Moving schools in year... advice please

[Emillee]

Hi

Me, DH and adopted DD and DS may be about to move to another area of the country.

Can anyone talk me thro the admissions process? (I would contact the LA, but last time I did the information I got was incorrect and I only learned the correct version from here!)

DS is in year 6. We have to apply for a secondary place by Oct 31st.

I will do this for our current location.

We hope to move early next year, i.e. after normal admissions have closed, so I think the application for a secondary place will have to be made as an 'in year'?

As ex LAC, will the new school be obliged to go over their PAN number to accommodate this application, assuming all their other places are allocated?

Any advice would be great!

Thanks

Should have added, the potential new school is a free school, but their admissions policy is in line with the local LA

You might be better posting this in education where one of the admissions experts will probably be able to help you.

As I understand it, I don't think schools are obliged to go over PAN due to LAC if it's a late or in year application / admission. However I don't know definitively so please get some expert advice.

In the general scheme of school admissions, LAC should have the highest priority with only children with EHCP naming the school taking higher priority. The only exception to this seems to be Catholic school who play the system by saying baptised Catholic LAC have first priority with all other LAC being below the various other Catholic criteria. Personally I think this is shady and downright immoral but that's a whole other thread!

Have done!

Thank you

I would think you should look at the admissions criteria for the school you want. It may be that for LAC kids, or former LAC, there is not distance criteria. If your child is ex-LAC, sorry that sounds like a laxative, then even living where you are, putting your current address, you may find you can pick any school, anywhere.

Here, we are members of a faith community, and that faith community ex-LAC, etc, are number 1 in the list, or maybe number 2 under named on a statement of special needs, or whatever it is now, type criteria, no matter what the address. So we could be living in Cornwall, or Wales, or any other place far away from where we live, say the South East as an example that works with those places, and we'd still get a place above people opposite the school.

I don't think it's just faith schools that have non-geographic/catchment rules about ex-LAC children, so that alone could put you high enough that your address is irrelevant to the whole application.

Be prepared for some nasty parent to make comments about how you obtained the place, though. As can be seen on threads on here sometimes, people will be very sniffy, and assume foul play, just because they don't know why you got priority. But that's no reason it's any of their business!