer to all local schools or have they told you over the phone they are oversubscribed?

If you have not formally applied for any preferred schools I would do this now and once you receive a refusal you can then appeal the decision in front of an independent panel, you can appeal for however many schools you wish.

If the LA places your DD in a school over three miles away then they have to provide free transport usually by way of school bus pass.