If you relocated with your kids how did you manage logistics?

[Thatsajokeright]

We're planning to relocate with our primary ages children.

We know we want to be in the city centre or to the East or South of the city.

With the market being quiet we're not exactly spoilt for choice in terms of houses and I can't get my head around how to manage schools and houses.

We need to visit schools but I can't email every school we might move near to find out if they have space, can I?!

I'd be grateful to hear from anyone who's done it before!

Most councils have a list of places available on their website. However you are unlikely to get a place until you have secured your house. Check the policy with the council as most wool want to see contracts.

Moving with dc is more stressful but just depends if you are moving to an overscribed area.

Thank you. Unfortunately neither my current county or the new county has school place details online.

So that's 63 emails to send! 😂🫠

We will be guided by property really but no good buying a house if the nearest school with spaces is on the other side of the city!

Why can’t you email them all? Or certainly you find the house possiblities online and narrow down the schools to 3/4 local to each house

The time lag for any house purchase may mean that any spare places have gone anyway.
I think if schools are so variable eg in London where I live schools can be quite variable even quite near so I'd rent first, secure my places and then look to purchase. My best friend lives in Oxford and all the primary schools near her are decent so wouldn't matter so much exactly where she lived.

I phoned the council (who refused to tell me anything without proof of address), and a few local schools.

Most schools said there was place for 1 dc in KS1(but not the other in KS2), but I would have to wait to apply once we had moved and there might not still be a place anyway.

One school (academy) said there was almost definitely space in KS1 (in fact there were 8 spaces) and I would move to top of waiting list for KS2 space once the other place was confirmed, but it was at discretion of governors if they would squeeze the older one into an already full class.

We agreed a start date (the day after we were due to move) and then they confirmed both dc spots, which was v helpful of them - oversubscribed schools don’t have to let you in, as far as I know. I don’t know if they were able to be more flexible because they were an academy.

You only need to email the School Allocation Officer at your new Local Authority, not the individual schools, so not a big job!
The worst part is the tight timescales of school places. You can usually (depending on LA) only apply for schools after exchange of contracts, and the place can usually only be held for a few weeks (it was 4 weeks for us).
Essentially, find a house that you love, and only really start worrying about schools down the line because you'll drive yourself mad otherwise!

The difficulty is that the schools can tell you if they have spaces now, but by the time your house sale goes through that place may have been taken.

So there is a degree of uncertainty. If the local school doesn't have space by the time your house sale completes you will need to join the waiting list and consider appealing whilst attending a further away school.

I did find there were some good schools with a higher turnover though - particularly near hospitals and universities where parents may be relocating regularly for jobs.

Also, beware asking the individual schools instead of the LA, they don't actually know what the waiting list looks like.
I was told by our new school that there would be a place, but they didn't know that there was actually someone else waiting and that they would be placed before us. Only the LA knows the full picture.
We ended up at a different school for two terms before getting a place at our first choice. It's wasn't ideal, but unfortunately it's impossible to plan otherwise.

The council has to find you a place when you move, but not necessarily in a schooloff your choice... or siblings in the same school.

Your best bet is choosing an area where all.the schools are reasonably good.

You choose a house. Make an offer. If accepted, you look for schools and decide which to apply to. We did open days/school visits then. After exchange, you can submit your application for in-year admissions. It’s processed very quickly. Ours was in 4 days. You start on the date you specify after you move. It’s actually very straightforward.