Secondary school admissions

[ChocolatesAndSweets]

I apologise, as this is probably very clear cut for most, but I wanted to ask with regards to secondary school admissions and how the process works.

This is the first time I'm using the council forms for a space at a school.

I understand you have 3 choices, but are all three schools considered at the same time to see which one fits best? Or do they work through the list (so if first one cannot be offered check if second can and so on?)

I only ask, as the grammar school have stated that in order to be sure of receiving a space it must be put first on the CAF form. So it has me wondering whether I have misunderstood the process. Also, does this mean schools are aware if they are 1st, 2nd or 3rd choice?

I've tried to Google the answer but so far I've come across 2 different answers, one being it is 'going down list process' and the second is that child's name is put down for all schools and best fit is offered.

There is no secret to it you put the schools on the form in order of preference making sure that at least your last option is one that they will pretty much definitely get in to that you won't absolutely hate.

Sorry to labour the point but in my area there are 5 outstanding secondary schools. 3 of them you have to live within a mile of to get a place based on distance. The other 2 within 3 miles. Maybe the people you have seen with children going there got places for other reasons? For example older siblings, previously looked after - or have since moved.

I think you might find that if you get either of your non catchment schools you won’t be eligible for help with travel costs because you have applied for schools so far away, and presumably your child would be travelling past nearer schools to reach them . So do check up on this if this is likely to be an issue.

With two such potentially unlikely choices you do need to ensure that your third choice is an absolute 100 % banker otherwise you will be allocated a school which would not be your choice and could be a nightmare to get to.

@meditrina

school C , not grammar, places given to in county siblings, then out of county siblings, then in county others, then out of county others, all done also by distance. So if you are out of county you are bottom of the list

That's really dodgy - the Greenwich ruling is meant to prevent councils using county boundaries like that, having admissions criteria which are not compliant is a basis for successful appeal

Interesting, I didn't know that.

This school is in a county with a large rural community with few other schools for miles.
But just 4 miles away on one side is a very large town, with lots and lots of schools. This town is over the country boundary.

This school is a great school, and many of the schools in the town aren't, so people from the town started sending their kids to this school.
The trouble was the knock on effect was that families 10 miles away in a villgae, with no other school for miles, were losing out in terms of school places to familes from the large town.

So the county ruling was brought in.
I would have thought that if catchment areas are allowed, then it is the same. The catchment area basically sits entirely to one side of the school, across the rural county, excluding the large town which is in a seperate LA

to be fair, I haven't looked at their criteria for a while, as all mine are past this point, but was still true about 5 years ago

and it was worded online in terms of those within this LA and those not within this LA

So I was re reading the admissions criteria for the comp. They don't mention any restrictions on catchment area, so it states if 124 or fewer applicants all students will be accepted (I appreciate there will be far more). The over subscription criteria then mentions the different steps to allocate places, including those closer come first.

I don't want to drip feed here, but I believe the last few years children from further away were accepted as the school is relatively new (2016 I believe).

Last year applicant numbers (so the total applicants that placed school as first, second and third) was 204. I can imagine this number will continue to creep up as more people like the ratings and exam results.

Thank you all for your help.

I will definitely ensure we do have a choice of closer school, as it is is gamble with both schools chosen at the moment.